Hunger cover art

Hunger

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Hunger

By: Knut Hamsun
Narrated by: Gunnar Cauthery
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Verging on death, a starving, destitute writer navigates the cold and indifferent city of Kristiania in search of his next meal. Frenzied and fevered, he chews on stale bread, devours scraps of wood, and bites his own finger, sleeping under the stars in old, pungent blankets, until one day he is able to sell an article and buy some food - only for the cycle then to repeat itself....

Knut Hamsun's first novel, Hunger, won the author the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920 and went on to influence the likes of Albert Camus, Franz Kafka, Charles Bukowski, and Henry Miller. This recording uses the 1996 translation by Sverre Lyngstad, which is considered to be the definitive version in English.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Naxos Audiobooks (P)2019 Naxos Audiobooks
Classics Fiction Literary Fiction
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Man Without Qualities cover art
Don Quixote cover art
On the Origin of Species cover art
The Trial [Naxos AudioBooks] cover art
The Magic Mountain cover art
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest cover art
Buddenbrooks cover art
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey cover art
Solaris cover art
Fahrenheit 451 cover art
A Doll House cover art
Ulysses cover art
Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh cover art
Blind Owl cover art
Blood Meridian cover art
The Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson cover art

What listeners say about Hunger

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hunger and Madness

could occasionally be heavy going and even repetitive, but rises above the dangers of describing the monotonous and banal to weave a magical spell of the despair and desperation of hunger.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Emptiness Fulfilled

His step by step journey and thought processes revealed disorganised chaos and a mad determination to lose…or so it seemed to me…
I had to keep listening. The reader was perfect in his rendition.
Highly recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hypnotic descent into abjection

It was sometimes hard to believe Hunger was first published in 1890 while listening to this: it seemed so modern. Admittedly some of this is to do with the translation, which is immensely fresh and readable, but also because the style and content differed so from the typical novels of the era. It involves a young writer's descent into poverty and starvation, and details his psychology and actions during the process. It is harrowing, but also funny and lively, and despite the bleakness never less than scintillating. I would describe it as a hypnotic journey for those with an interest in existential or philosophical literature (Kafka, Camus, Sartre, et al.), but this should not suggest that it is in any way dense or didactic: it is above all other things a highly readable and affecting examination of a man's fracturing psyche and failing body, and I would recommend it to anyone seeking good, and historically important, literature.

I must also mention how great the reader was: I felt that his tone was perfect for the character, and that his pace and rhythm enhanced the above mentioned hypnotic nature of the text, while also accentuating the humour and pathos. Thanks to Naxos for continually bringing these kinds of classic, but lesser read, texts to audiobook, and for consistently using excellent readers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Grim and gritty, but believable

The most believable story of poverty and hunger that I have read / heard. The thought processes and (sometimes embarrassing) behaviours of the protagonist will resonate with anyone who has found themselves jobless and homeless for a protracted period.
I think the book worthy of its Nobel prize and well worth reading, but if you do not know the author you may wish to acquaint yourself with his naive attempts to appease Hitler (if that might bother you).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

What is the plot??

It was boring. couldnt finish it. No plot just hunger and how it's ravaging his physical and mental state.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!