The road to the world's end

Sigurd Hoel (1890-1960) was one of the most influential literary figures in Norway between the wars. His scope was broad; besides being a major novelist, he was a subtle and incisive literary critic, a vigorous cultural commentator, and a distinguished editor. The poet Andre Bjerke said at Hoel's death in 1960: "Had he written in English, he would have had a worldwide reputation." Among Hoel's major writings are The Road to the World's End, The Troll Circle, and Meeting at the Milestone. The Road to the World's End is a classic study of childhood and adolescence. Though the book has a dense image structure and a thematic range and depth that only an adult mind and sensibility could master, throughout its changing perspectives the narrational voice remains that of a growing child and a developing teenager.