Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Doug Flynn (A) on April 19, 2010 at 00:57:46

In Reply to: RE: Hamsun: Norway's accidental traitor . . . . posted by mr grits on April 18, 2010 at 22:19:42

Given the choice between Communism and Nazism, many Scandanavians (intellectual or otherwise) veered towards Nazism. That all Scandanavians fought against the Nazis is similar to the myth that all French were in the Resistance. In fact, a lot of continental Europeans, if given the choice between Communism and Nazism, would have chosen the latter (there were even some English who joined SS foreign legions - driven by hate of Communism rather than amity with Nazism).

Hamsun's unwavering belief in the individual drove him towards the Nazi view of the world. I can still forgive him though because he's always been my favourite writer. I wish he could have had the moral fortitude of Thomas Mann (my second favourite writer); his place in the firmament of great writers would then have been unassailable. On the other hand, he may not have given us his great works if he had been like someone else.

I find the writers who "chose the wrong side" during that period fascinating, such as Francis Stuart, T.S. Eliot, Ernst Junger.