About this title: A novel by an Icelandic Nobel Prizewinner, about a sheep farmer who wants only to be an independent man. When his daughter expresses her own needs for independence, the battle of wills that results is both harsh and poignant. Brad Leithauser writes in his introduction: "I finished its last chapters one late afternoon in Rome, seated in an all-but-deserted café....I read as though furtively, hunched over the pages. I did this for two reasons. The light had turned dim. And I didn't want anyone to notice I was steadily weeping."
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 1946
Description: Very good. No dust jacket. Ex-library. HB: book haslabel and tape on spine, very light shelf wear, gilt on spine faded, upper spine/corners bumped, missing 1st cover page, stamps, library writing, book repaired between last text page and font info page. 470 p. read more
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf, NY
Date Published: 1946
Description: Book is good worn spine (one can barely read title), no jacket. 470 pages, shelf wear spine and tips owner book plae front end page board separating at 1/2 title page. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Good. No dust jacket. Moderate general wear, bumped corners, slightly rippled spine, interior lightly tanned. Text otherwise clean, unmarked. vi, 470 p. 22 cm. Blue clother over boards. read more
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 1946
Description: Good. No Jacket. Good. No Jacket 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Translated from the Icelandic by J.A. Thompson. Two books in one volume. Book 1 includes "Icelandic Power" and "Free of Debt; " Book 2 has "Hard Times, " Years of Prosperity, " and "Conclusion. " Centers around Bjartur, the crabbed, obstinate sheep raiser and fights to hold on to his land against all odds including snow, ice and semi-starvation. 470 pp. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: A. A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Good. No dust jacket. Nice vintage book in good cond. Dk. blue cover does show some wear. Inside text clean, but discolored, still tightly bound. Unknown printing. vi, 470 p. , 1 l. 22 cm. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A, Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Navy cloth binding is scuffed, spinecover tanning. Front inside hinge has 1.5" tear. Uncut pages are clean with no markings in text, binding is sound. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Navy cloth boards are scuffed with rubbed edges. Pages are clean, text has no markings, binding is sound.. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, NY
Date Published: 1946
Description: Very Good First US Edition HC. Ex-school library, but quite obviously seldom read. Nice boards and FINE interiors. 6" x 8.5", 470 pages. Written by a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, this brilliant novel is set in Iceland in the early twentieth century. Gudbjartur Jonsson buys his own croft after 18 years of service to the local bailiff, and brings his wife and his small flock of sheep there to build a new, independent life for himself. This is one of the great stories of all time. ... read more
Description: HB, A Borzoi Book/Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1946, possible First Edition? , translated from the Icelandic by J.A. Thompson. Navy cloth on boards with small gilt decoration to front is showing lightly bumped corners, shelf wear, rubbing, contents are clean and tight. Very Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A, Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Good in Fair jacket. Ex Libris. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Jacket is significantly chipped on all edges. Navy cloth binding is faintly sunned on edges, gilt lettering bright on spinecover. Uncut pages are clean with no markings in text, binding is sound. Prior owner name and date on fep. read more
Edition: First American Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Good in Good dust jacket. DJ has chipping and edge wear. Foxing and some soiling throughout. Black spotting on first couple end front papers. Boards have fading/aging on edges. Lightly bumped corners. "POS, Japan, Nov. 1947" written in ink on front end paper. Pages are tanning with age.; Translated from the Icelandic by J. A. Thompson. Nice, tight, clean pages. Unclipped DJ in mylar. "The life story, ancient, majestic, forever new, of the strong creative man who glories in this dependence on ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Trade edition, a later printing in 1946, the same year as first publication: maroon cloth, "3.00 net" and publisher name on DJ front-flap which also lacks the British opinions. --Hardcover. Condition: good-plus: spine lettering a little dulled; rear hinge cracked; owner name. Dust jacket with spine chip affecting title, smaller chips, edges rubbed. --The true American first (with the correct edition statement) is hard to find, often the blue cloth book club edition is mistakenly so labelled. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Very good, no dust jacket. (Hardcover) 470pp. Gilt decorated cover, gilt lettering on spine. Translated by J.A. Thompson. Locale: Iceland. (Fiction) read more
Edition: First American Edition
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Very Good in Good jacket. 8vo. vi, 470 pp. Translated from the Icelandic into English by J. A. Thompson. Some light edgewear to book; dustjacket is chipped and edgeworn with a few small closed tears. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf,, NY:
Date Published: 1946
Description: Very Good in Good dust jacket. Translated from the Icelandic by J. A. Thompson. First American edition. Very good in a good (edge worn and age darkened), price clipped dust jacket. read more
Edition: First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Very Good+ in a Very Good dust jacket. Two 1 inch chips to front panel, chips to spine. A rare copy of this Nobel Prize winning author's major novel.; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 148 pages. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf,, NY:
Date Published: 1946
Description: Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. Translated from the Icelandic by J. A. Thompson. First American edition. Very good in a very good (minor shelf wear and age toning) dust jacket. read more
"I don't know much about Icelandic history, culture or society, but apparently it is a country infected with a strain of stupid "rugged individualism" similar to the strain we have in the United States. This novel is a mordant satire of this outlook on life, and it manages to be moving at points as well.
The protagonist, Bjartur of Summerhouses, reminds me of no one so much as Don Quixote. Granted, unlike Don Quixote he is a modern and rational figure when it comes to the superstitions that still afflict his remote corner of Iceland, but his outlook on life is shaped by the old sagas that he recites from memory and with admiration. And like Don Quixote's obsession with the previous heroes of his national literature, Bjartur's unrealistic and foolhardy attempts to emulate his heroes are a source of amusement for the reader but the cause of suffering for the people closest to him, and ultimately Bjartur himself. His quest for "independence" is an undesirable one from the start, and it comes as no surprise that he loses even that in the end."
"I'm reading this because my friend Steven loved it so much. I don't think I've ever read a piece of modern (well, 20C) Icelandic literature, and I'm enjoying it, especially the parts written from Nonni's point of view. There is plenty in here for the fiber-obsessed (ahem) to enjoy. Our civilization really does rest upon the textile arts!
But warning, you might want to read this in warmer months. It would be a pretty bleak story in the dead of winter. You will be happy that your belly is full (assuming it is)."
"The jury is still out on this book--while Laxness is brilliant at character portraiture, he glorifies socialism in this work. I am fascinated by the portrayal of Icelandic people he conveys and desire to read more of his works. I think it would be fascinating to study what literary devices he uses effectively to persuade to his "flavor of the month" belief, i.e., Caholicism, anti-religious, socialism, anti-socialism, Taoism, etc."
"The first third of the book is so filled with misery as to be off-putting, but has sufficient points of light to keep one reading until the second 'book', when little waves of beauty and tenderness come lapping up to comfort you through the harsh Icelandic winter. There are, for instance, passages transcribing the inner lives of children that are heartbreakingly acute, and with great tenderness you are lead along with the characters until their actions seem inevitable and right, even as you dread the consequences.
In general, Laxness is unusually respectful, and interested in, the richness of human consciousness as it exists in the context of poverty and deprivation. He doesn't indulge the common novelistic habit of assuming that people are somehow less complex, their suffering more straightforward, maybe even less painful, when they live in difficult conditions and have few emotional and intellectual resources. These are lives lived with nuance, even on the edge of survival, eating "refuse fish".
This book really is an epic, though it covers less than thirty years in one man's life. I envy someone about to read it for the first time, and I can see that it will be a book I will re-read."
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