"A Happy Boy" was written in 1860 by Bjornstjerne Bjornson
- It's Borenson's best peasant life story. He is the first Norwegian poet who can in any way be called a national title. The national genius, with its limitations and virtues, found a living embodiment in it. Whenever he opens his mouth, it is as if the nation itself is speaking. If he wrote a small song, hardly a year would pass before its sentences transmitted to the popular discourse of the people; Composers compete for the honor of simply interpreting it. He has great talent, a clear conscience, and beautiful art. He has my love not only because he is a poet of the highest honesty, but because he is a man's lover, with faith in him as if he can move mountains of ignorance, dullness and greed. He is on Tolstoy's side in his willingness to introduce himself to his type; If he would rather blow himself into the fight than suffer badly, I don't know that his self-sacrifice is of the slightest degree. The author has succeeded in painting the characters with remarkable distinction, while his deep psychological insight, his non-artistic simplicity of style, and his full sympathy for the hero and his surroundings were not evident anywhere else. This view is supported by the massive popularity of "A Happy Boy" across Scandinavia. Bjornstjerne Martinus Bjornson (1832-1910) is a Norwegian writer and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903. He is generally considered one of the "Big Four" Norwegian writers. Bjornson received his high school diploma at the University of Oslo in 1852, and soon began his career as a journalist, with an emphasis on drama criticism. In 1857 Seneff Solbaken published his first peasant novel. This was followed by Arne (1858), the most important specimen of his peasant tales.
Although Bjornson was introduced to his novels and played songs of unusual beauty, he was never a prolific writer of poetry. Between 1864 and 1874 he was mainly busy with politics and his work as a theater director. He was charged with high treason, Björensen's political views, and took refuge for some time in Germany. The topic of most interest to him was the issue of bonds, the adoption of a national language of Norway that differs from the Dansk-norsk language. Among his famous works: Absalom's Poetry (1898), Three Comedies (1912) and Three Plays (1914). Bjornstjerne Bjornson is A.