Moving, perceptive book about religious mania, full of both intellectual and emotional intelligence. The author, who was herself deeply religious, does an excellent job of telling the story without judging the main characters. Extremely relevant to the world today - it's a shame this book isn't better known. The film is also outstanding, and equally unknown outside Sweden.

Lagerlöf is clearly a talented writer, and it took far too long to find and read something of hers. Jerusalem is a generational story of village life and an investigation into the roles of religion. She takes into account the many parts of religion: how it is a form of social connection, a way of explaining the world, and a way for people to form new movements and cast aside material values. She has a keen eye for human behavior, and I was impressed by her depictions in a direct style. I'm stil [...]

Selma Lagerlöf was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. " The Wonderful Adventures of Nils" was a much beloved story when I was little and I even returned to it as an adult. Despite this, and despite having read and liked other works by the same author, I was surprised at how modern and relevant this book was.It's a story about a Swedish community that get invaded by a religious sect. That's basically what happened, although it is subtly told. It's the story about people who le [...]

En klassiker skriven av en av sveriges mest kända författarinnor. Boken handlar om en grupp bönder i Dalarna som beslutar sig för att åka på välfärd till Jerusalem där de stöter på problem som endast Herren själv kan hjälpa dem med. Boken speglar ett samhälle för lite mer än 100 år sen men som man ändå väldigt enkelt kan dra kopplingar mellan till idag. Riktigt bra berättelse som får en att reflektera om än det ena och än det andra.

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.This is not my cup of tea. Or I am not in the right mood to read it, who knows?

On the same day that he arrives in the holy land after never before even setting foot outside his own village, a middle-aged pilgrim comes down with a fever that proves to be fatal. Dying, he asks his companions to carry him into Jerusalem so he can at least see God's city first-hand. As they carry him through a noisy, stinky, crowded city full of people of three different faiths going about their regular business, they point out the landmarks to him: this is where the last supper was held, this [...]

‘Jerusalem’ was my first book authored by Selma Lagerlof, an authoress I am certain I would have never read and a chance encounter made this possible. With a splendid description and an equally splendid narration, Selma Lagerlof left me both amazed and shocked with ‘Jerusalem’. ‘Jerusalem’ narrates the simple but gargantuan story of changing dogmas and faith in a village tucked away in the lush green highlands of Sweden. It spans over two generations and faith is what Selma Lagerlof [...]

I find the book a little bit to lengthy. Really long bits that is just descriptive and adds nothing to the story, but gives flesh to the characters. I've mixed feelings about it. The language is beautiful, the narration and descriptions lovely, so I hated it, even if I loved it.Well build characters. It was a bit scary to see how fanatic they were, specially in the beginning. Interesting note she made that it was the Christians in Jerusalem that fought each other, not Christians against Jews and [...]

An unexpectedly fun read. Nice ending, with not everything wrapped up neatly, but also not leaving the reader feeling a sequel is needed. I would now like to read more of her books, and I see why she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her description of the life of 'ordinary' people is well done without being sentimental, or too verbose or academic.

På många sätt en fantastisk bok. Hon är otrolig på att skildra livsödena. Jag har ingen aning om hur mycket som grundar sig på verkliga händelser, men jag blir väldigt nyfiken att ta reda på mer. Jag vet inte heller om Lagerlöf var nere i Jerusalem, men miljöbeskrivningar och förståelsen för landet är mycket detaljrika och målande. Mycket läsvärd.

Selma's great talent is showing fully in this compelling story. Every description has its place and meaning and in spite of the length and theme, this is a truly "unputdownable" novel. The historical setting is meticulously accurate and this makes it an interesting read. Her empathy for the characters and her lyrical prose are a joy to read.

This is a great book. it has depth but also an interesting finish which kept me riveted. What begins as episodes from the lives of farm folk in a parish in the back country of north central Sweden moves outward to Palestine, to a totally different milieu, braiding together seeming unrelated people and events until we return to Dalarna and it all comes together. Ok, that's mostly bullshit, but nevertheless true. What I missed was a genealogy, although most characters were clear and their relation [...]

First, before I begin my review, I just want to remark how strange it is that the only thing I remembered about "Jerusalem" before I started reading the novel was that it was about Swedish farmers that travel to Jerusalem, and that one of the main characters was a young girl. It's strange, because the movie, by Billie August, is one of my mother's favorites and I have seen parts of it multiple times during my childhood plus I'm kind of certain that we watched the movie during our Swedish classes [...]

The country folk of Dalecardia in Sweden go about their daily lives and try to follow the will of God. Two generations of Ingmar Ingmarssons rely mainly on the faith and tradition of previous Ingmar Ingmarssons, others are more swayed by the latest preacher in the village. People fall in love, make mistakes, get married, try not to gossip about their neighbours, make money or lose it, have arguments, hurt each others feelings, become reconciled or not and generally live their lives.This is a gen [...]

Lite mycket Gud va? Annars är den intressant och rolig och fin och skildrar mycket fint människors livsöden från bara i några rader för nån bifigur till Ingmar själv. Lite seg kanske men ändå spännande med Jerusalemsskildringen. Men är det inte lite väl mansdominerat också? Eller alltså varför är guds plan att alla runtom ska vara brickor i Ingmarssönernas spel?!"Där bodde ett dåligt folk, sådant där utskum, som tillverkas, då Vår Herre vänder bort ögonen eller är syss [...]

I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. I'd heard a lot about it, mostly people saying that it was boring and long-winded, so I was a bit apprehensive when we had to read it for book club. It ended up not being boring at all though, and I really enjoyed it :-) It's about a group of Swedish farmers, who decide to move to Jerusalem to help the poor there. I think it takes place in 18-something if I recall correctly. Interesting book. It did have a rather amusing quote though - ended up being [...]

წიგნი, სადაც კარგადაა ნაჩვენები, თუ როგორ ქმნიან ადამიანები საკუთარ ბედს თავად. "ღმერთმა ასე ინება", "ეს ამიტომ მოხდა", ფიქრობენ სელმას გმირები და თავად ქმნიან ცხოვრების ბორბალს."ზოგჯერ ისე ხ� [...]

I think this book is very original. It often veers in unexpected directions. It challenged me when I did not expect to be challenged. It clearly illustrates the many strings that are pulling on all of us, making us act as we do. It illustrates how our own strings get intertwined with others' strings, and a real mess results! But it also shows how the mess can become untangled, sort of. It is beautiful and funny.

This is a book about a whole Swedish town in the 18th century, where almost everyone living there left their homes in Sweden for the promise land in Jerusalem.As they were soon to notice, thing's weren't what they had hoped for.This book is heartbreaking, to say it least, but when the crops in Sweden died, they had nowhere to go. It shows us what people can do out of desperation. And how strong the urge to live and survive is.

I read the e-book version of this from and I have to think that it was only "part 1" of a longer work. (view spoiler)[Other reviews here seem to be implying that they actually did go to Jerusalem. But my book was at 100% at a railway station. (hide spoiler)] In that sense, it was only okay. The characters and setting were well-drawn but nothing much seemed to happen.

3.5: An older book about a well-established Danish farming community that's upended by a religious pot-stirrer who convinces half the community to emigrate to Jerusalem. Based on a true event. A good story for our times showing the disruption and destruction that religious fundamentalism can cause.

På många sätt en fantastisk bok. Hon är otrolig på att skildra livsödena. Jag har ingen aning om hur mycket som grundar sig på verkliga händelser, men jag blir väldigt nyfiken att ta reda på mer. Jag vet inte heller om Lagerlöf var nere i Jerusalem, men miljöbeskrivningar och förståelsen för landet är mycket detaljrika och målande. Mycket läsvärd.

"Strange, when you ask anyone's advice you see yourself what is right. Even while you are asking, you discover all at once what you hadn't been able to find out in three whole years."

The way it´s written and the speed of the plot make this book completely contemporary.Even more interesting if you consider that the whole thing is based on a true story.

La historia en sí llega a ser un poco desesperante, pero debería ser usado en clases de redacción. Además la traducción es exacta.

This is one of those very few cases when the movie is better than the book. But still, a really good book. "Inte kan det vara vackrare i backarna i Jerusalem, än här".

Different Enjoy her writing style but somehow I missed the point of this story. I Enjoyed other works of hers more.

A beautiful story about love and belonging, spanning two generations of farmers in 19th century Sweden.

Puntuaciòn: 4,5/5Magnìficamente narrado, construcciòn de personajes y desarrollo de la trama Al igual que esta colonia de campesinos, emprendì un viaje con ellos hacia la tierra prometida."Usted es la joven Amèrica que quiere probar toda clase de aventuras y yo soy la veterana Inglaterra que conoce el mundo y sabe que es posible y que no" -P. 272 La trama basicamente es esa concepciòn dual del estar y conformarse con lo que se tiene y el riesgo que se toma al querer buscar algo mejor creo [...]

Selma Lagerlof scrive questo romanzo con la delicatezza e la leggerezza di un contastorie, evocando un immaginario fiabesco molto legato alla sua terra, la Svezia. I contenuti sono però basati su fatti realmente accaduti intorno alla fine dell'800, ovvero la migrazione di un gruppo di agricoltori svedesi a Gerusalemme per mettere in pratica le idee di un nuovo cristianesimo, fondato a Chicago in quegli anni. La Lagerlof describe senza giudicare le dinamiche che si creano tra i nuovi coloni e tr [...]