Kristin Lavransdatter never runs this risk, because much of the story is told through folk legends and town gossip.įor instance, the first key conflict of the novel concerns Kristin discovering feelings for her childhood friend Arne just after being betrothed to Simon. One of the great shortcomings of many novels is that characters are often pawns and not people. In her novel Kristin Lavransdatter, she gives an entirely whole view of the world, or rather, of its characters by telling simple stories the way my mother did. Nobel Laureate, Sigrid Undset, is not too different from my mother in this way. My grandfather was always very present in my life, despite never speaking with him outside of my mother’s stories. There was always a form, a beginning, a middle, and an end, although once she reached the end she would trail off into a different story, making it seem like there really was no end.īecause of my mother’s stories, I always felt very connected to my family although they were in Mexico or France and I was in the United States. My head holds memories of my siblings and I seated at the kitchen table while my mother recounted times that her mother chastised her, her friends got her in trouble, or her then-boyfriend now-husband impressed her. Earlier this week, I realized my mother is the one who taught me how to tell a good story.
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