The Long Journey

Johannes V. Jensen · 1873–1950 · Denmark

Originally Den lange rejse (Danish) · translated by A. G. Chater

Why it matters

From an ice-age forest to Columbus's Atlantic crossing, humanity's whole ascent retold as a chain of mythic heroes discovering fire, ships, and gods. Genesis rewritten by Darwin: the strangest and most ambitious epic in the Nobel's early history.

At a glance

Visionary leaps across millennia, with mythic rather than novelistic logic binding the parts.