Knut Hamsun (born Knud Pedersen) was a Norwegian writer, poet, dramatist, and social critic. Considered by some as the father of modern literature, his works spanned over 70 years in a myriad of subjects, environments, and perspectives. During his career, he published 20 novels, short stories, essays, a travelogue, and a collection of poems. His works have led to many attributing to him the status of “the leader of the Neo-Romantic revolt at the turn of the 20th century”. Many of his greatest novels, ‘Hunger’, ‘Mysteries’, ‘Pan’, and ‘Victoria’ were published during his initial writing years. These novels dealt with aggressive characters who fight the system and are outsiders or alone. As his writing matured, so did the themes in his work and focussed on civilizations instead of individuals. His greatness is sometimes marred by his choice of politics. He was a conservative with anti-egalitarian views. He was a Nazi sympathizer and invited the wrath of many of his readers. Despite his political affiliations, many famous authors have cited him as a great author and have been influenced by his work. His fans included H.G.Wells, Franz Kafka, Henry Miller, Herman Hesse, Charles Bukowski, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Arthur Koestler, and Thomas Mann.