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Giants in the Earth A Saga of the Prairie Perennial Classics Ole Edvart Rolvaag Books

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Giants in the Earth A Saga of the Prairie Perennial Classics Ole Edvart Rolvaag Books

I thought this was one of the most excellent novels I've read in a long while. It starts off slow, but it's clear from the very beginning that this will be a tragedy in line and based on the same format as the great Greek tragedies. They chose a lot of land with an Indian burial mound on it. Those circular life-death-rebirth themes run throughout the book. And Rolvaag does an exquisite job of psychologically portraying the characters. He entwined Norse mythology with Christian religion and issues of pride. Per Hans is a Manifest Destiny type man in love with the concept of more and more and pushing further. His wife,Beret, is old world and in love with her guilt. Both of their false loves hinder them from ever becoming fully one in their marriage as they pioneer these brave new lands, and I do love how the land itself is a character in it's own right.
The subplot foreshadowing their self undoing with the lost settlers whose child died is unnerving. But it was the way it was so for so many back then and central to the main plot. While others have critiqued the absurdity of Per Hans offering medical help to the Natives, it wasn't lost on me with the underlying message; they could be friends and could be civilized towards one another, the settlers and Natives, but so few in each of the tribes of both settlers and Natives, had an innate trust of the other...often more content to watch each other due off. And so while the realism isn't accurate, the potential for what could've been between the white settlers and natives is a fundamental historical fantasy of asking "what if?" Left on the reader when looking back.
I additionally liked the shift or tension introduced into the story when Per takes the Irish claim stakes out. The reader is left wondering if he'd not taken that upon himself, would things turned out differently? Both for the ending and his marital undoing as this is when Beret lost faith in her husband. When the claim jumpers come to claim their land (though perhaps not legally filed, they seemed to have been there first and therefore it was a theft of sorts), the Norwegian settlers viewed the Irish as savages and uncivilized. Hans Ola accidentally kills one when they get into a fight. This is telling since the Irish in Europe have historically been viewed as 'low on the totem pole', but also telling in so far as why this is a great American tragedy story. The views of other people being civilized or uncivilized and selfish gain helped Per Hansa justify stealing & then justified Hans Ola murdering the uncivilized. It's very similar to how the Native Americans were treated...no legal land claims on their land but they were there first. Their ways were viewed as savage and so the settlers could be justified in using excessive force when things went bad....when diplomacy and friendship weren't the first thought in mind. So these two characters paved the way for their undoing here in taking land and taking life. The ending is appropriately linked to this turn of events and in a most poetic way b/c the land didn't appreciate it.
Lastly, I've yet to hear in commentaries on this, and perhaps it is b/c those most interested in this book view it from their own Norwegian immigrant ancestry, but several Native tribes in the Americas have passed down oral stories of way back when of giant white men who once ruled the Americas. It ties back into the Christian Biblical quote as the title, but also interweaving the Norse mythology with the Native American people's tragic legacy. In that regard, Rolvaag is sheer brilliance in his poetic layering of meaning, story lines, plot and subplot as well as artistic lessons to ponder for some time even long after the story ends. Can't recommend this book enough.


Tags : Amazon.com: Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie (Perennial Classics) (8588756412398): Ole Edvart Rolvaag: Books,Ole Edvart Rolvaag,Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie (Perennial Classics),Harper Perennial Modern Classics,0060931930,Literary,Dakota Territory,Historical fiction,Holm, Beret (Fictitious character),Immigrants - Dakota Territory,Immigrants;South Dakota;Fiction.,Norwegians - Dakota Territory,Norwegians;South Dakota;Fiction.,South Dakota;Fiction.,Classics,FICTION Classics,FICTION Cultural Heritage,FICTION Literary,Fiction,FictionClassics,GENERAL,Literature - Classics Criticism,NORWEGIAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,ScholarlyUndergraduate,South Dakota,United States

Giants in the Earth A Saga of the Prairie Perennial Classics Ole Edvart Rolvaag Books Reviews

I loved this story. I'm not a high school student and didn't read it as an assignment which might explain why my review is much more positive than some other reviewers. My parents were both born in North Dakota over a hundred years ago. I remember my Mother's parents telling stories about emigrating from Norway and arriving in North Dakota by rail in the 1890's. My Father's Mother also Norwegian/America was born in the year of the massacre at Wounded Knee (1890). So I was fascinated in reading a novel about the Norwegian immigrants experience. I've always loved History. I find as I get older and am retired that I have the leisure to explore books that give me a little insight into experience of fore-bearers.
Giants in the Earth is an excellent book. I bought it for my son, a doctor who loves reading American History. I read it in Paperback form. I bought my son the Hardback book, which is better in that it has easy to read print and an excellent introduction to the writer, Rolvaag. Alas, my son may have preferred I gave him the Paperback rather than the Hardback form. Paperbacks are easier for men to tuck anywhere and pull it up for a quick read, whereas I prefer to sit comfortabally for a long read.
I read the book in high school and never got it out of my mind. I ordered it from but received instead a book about dinosaurs, Giants ON the Earth! Then ordered, carefully, and got the correct paperback but the print was so small that I couldn’t read It! Finally I ordered it through inter library loan. WHEW! I am so glad to have gotten it. Now I’m going to read the next 2, through the library.
You will never be disappointed. This is a wonderful historic novel. It took me 50 years to read it again, but I’m delighted that I did.
I read this book in high school, loaned it to a friend and never got it back. It haunted it me all these years and had to replace it. It is an incredible story of the strength and courage of the early Norwegian settlers in the Dakota territories. It is beautify written and a book I enjoy reading repeatedly.
Written in the early 1900s for Norwegian audience this fictional account of the experience of newly migrated Norwegians to the prairies of South Dakota seems an accurate presentation of the many hardships indured by those immigrants as they established their homestead. It also has more than a sprinkling of religious extremism which influenced the settlers in, what I would consider negative ways. That religiosity resulted in a very sad ending to the book. I liked the book because it did a great job of relating much of what my ancestors endured during the mid 1800s when they settled in this same area of the Dakotas. Many of the same things, such as freezing to death during a winter whiteout were experienced by my family, but not influenced by religious fanaticism as portrayed in the book. If you had family who helped settle the Plains you may want to read this book to glimpse at what their experiences might have been. But, don’t expect this to be a light and fun reading experience!
I thought this was one of the most excellent novels I've read in a long while. It starts off slow, but it's clear from the very beginning that this will be a tragedy in line and based on the same format as the great Greek tragedies. They chose a lot of land with an Indian burial mound on it. Those circular life-death-rebirth themes run throughout the book. And Rolvaag does an exquisite job of psychologically portraying the characters. He entwined Norse mythology with Christian religion and issues of pride. Per Hans is a Manifest Destiny type man in love with the concept of more and more and pushing further. His wife,Beret, is old world and in love with her guilt. Both of their false loves hinder them from ever becoming fully one in their marriage as they pioneer these brave new lands, and I do love how the land itself is a character in it's own right.
The subplot foreshadowing their self undoing with the lost settlers whose child died is unnerving. But it was the way it was so for so many back then and central to the main plot. While others have critiqued the absurdity of Per Hans offering medical help to the Natives, it wasn't lost on me with the underlying message; they could be friends and could be civilized towards one another, the settlers and Natives, but so few in each of the tribes of both settlers and Natives, had an innate trust of the other...often more content to watch each other due off. And so while the realism isn't accurate, the potential for what could've been between the white settlers and natives is a fundamental historical fantasy of asking "what if?" Left on the reader when looking back.
I additionally liked the shift or tension introduced into the story when Per takes the Irish claim stakes out. The reader is left wondering if he'd not taken that upon himself, would things turned out differently? Both for the ending and his marital undoing as this is when Beret lost faith in her husband. When the claim jumpers come to claim their land (though perhaps not legally filed, they seemed to have been there first and therefore it was a theft of sorts), the Norwegian settlers viewed the Irish as savages and uncivilized. Hans Ola accidentally kills one when they get into a fight. This is telling since the Irish in Europe have historically been viewed as 'low on the totem pole', but also telling in so far as why this is a great American tragedy story. The views of other people being civilized or uncivilized and selfish gain helped Per Hansa justify stealing & then justified Hans Ola murdering the uncivilized. It's very similar to how the Native Americans were treated...no legal land claims on their land but they were there first. Their ways were viewed as savage and so the settlers could be justified in using excessive force when things went bad....when diplomacy and friendship weren't the first thought in mind. So these two characters paved the way for their undoing here in taking land and taking life. The ending is appropriately linked to this turn of events and in a most poetic way b/c the land didn't appreciate it.
Lastly, I've yet to hear in commentaries on this, and perhaps it is b/c those most interested in this book view it from their own Norwegian immigrant ancestry, but several Native tribes in the Americas have passed down oral stories of way back when of giant white men who once ruled the Americas. It ties back into the Christian Biblical quote as the title, but also interweaving the Norse mythology with the Native American people's tragic legacy. In that regard, Rolvaag is sheer brilliance in his poetic layering of meaning, story lines, plot and subplot as well as artistic lessons to ponder for some time even long after the story ends. Can't recommend this book enough.