Hunger by Knut Hamsun. Short summary

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The narrator lived a very poor life. He was constantly haunted by hunger, which made him behave inadequately. After losing his last money and his lodging, the hero decided to become a sailor.

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The narrator lived very poor and was constantly hungry. He tried to earn money for articles, but it was not enough for a normal life. He could not get a job, either because he had no money or because of his health.

The hero gradually mortgaged all of his belongings. Hunger made him behave inadequately: he gave his vest to a loan shark and the money he received to a poor cripple.

His articles were often rejected because of distracting topics uninteresting to his readers. He lost his vest, hunger constantly haunted him. He slept in the woods, in a police station.

Relationships with people did not work out. When he met a stranger, he remembered her image and named her Elayali. The girl and her friend were frightened by the hero’s behavior, so things did not go beyond a conversation.

In the end, the hero decided to change and joined the ship as a sailor.