Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Books and sagas
With a population of barely over a quarter of a million, Iceland boasts more
writers per capita than any other country in the world. The long dark winter
months are said to be the reason so many folk put pen to paper, and
native-language books on all matters Icelandic can be found in shops across
the country. Conversely, as the Icelandic-language market is so small, prices
can be inordinately high - specialist publications cost the equivalent of
hundreds of dollars, and even a popular-fiction paperback comes in at
around 3000kr.
On the other hand, the
sagas
and associated literature have been widely translated into
English - Penguin Books, Everyman and Oxford University Press publish a good range
of the longer sagas and their own compilations of the shorter tales, some of which are
reviewed below (with the publisher of specific compilations indicated in brackets).
Icelandic
Review
also publishes a series of collections of folk tales, lesser sagas, and
mythologies, available in bookshops across Iceland.
There's an increasing amount of
contemporary
fiction
available in English, too,
though it's not always easy to find outside of Iceland. Foreign books about Iceland
remain, unfortunately, remarkably scant, and often lapse into “land of fire and
ice”-style clichés.
HISTORY AND CULTURE
Ì
Hugleikur Dagsson
Avoid Us
(aka
Should You Be
Laughing at This?
). Daggson's cartoon strips of stick-figures
engaged in outrageous activities have made him a national
icon in Iceland; on publication in English, The
Irish Sun
tabloid clamoured “Ban This Sick Book”. Not for the easily
offended - his strip runs in the free English-language
magazine
Reykjavík Grapevine
.
David Roberts
Iceland Land of the Sagas
. Beautiful glossy
pictures by photographer Jon Krakauer accompany the rich
text in this coffee-table book of Iceland.
Ì
Anna Yates
Leifur Eiríksson and Vínland the Good
. An
excellent and readable account of the discovery of North
America by Icelandic Vikings. A thorough argument of
where exactly Vínland is accompanies debate on why the
Norse settlements in North America died out.
Þráinn Bertelsson
My Self & I
. Fine autobiography by one
of Iceland's most respected film directors and writers,
focusing on growing up in 1950s Reykjavík as Iceland was
rediscovering itself in the wake of new-found independence.
Johannes Brøndsted
The Vikings
. Solid overview of the
causes and motivation of the Viking explosion through
Europe, focusing mostly on Scandinavia rather than Iceland
but giving heaps of details - backed up by archeology -
about religion, customs and daily life.
Jesse Byock
Viking Age Iceland
. A bit academic in character,
but helpfully fills in background on the environment,
politics and peoples of Iceland's “Viking republic”.
Victoria Clark
The Far Farers
. Lively, if slightly shallow,
account of Clark's attempt to footstep the route that took
an Icelander named Thorvald to Jerusalem, reinforcing how
worldly and well travelled many Vikings were.
MODERN FICTION
Ì
Frans G. Bengtsson
The Long Ships
. Buckle your
swash for this lusty novel of Viking times, as the
irrepressible hero Orm hacks and pillages his way across
northern Europe. Though not set in Iceland, it evokes the
period with historical accuracy while never letting up on
the rollicking, good-humoured pace.
Einar Már Guðmundsson
Angels of the Universe
. A
sad, challenging story of a young Icelandic man's
descent into schizophrenia and the way society treats
him, based on the life of the author's brother. Difficult
reading at times but never patronizing or pointlessly
grim - a great work.
Hallgrímur Helgason
101 Reykjavík
. A wry look at the
undemanding values of a modern urban existence,
centring on the self-inflicted crisis-ridden life of Reykjavík
resident Hlynur Björn, a 30-year-old slacker living at home
with his mother. It's also been made into a film that catches
the topic's humour superbly.
