Halldór Laxness

A literary anthology explores the natural wonders of the frozen landscapes of the Arctic in a compilation of first-person narratives, cultural histories, science and nature writing, and fiction.

Independent People, by Nobel-winner Halldor Laxness, is the story of Icelandic farmer Bjartur, his sheep, rocks, and the universe. Reviews Danny Yee's Book Reviews.

An unloved foster child in rural Icleand is convinced he will be a great poet. Over the years, he comes to lead a life of poverty, loneliness, ruinous love affairs.. but he will never attain greatness. --As imagined by Nobel Prize winner Laxness in this magnificently humane novel, what might be cruel farce achieves pathos and exaltation. As his hero's ambition drives him onward, "World Light" demonstrates how the creative spirit can survive in even the most crushing environment.--

In 18th century Iceland, a man becomes a fugitive after being wrongly accused of murder. Rating: based on 1 rating(s) 1 with a review

This is a novel about fish. And love. And, surprisingly, gender and feminism. Salka is an unlikely heroine, homely, coarse and ignorant; but not stupid. She is in possession of a vitality which cannot be defeated. Salka's struggle to find her place in a hostile world- a fickle mother, faithless lovers and lack of any real friends- is the common thread woven throughout the work. The book has a complicated mix of sub-themes: illegitimacy, incest, class, domestic abuse, infant mortality, hypocrisy, poverty, Socialism, Capitalism, and Christianity. As a novel of Social Realism, it can be ranked with the finest of Dickens, or even Zola's Germinal. Sprinkled throughout is Icelandic folk wisdom, dark humor, fatalism and a strong sense of the absurd. A tremendous book- certainly worthy of a new translation (translated from the Danish.) Source: [Laxness in Translation]