Define Books In Pursuance Of Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk #1-4)
| Original Title: | Sjálfstætt fólk |
| ISBN: | 0679767924 (ISBN13: 9780679767923) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Sjálfstætt fólk #1-4 |
| Characters: | Bjartur í Sumarhúsum, Ásta Sóllilja, Nonni, Helgi, Gvendur, Ingólfur Arnarson, Rauðsmýrarmaddaman, Jón, hreppstjóri, Rósa, Finna, Hallbera |
| Setting: | Iceland |
| Literary Awards: | Premi Llibreter de narrativa Nominee (2005) |
Halldór Laxness
Paperback | Pages: 482 pages Rating: 4.17 | 8603 Users | 1203 Reviews
Identify About Books Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk #1-4)
| Title | : | Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk #1-4) |
| Author | : | Halldór Laxness |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 482 pages |
| Published | : | January 14th 1997 by Vintage (first published 1934) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literature |
Relation Supposing Books Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk #1-4)
This magnificent novel—which secured for its author the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature—is at last available to contemporary American readers. Although it is set in the early twentieth century, it recalls both Iceland's medieval epics and such classics as Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. And if Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to achieve independence is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic.Having spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur's spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching, elemental in its emotional intensity and intimate in its homely detail. Vast in scope and deeply rewarding, Independent People is simply a masterpiece
Rating About Books Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk #1-4)
Ratings: 4.17 From 8603 Users | 1203 ReviewsArticle About Books Independent People (Sjálfstætt fólk #1-4)
Emily randomly picked up this book for me in Powells a few years ago, and, after seeing it on our shelf, Brian selected it for book club. I don't know if I ever would have bumped into it on my own, which makes me understand Brad Leithauser's comment in the introduction that discovering "Independent People" makes you feel supremely lucky. What are the odds of stumbling upon an almost 500-page, densely woven, Icelandic novel from the 1940s, and further, what are the odds that it would be soWhat makes Halldór Laxnesss writing looks so terrific is his ability to create and manage every plainspoken and quotidian detail of domestic life feel epic. The overall feeling is of sorrow, darkness and solitude as if you are caught in the shack on the beach and all you can hear outside is the raging ocean waves. But when o-my-god-moment comes, you can feel the epicnessas it happens on every page. If any book can whip your soul back like a wind off the sea, this is it.Ah. The humour and the
This story of a man determined to be an independent smallholder raising sheep in the years before the first world war is a great book, for the right reader. As a book it has two principal obstacles to being universally enjoyed. Firstly, sheep are among the most important characters and much like their human dependants, their hardy virtues are easier to admire than love. Secondly, it is full of misery, worse yet, misery that is handled with irony and detachment. The simplest way of describing
In 874 CE a Norwegian chieftain, Ingólfr Arnarson, became the first permanent settler on the island that came to be known as Iceland. Ah, truly an independent man! One cant help but think that Gudbjartur of Summerhouses, the dominant character in Halldor Laxness Independent People, would have approved of such a state of affairs. As the novel begins, Bjartur has purchased his own piece of land, after working, for eighteen years, for the Bailiff. This is, despite the measly nature of the land and
Like World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is not just enough zombie story, but also a well written book; so too Independent People by Halldor Laxness is not just another book about Icelandic sheep crofters and separates itself from that crowded genre of literature by the quality of writing.The Nobel laureate from Reykjavik tells an engrossing and damn near hypnotic story about poor Icelandic farmers. And sheep.No kidding, SPOILER ALERT!! this is about a sheep crofter in early twentieth
An odd, yet intriguing story. Bjartur's drive for independence affects his entire life and family. Their world is bleak and hard. Buried in this story is the story of Iceland. It's the farmers being exploited, the rich being rewarded. It's a hard scrabble life.The prose is rich and deep. This isn't a book to read quickly. It requires a bit of commitment. The richness of the prose is the reward. The story of Bjartur and his family roles out in an interesting pattern. The landscape of Iceland
Little did I foresee that I would warm up to Bjartur, the roguish farmer, the more stubborn than a mule protagonist that Laxness chooses to construct this Icelandic epic around.Far from the national hero the title might suggest, the reader meets a curmudgeon, an ostensibly querulous peasant who is obsessed with earning his freedom at all costs. He never indulges in kindness and expects his family to break their backs to achieve his goal: owning a farmstead and a flock of sheep that are his means
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