Why Lucky Per should be a classic novel, and why it hasn't been recognized

There's no doubt in my mind that Henrik Pontoppidan's Lucky Per (1904) would be a classic in world literature had it been written in English, French, of German - but the fact the HP was Danish has pushed this novel into near-obscurity and has made HP's name kind of a standing joke for undeserved Nobel Prizes. It's a great novel, straddling the 2 centuries, and has a chance for a wider readership thanks to the new tr. (Naomi Lebowitz - I may have more to say about her tomorrow after I read her translators afterword) from Everyman library. Yes, the debates in the last section about faith and the various ways of practicing Christianity feel kind of obscure to contemporary readers (though no more so than the philosophical debates in Magic Mountain), and yes the anti-Semitism is troubling (though some of his Jewish characters are fully rounded and sympathetic, notably Jakobe Salomon), and yes the Danish place names can be difficult going for those who don't know the language (but no more so than the Russian names in War and Peace et al.), but altogether this book gives us all we'd want in a major novel - complex and fully rounded characters - particularly the central character - who interact w/ one another and grow,over time, a well-realized socio-historic background, beautiful but not overwhelming passages of description, sharp and credible (for the most part) dialogue, and a moral compass against which to measure the strengths and flaws, deeds and misdeeds of the major characters.