4 h 53 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 53 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a forest where summer light scarcely fades, a man seeks freedom and finds a love he cannot master.
Thomas Glahn lives in a hut in northern Norway, hunting, fishing, and walking with his dog, Aesop. The forest asks nothing of him. Then he meets Edvarda Mack, the merchant's lively, changeable daughter. She draws him close and pushes him away, unsettling a man who wants both solitude and her love.
In Knut Hamsun's Pan, woods, sea, and weather feel as alive as the people. Glahn recalls his summer in a voice that charms but leaves gaps. Eva, the blacksmith's wife, offers another kind of warmth, while life around Mack's trading post brings social demands. Moods and sudden impulses shape a love story that refuses a straight path.
What you’ll discover
- A forest that breathes Enter a world of woods, sea, and lingering light that shapes Glahn's shifting moods.
- Love without steady ground Follow Glahn and Edvarda through an attraction pulled between longing, pride, and the wish for freedom.
- A voice worth questioning Listen closely to a charming, difficult narrator whose confession leaves room for doubt.
- Warmth beyond the forest Meet Eva, whose bond with Glahn offers a simpler warmth than his troubled attachment to Edvarda.
- Wildness meets social life Explore the clash between a hunter's solitude and a world that expects him to fit.
Who will love it
Readers who love nature writing, wild coastlines and the midnight sun will relish this novel of first love, feeling and wit. It also appeals to those drawn to outsiders and love shaped by pride.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A quiet summer opens to love
- The forest feels like company
- Edwarda draws his attention
- A public kiss brings happiness
- Shame turns affection into anger
- Pride makes kindness feel insulting
- The woods offer another self
- His voice reveals what he hides
- Attention speaks louder than indifference
Who’s who
- Thomas GlahnA lieutenant and hunter who lives alone in a hut by the forest and tells the story. He wants freedom, and love on his own proud terms.
- EdwardaThe trader's daughter, tall, restless and proud, who dreams of travel and a prince and tests everyone who loves her.
- Herr MackThe trader of Sirilund, boastful about his grandfather's diamond, fond of small tricks and keen to protect his house and name.
- The DoctorA limping, sharp-tongued man who corrects Edwarda's speech and watches Glahn closely, and who wants to shape her himself.
- EvaA young woman with a white kerchief who gives her warm, unconditional love to Glahn and asks little in return.
- The BaronA small, bespectacled Finn who studies the seabed, wears a coronet on his shirt studs and quietly wins Edwarda's attention.
- ÆsopGlahn's loyal hunting dog, his only company in the hut, who shares his meals and follows him through the woods.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Pan in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Pan
by Knut Hamsun · 1894
A lieutenant hunts alone in a northern forest until a trader's daughter kisses him in front of everyone.
Easy read2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with easy classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read in full
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Knut Hamsun, like more than one other Norwegian genius, won his first recognition in Denmark, where he spent a few months after his return from the United States.”
In short
Picture a man alone in a hut at the edge of a northern forest, with a dog, a gun and nights so bright that no star shows. He is happy, and he says so.
Pan at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 40 min2 h 10 min fast, 3 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 38,300 words
- Library level
- Easy short sentences, plain words
- First published
- 1894by Knut Hamsun
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Glahn finds a whole world in the forest
The book opens on a man who needs nothing more than he has. Thomas Glahn lives in a hut at the edge of a huge forest in Nordland. He has a gun, fishing nets and a dog named Æsop.
His days follow a plain rhythm. He shoots a grouse or a hare, roasts it on the hearth and tells Æsop how comfortable they are. Then he lies on the bench, smokes his pipe and listens to the trees sigh.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1894
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 10 min
- Level
- Easy read
Cite this edition
Hamsun, Knut. Pan. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan.
Hamsun, K. (2026). Pan. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan (Original work published 1894)
Hamsun, Knut. Pan. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan.
@book{hamsun2026pan,
author = {Hamsun, Knut},
title = {Pan},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan},
note = {First published 1894}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Pan
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Pan by Knut Hamsun about?
It follows Lieutenant Thomas Glahn, who spends a summer alone in a hut in northern Norway. He hunts, loves the forest and falls for Edwarda, the trader's daughter, in a story of passion, pride and misunderstanding.
Who is Pan in the novel?
Pan is the Greek god of wild nature. A powder horn carved with his figure hangs in Glahn's hut, and the name suggests the untamed forces in nature and in Glahn himself.
Is Pan a true story and when is it set?
It is a novel, published in 1894, though Hamsun draws on northern Norwegian settings. Glahn says it happened in the summer of 1855 and that he writes about it two years later.
The author
Knut Hamsun
1859–1952 · Norwegian novelist
Knut Hamsun (1859–1952) was a Norwegian novelist. He lived in Norway and spent periods in the United States during the 1880s. He published Hunger in 1890, Pan in 1894, and Growth of the Soil in 1917. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920.
“Sorrow and joy come from within.”
More by Knut Hamsun
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
