FROM THE PUBLISHER:
"The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, Selma Lagerlof assured her place in Swedish letters with this popular book. Originally published in 1891, Gosta Berling's Saga was Lagerlof's first novel, and it remains widely acclaimed as her finest work. The 1924 silent movie version launched Greta Garbo's international career, introducing a new generation to these imaginative stories of peasant life amid the scenic splendor of northern Sweden.
Lagerlof drew inspiration from her grandmother's recountings of the legends, superstitions, and fairy tales of their native province in the rural Varmland region. Gosta Berling's Saga features a vivid cast of characters, headed by the eponymous hero, a country pastor whose appetite for alcohol ends his ministerial career. The former clergyman falls in with a dozen vagrant Swedish cavaliers, who steer him into a power struggle with the richest woman in the province. Steeped in supernatural lore, the novel marked a departure from the era's literary realism and helped usher in the Swedish Romantic revival of the 1890s. Its colorful vignettes and striking symbolism continue to enchant readers around the world."

(Paperback, 353pp.)

(This is number 807 from the book "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die".)

Here is the thread in the forum:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/3637496/1

I would like to share this book with you.
So I bought this English copy and want to send it out on a bookring around the world.

If you would like to take part in this ring, please send me a PM with your shipping preferences.

Please journal the book when you receive it.
This bookring is not a race! I don’t like stress, so if you need to keep the book more than four weeks, please just make a journal entry to let us know when you can send the book to the next person on the list. And, of course, make a journal when you have read the book and sent it. It’s alright to use surface mail.

List of participants:
booklady331 USA (pref. USA)
azuki USA (pref. USA)
Kaetzchen-GA USA (intl) asked to be skipped
Megi53 USA (intl)
spaceystacey USA (intl) <--- it's here
Nell-Lu Scotland (pref. UK)
Necroscope UK (pref. UK)
Tregossip UK (intl)
chich France (intl)
bluefenix211 Brunei (intl)
and back to Alvhyttan

This book was mailed today to booklady331, it will arrive in a week.

Sometimes I think people get more fond of their own country's classic literature because it’s a part of the inherited culture.
So for me it will be interesting to hear what people from other countries think about this Swedish classic book.

Hope that all of you will enjoy the read!

Arrived today. Thanks. I will read this next so that it can travel with Missing to the next person together.

Started the book last night. Only got 2 chapters read. It is a little slow starting. Hope it picks up.

I am glad I had this chance to read a classic from another country. Also, one that is on the 1001 books to read list. Thank you for sharing.

It will be in the mail on 7/31 to the next person on the ring.

Received in the mail. Thanks. This is my fourth bookring/ray book and so far I have been very lucky, they always arrive right when I am finishing up the previous one, so I should be able to start on this promptly.

Just finished reading it. At first I thought it's a collection of short folk-lores but later realized that the stories are all related, and like a snowball it rolls together and gets bigger and bigger.
The style is different from the novels I'm used to reading. I can imagine an old grandma sitting by the stove telling little kids the stories.
Thanks Alvhyttan for sharing! If not for the ring I most likely would never read it.
Will now start on Missing (which actually my husband just finished reading while I was reading this) and send both on to Kaetzchen-GA when done .

Kaetzchen-GA asked to be skipped. So this book and Missing bid each other a fond farewell, lots of hugs and kisses with promises to meet again, and go on separate way. Megi53 should be receiving this next week or two.

Got it today, and I'm looking forward to the "supernatural lore".

Nice Thoreau bookmark included :-)

Just checking in 'cause it's been about 4 weeks since I got this book and I'm going out of town for a couple of days.

It is stunningly good! Such astute observations about human nature. Some chapters are funny, some romantic, and some terrifying (the wolves! the smallpox! the breakwater!).

I just finished reading "The Iron from Ekeby". Tentative plans are to finish the book this weekend and mail it to spaceystacey on Monday or Tuesday: Oct. 23 or 24. (I have her address.)

So glad I joined this ring -- Gösta most definitely belongs on the list of "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"!

I had extra time to read on Thursday, finished the delightful book, and will mail it today.

Secondary characters like Major Anders Fuchs, Lilliecrona, and Captain Lennert were ever so fascinating. I absolutely loved the description of the green-clad, green-eyed Wood Nymph, with her power to bestow the gift of genius.

Someday I'd like to read these stories again, and share them with my grown children.

Received in the post today. Will be reading shortly and then sending out across the pond. Will pm next reader for his address this evening. Thank you for sharing this read.


Label/Receipt Number: 0306 1070 0001 4559 8759
Status: Enroute

Your item was processed and left our PHILADELPHIA, PA 19919 facility on October 23, 2006. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.

Thank you so much for sharing this one. Though the style of writing is very different from what I am used to reading, I really did enjoy this one.

6/11/2007 Off the to next reader on the list. This mailing did not go off as planned. Post was actually mailed on July 12, 2007.