A modernist masterpiece the Nobel Prize winners first and most important novel A Penguin Classic First published in Norway in 1890 Hunger probes the depths of consciousness with frightening and gripping power. Contemptuous of novels of his time and what he saw as their stereotypical plots and empty characters Knut Hamsun embarked on an attempt to describe the strange peculiar life of the mind the mysteries of the nerves in a starving body. Like the works of Dostoyevsky it marks an extraordinary break with Western literary and humanistic traditions. For more than seventy years Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the Englishspeaking world. With more than 1800 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 uptodate translations by awardwinning translators. show more