Not surprisingly, bookstores in Iceland promote Halldór Laxness and various Icelandic crime writers. I've read several Laxness books and wasn't interested in the crime genre, so I went for a book by Sjón, the Icelandic novelist, poet, and playwright.
As expected from a book by a poet, From the Mouth of the Whale is stronger in its imagery than its plot. The narrator is Jónas Palmason, a self-taught healer in the 17th century. His talent for curing "female maladies" and his obsession with examining dead ravens make him an outcast, suspected of witchcraft. He is banished to a deserted island off the coast, where he considers man's origins and his place in the natural world.
From the Mouth of the Whale has some striking passages, especially in its vivid depictions of the world from Adam's perspective, but it completely lacks narrative drive. Maybe I should have tried one of the crime novelists.
As expected from a book by a poet, From the Mouth of the Whale is stronger in its imagery than its plot. The narrator is Jónas Palmason, a self-taught healer in the 17th century. His talent for curing "female maladies" and his obsession with examining dead ravens make him an outcast, suspected of witchcraft. He is banished to a deserted island off the coast, where he considers man's origins and his place in the natural world.
From the Mouth of the Whale has some striking passages, especially in its vivid depictions of the world from Adam's perspective, but it completely lacks narrative drive. Maybe I should have tried one of the crime novelists.
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