Jonas Lie was far from nodding in "The Barque Future" (1872). There was
an abundance of interest in the material, and a delightful picturesque
vigor in the descriptions of nature. But of romantic interest of the
kind which the ordinary novel-reader craves, there was very little. _A
propos_ of "The Barque Future" let me quote a bit of general
characterization which applies to nearly all the subsequent works of
Jonas Lie.
"It is in this particular that Jonas Lie most distinctly diverges from
all romanticism and romance-writing: His interest in practical affairs,
his ability to see poetry in that which is contemporary. The sawdust in
the rivers has never offended him, nor the Briton's black cloud of
coal-smoke. The busy toil of office and shop is not prose to him. He
penetrates to the bottom of its meaning--its significance to
civilization."[16]
[16] Arne Garborg: Jonas Lie, p. 172.
"The Barque Future" is, as regards its problem, Gustav Freytag's _Soll
und Haben_ ("Debit and Credit") transferred to Nordland.
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