The Ring is Closed combines a central character as iconoclastic as that of Hunger with an evocation of the limitations of small-town life to equal Mysteries. Abel is the only son of a miserly lighthouse-keeper, after falling in love he leaves his life in a village in southern Norway and travels around the United States. He returns home, haunted by secret crimes, and now his only ambition is to live, on the barest of necessities, without desire or ambition. Abel allows all opportunities for another life - an inheritance, employment, relationships - to slip away while Hamsun questions what is the true meaning of work and life.
- ISBN10 0285639560
- ISBN13 9780285639560
- Publish Date 9 July 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Profile Books Ltd
- Imprint Souvenir Press Ltd
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 321
- Language English