Mysteries

Mysteries tells the story of Johan Nagel, an eccentric young man who arrives in a small coastal town in rural Norway one midsummer evening in 1891. Nagel’s garish yellow suit and peculiar demeanour attract the curious gazes of the townspeople, creating a whirlwind of intrigue and speculation among them. His presence disrupts their peaceful lives and acts as a catalyst for change, revealing the townspeople’s hidden impulses and desires. Despite his strong understanding of human nature, Nagel begins to unravel when he meets Dagny, the parson’s daughter, who is engaged to a young naval officer, and becomes obsessively infatuated with her, leading to his own self-destruction. A seminal work that significantly influenced 20th-century literature, Mysteries delves into what Hamsun described as ‘the strange and peculiar life of the mind’, raising questions about the mysteries that govern people’s actions and motives.