The Ring is Closed

Abel is the only son of a miserly lighthouse-keeper and an alcoholic mother growing up in a remote Norwegian village. As a boy he loves Olga, the pharmacist's daughter, and on returning from America as a young man they fall in love. However, Abel is haunted by the secrets of his travels and his only ambition is to live on the barest of necessities and pursue a life without desire or ambition. With a central character as iconoclastic as Hunger and an evocation of the restrictions of small town life as acute as Mysteries this is one of Hamsun's greatest novels. The Ring is Closed combines a central character as iconoclastic as that of Hunger with an evocation of the limitations of small-town life to equal Mysteries. Abel is the only son of a miserly lighthouse-keeper, after falling in love he leaves his life in a village in southern Norway and travels around the United States. He returns home, haunted by secret crimes, and now his only ambition is to live, on the barest of necessities, without desire or ambition. Abel allows all opportunities for another life - an inheritance, employment, relationships - to slip away while Hamsun questions what is the true meaning of work and life. Featuring an iconoclastic hero who refuses to accept the standards of his society, this novel is one of the Nobel Prize-winner's greatest works. The only son of a miserly lighthouse-keeper and an alcoholic mother, Abel grows up in a remote Norwegian village then travels around the United States. Upon returning from America as a young man, Abel falls in love with his longtime acquaintance Olga, the pharmacist's daughter. Haunted by the secrets of his travels, however, Abel determines to live on the barest of necessities and pursue a life without desire or ambition. Available in the United State After falling in love, Abel leaves his life in a village in southern Norway and travels around the United States. He returns home to live, on the barest of necessities, without desire or ambition. Abel allows all opportunities for a new life to slip away while Hamsun questions what is the true meaning of work and life