The Boat of Longing

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From the rocky, mist-enshrouded shores of Norway to the bustling streets of Minneapolis, O. E. Rolvaag lyrically chronicles the experiences of Nils Vaag, a young Norwegian immigrant. Abandoning the life of a fisherman in Nordland, a region poor but full of mystical beauty, Nils immigrates to the New World in 1912. There he sweeps saloons, lives in a boarding-house called “Babel” for the many languages used by its residents, and begins to find his way among the people of the city.

Chronicles the experiences of a sensitive young Norwegian immigrant to Minnesota and deals with the human cost of immigration. The book sharply contrasts a poetic vision of the homeland with the stark reality of life among the poor in Minneapolis in the 1910s.