FICTION.
THE GREAT HUNGER.*
The Great Hunger is not a story of famine but of conflicting aspirations and ambitions ; the root idea being that in the modern world, in which wealth, success, and the taming of the elements by applied science count for so much, true peace of mind is never attained save by renunciation and self-sacrifice. There is nothing essentially novel in the mere record of a boy—the illegitimate son of a well-born and prosperous father boarded out with a poor farmer— who with the aid of a small legacy from his father, but mainly by his own dogged energy and persistence, educates himself and provides for his natural sister, goes out into the world and becomes a great engineer and captain of industry. Up to a certain point this is primarily a story of self-help. But while the outlines are familiar, one finds originality, breadth, and freshness in the treat- ment of the first half of the book, culminating in the sudden and pitiful tragedy of his sister's death. And these qualities are even more markedly revealed in the unexpected sequel. Peer Holm returns to Norway while still a young man, marries happily, and Nettles down to enjoy his wealth in congenial surroundings. But the lure of adventure is still strong, and he embarks all hirsavings in a great commercial enterprise at the prompting of his half- brother, the apostle of the new creed, his patron and evil genius, a brilliant projector and speculator, who decamps on the collapse of the scheme. Peer loses all his savings, his health breaks down, and he is reduced to the position of pensioner on the bounty of his wife's people, already hard hit by his failure. Finally, after just missing a great success as an inventor, he resolves to earn his living as a village blacksmith, regains his health by hard manual labour, and appeases his great hunger by a crowning act of for- giveness to an ill-conditioned neighbour- who had been the cause of his child's death. This is a moving and noble romance, entirely free from the cold realism which disfigures a good deal of modern Scandinavian fiction, and excellently translated by Messrs. 1Vorster and Archer.
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