Knut Hamsun was praised as "Norway's soul" and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. His literary debut was HUNGER, which is today hailed as a psychological masterpiece and as one of the first examples of a modernist masterpiece. Written after Hamsun's return from an ill-fated tour of America, HUNGER is based on the author's own impoverished life before his big breakthrough. It recounts the adventures of a starving young man whose sense of reality is giving way to a delusionary existence in the darker side of a modern metropolis. While he vainly tries to maintain an outer shell of normalcy, his mental and physical decay are recounted in detail. He is unwilling to pursue a professional career, which he deems unfit for someone of his abilities. The novel has been hailed as the literary opening of the 20th century and an outstanding example of modern, psychology-driven literature. It hails the irrationality of the human mind in an intriguing and sometimes humorous way.
