SOURCE: "Treacherous Ground," in Johan Bojer: The Man and His Works by Carl Gad, translated by Elizabeth Jelliffe MacIntire, Moffat, Yard and Company, 1920, pp. 256-60.

Roberts was an English journalist, editor, poet, and novelist. In the following essay, he delineates the plot of On Treacherous Ground and comments on the lyricism of Bojer's writing.

Some years ago the first Bojer book found its way into my hands and a review resulted in a number of inquiries as to who Johan Bojer was and where he lived. It was hardly necessary to answer questions because there have been few authors of whom one feels that they write themselves into their books more than Bojer. You can trace the intellectual development of this Norwegian through intellectual revolt to romantic realism. It is no paradox to declare that he is a romantic realist. He writes of men who fail because they...