Niels Lyhne

By Jens Peter Jacobsen, Tiina Nunnally and Eric Johannesson

Niels Lyhne is an aspiring poet, torn between romanticism and realism, faith and reason. Through his relationships with six women—including his young widowed aunt, a seductive free spirit, and his passionate cousin who marries his friend—his search for purpose becomes a yielding to disillusionment. One of Danish literature's greatest novels, with nods to Kierkegaard and a protagonist some critics have compared to Hamlet, Jacobsen's masterpiece has at its center a young man who faces the anguish of the human condition but cannot find comfort in the Christian faith. Tiina Nunnally's award-winning translation offers readers a chance to experience anew a writer deeply revered by Rilke, Ibsen, Mann, and Hesse.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Jun 27, 2006
• ISBN: 9781101664032

Jens Peter Jacobsen

Jens Peter Jacobsen was born in Denmark in 1847. He studied botany at the University of Copenhagen and he translated Darwin's On The Origin of the Species and The Descent of Man into Danish. He published in 1872 his first work, the short story Mogens. One year later while travelling in Italy, he was diagnosed with TB. He wrote 2 novels Marie Grubbe (1876)and Niels Lyhne(1880)as well as some poems and short stories, before dying in 1885 at the age of 38.

Reviews for Niels Lyhne

[nielspeterqm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Classic novel on the challenge for a still constrained Nordic culture in absorbing Europe’s expansive ideals.

[pauliensijbers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rilke was right! J.P. Jacobsen is the greatest of all!