De swiere winst by Douwe Kalma
"De swiere winst" by Douwe Kalma is a novel written in the early 20th century. It follows Sjoerd Lolkes, a young Frisian who returns from military service to the slow, demanding rhythms of rural labor and finds himself torn between freedom, ambition, and duty. With the quiet guidance of his resilient grandmother Minke and the pull of his beloved Anne, he seeks a life that matches his inner hunger for greatness without
losing his moral footing. Nature’s radiance and village sobriety frame an intimate, psychological coming‑of‑age. At the start, Sjoerd works on a terp in a brilliant early-summer light, feeling out of place among older, steady laborers and repelled by a coarse new coworker; he longs for the open vitality he knew during service yet senses it cannot sustain him. The narrative then turns to Minke, his grandmother: a poor, dignified widow marked by grief—husband lost to lightning, one son dead young, another ruined by drink—who took in Sjoerd as a child and raised him with clear-eyed love and restraint. That evening, Minke perceives his unrest and gently steers him toward what is good “here,” naming Anne; Sjoerd resolves to go to her, newly certain. But on his way a wave of guilt over past affairs in the garrison world surges up, and he fears he can no longer look at Anne with the unshadowed purity he craves—an inner conflict that sets the tone for the story’s unfolding. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Kalma, Douwe, 1896-1953 |
|---|---|
| Title | De swiere winst |
| Original Publication | Sneek: A.J. Osinga, 1921. |
| Language | Frisian |
| LoC Class | PF: Language and Literatures: West Germanic |
| Subject | Frisian fiction |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77417 |
| Release Date | Dec 7, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 184 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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