![\"\"](\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_dmDaLWNETzg\/Sosbrf54AVI\/AAAAAAAAADE\/KJqBEWVh074\/s1600-h\/undsetNunnally1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\nSigrid Undset won the Nobel Prize in 1928 largely on the strength of her 1,100-page trilogy of Medieval Norwegian life, Kristin Lavransdatter. <\/i>I recently read it for the first time on the recommendation of a friend in Communion & Liberation (CL). I have since recommended it to other friends and family. Most people don\u2019t have the time for such a long read. Here\u2019s my Letterman list explaining why I think you should make the time. <\/span><\/p>\n 10. It starts out as a father-daughter story, and I am a sucker for father-daughter stories. <\/span><\/p>\n 9. It is a work of fiction in which faith <\/i>is central. Some would say faith is <\/i>fiction, and therefore so what? But faith, as Fr. Giussani taught and as CL makes clear, is quite the contrary. Faith is founded in Fact. <\/span><\/p>\n 8. Kristin lives in a world where family<\/i> is central. If you want to understand what it is about the traditional family that the Catholic Church holds sacred, read what a binding force family was in Kristin\u2019s world and then imagine how unhinged our world could be one day without it.<\/span><\/p>\n 7. Kristin lives in a world where sin <\/i>and its consequences are realities, <\/i>and few in the novel are more sinful than Kristin. Through her experience, we can better appreciate the role of sin in our lives and our need for forgiveness. <\/span><\/p>\n 6. Kristin\u2019s devotion to her husband, despite his screaming failings, is deeply touching, and I say that as a husband with failings, some of them pretty loud, who could not have married a more forgiving woman. In fact (this is a corollary of sorts to #8), the depth of love in even the most troubled marriages in the novel is a testament to the enduring value of family.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n 5. The liturgical calendar alone is used to date events in the novel. A death never occurs on August 6. It happens \u201ca week after St. Olav\u2019s Day.\u201d This, and countless other historical details, plunges the reader into a world as different and convincing as Tolkien\u2019s Middle Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n 4. The latest English translation, by Tiina Nunnally, is an award-winner and makes the story go down easy, even though you need a program to keep the players straight. As in the Russian system of \u2013oviches and \u2013ovnas, most characters have surnames ending in \u2013son or \u2013datter honoring their fathers.<\/span> <\/span>Can you guess the name of Kristin\u2019s father?<\/span><\/p>\n 3. To elaborate on #10, Kristin\u2019s father is a paragon of fatherhood. Undset was deeply devoted to her father, and that devotion shines through every page. Those of us who are fathers can only hope to be half the man Lavrans Bjorgulfson is. (If you\u2019re still paying attention, you have the answer to #4.) There are models of motherhood here too.<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Twice in the trilogy I wept openly for at least ten minutes\u2014and not at the end, incidentally. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever done that with any work of fiction. As events unfolded, I was astounded at the depth of even the secondary characters and of the secrets they had kept for hundreds of pages. <\/span><\/p>\n 1. The end is a stunner, and as right as rain\u2014worth every hour it took getting to. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n Sigrid Undset won the Nobel Prize in 1928 largely on the strength of her 1,100-page trilogy of Medieval Norwegian life, Kristin Lavransdatter. I recently read it for the first time on the recommendation of a friend in Communion & Liberation (CL). I have since recommended it to other friends and family. Most people don\u2019t have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,36],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-living","tag-books"],"yoast_head":"\n