Comments on: Kristin Lavransdatter: The Cross – Book Review

By: Caribousmom

Caribousmom — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:13:27 +0000

Valerie: I also liked the first book the best…and it actually could stand alone, I think. I think reading them all back to back allowed me to enjoy the more because I really got involved in the story and lives of the characters. Breaking them up might give one a different experience for sure.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 01:41:26 +0000

I think of the three books in the trilogy, I enjoyed the first one, “The Wreath” the most. And, that it would have been enough for me to read that just that one to get a feel for medieval Norway. Still, I’m glad I managed to read the entire series. Perhaps, since your pacing was different while reading this, allowed you to enjoy it more.

By: Caribousmom

Caribousmom — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:35:12 +0000

Richard: I was so far behind all of you until right at the end! But I did have fun reading other people’s thoughts by following the links. I think it is interesting to see how polarized everyone seemed to be – love it or hate it pretty much!

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:57:34 +0000

Wendy, wish you could have joined us for the readalong! I ended up hating Kristin Lavransdatter for its overabundance of soap opera-style dramatics and what I felt was its completely uncompelling writing, but your appreciation for the trilogy might have made for some interesting discussions with those who were less fond of Undset’s style (I think most readalong participants wound up somewhere in between our two reactions to the work, though). Anyway, nice to see your post and I’m glad you enjoyed the work.

By: Caribousmom

Caribousmom — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:33:56 +0000

Kathy: Thanks – it was a big undertaking at the end of the year, but I’m glad I did it

Allie: I agree – hard to find consistency in a trilogy.

Rhapsody: Perhaps the obsessive mothering is what drove them away? I know that kids who feel controlled and smothered often can’t wait to be on their own.

El Fay: The Wife was a bit of a drag. I hope you can get into The Cross…which I think is much better (especially the latter half).

By: EL Fay

EL Fay — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:59:40 +0000

I've been hearing that The Cross is an improvement over The Wife. I haven't started it yet, though - I'm almost done with The Wife but I've gotten so tired of it I can't seem to pick it up again.

By: rhapsodyinbooks

rhapsodyinbooks — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:29:40 +0000

I found it interesting how, after all that supposed obsessive mothering, the boys couldn’t wait to get away from K. and some of them even lost all communications with her.

By: Allie

Allie — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:18:58 +0000

This sounds like an interesting series. It’s hard to find a trilogy where all three books are equally good. It’s nice that it ended well though.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:04:07 +0000

Reading that trilogy is quite an undertaking and commitment and I’m very impressed that you did it. It sounds so good – maybe I’ll get to it one of these days.