I'm really not sure what to make of this novel. There are some aspects of it that seemed interesting, like the various secrets that the characters seem to have. There are hints of murder, adultery, and other intrigue in this small Norwegian town, but they are left as merely hints. The protagonist is far too concerned with exploring the mysteries of his inner world to pay much attention to the outer world. I general didn't find Nagel to be a sympathetic protagonist or even a particularly interesting one. He had the potential to interest me, especially as he reminds me of the protagonist of The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, but that character actually did something, whereas Nagel just wanders around and talks. Worse, none of the mysteries about him or anyone else are ever really resolved. By the end I was definitely reading the book because I had to, not because I expected to find any sort of satisfying resolution. Overall, I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone, and I certainly don't plan to read any more of Hamsun's work. I can enjoy weird narratives, but this one was definitely not the right kind of weird.