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Independent People by: Halldor Laxness

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Rating: - Live thru several long Icelandic winters--BORING

Well, I hate to sound unsophisticated, but I for one missed the reason this book earned a Nobel Prize for the author. It is an epic of despair, which could easily have been written in 1/3 the pages. I found the plot completely unengaging.

Rating: - An Icelandic epic

Every year, I try to read at least one classic work of fiction, whether I need to or not. So far in 1998, my choice has been Halldor Laxness' 1946 Nobel Prize winning novel Independent People. This is a book which I had never heard of until it was re-issued in English (the original is in Icelandic) in 1997. Laxness, who subtitles his work "An Epic," tells the tale of sheep-farmer Bjartur of Summerhouses, and his life-long, monomaniacal struggle for financial independence. In the process, he loses two wives, a son leaves him, and his dearest child -- Asta Sollilja ("Beloved Sun-Lily") -- is disowned. Only by losing all of his wealth does he find what he truly values. While styled "an epic," this is also a whimsical and lyrical work. Bjatur, in addition to farming, is a bit of a poet, and the most remarkable extended scene is Bjatur's desperate struggle with bitter cold in the wilderness while trying to find a strayed sheep. In the middle of the night, to keep his senses and way, he returns to his muse:

'Seldom had he recited so much poetry in any one night; he had recited all his father's poetry, all the ballads he could remember, all his own palindromes backwards and forwards in forty-eight different ways, whole processions of dirty poems, one hymn he learned from his mother, and all the lampoons that had been known in the Fourthing from time immemorial about baliffs, merchants, and sheriffs.'

Ultimately, the poetry keeps him alive as he finally crawls his way on all fours to safety. I found myself reading this book in short doses so that I could savor the language, and so it would not end too soon. If someone was with me in the room as I read, I found myself inflicting upon them sentences or whole paragraphs, just to savor the felicity of language and expression. I concur with Jane Smiley's cover blurb: "I can't imagine any greater delight than coming to Independent People for the first time." (Reading this novel and Smiley's remarks, it is clear where she derived many of the themes, descriptions, and grandeur in her 1988 novel Greenlanders. Smiley's work, however, is a much darker book).

Rating: - A complex masterpiece of

In , Halldor Laxness demonstrates that he is a master in the use of an artistic device that has succeeded for centuries--the juxtaposition of a rugged, immutable landscape with the drama of human experience. An obdurate or bleak landscape, especially one with an inhospitable climate, can bring into high relief the fragility and transience of human existence. Laxness contrasts an unforgiving Icelandic glacial valley with characters whose existence is defined by their struggle to survive in it. One reflection of his genius in this novel, however, is that he is not simply content to use this artistic device in a straightforward way, for he also draws the between the geological stage and the human drama.

This is most evident in his portrayal of Bjartur, the principal character. This rugged sheep farmer often seems to us just as hard and cruel as the landscape in which he hacks out an existence. His obsession with independence leads him at times to value the lives of animals over those of his family. He actually seems to part of the landscape against which his family perpetually struggles. His granite personality heightens our sense of the humanity of others in the book and leads us to empathize more with them, even if we do hope often for his success. He is a boulder, they are people.

But the landscape is not always cold and dark. It teases us with a short, warm and green summer, and throughout the book we see fleeting signs of warmth in Bjartur as well. In the towering crags surrounding his farm a single flower can sometimes survive and grow, and we want the seed of empathy to find root in this hard man. Our tension steadily grows as we wonder whether he will be able to overcome his seemingly immutable nature and nourish such a little flower.

Bjartur is large as a figure in an Icelandic saga, and this adds to the epic and heroic qualities of the book. The frustrating predictability of his character is a source of both tragic and comic elements. Numerous themes of opposition, contradiction and relativism reinforce the landscape/humanity contrast and add complexity to the novel--e.g., religion vs. superstition, religion/superstition vs. logic/science, the benefits that flow from the evils of war, capitalism vs. socialism, the insensitivity of civilization, etc. Other characters in the book are well developed, especially Bjartur's daughter, who plays a principal role in the theme of male-female contrast. Throughout, Laxness demonstrates keen psychological awareness, and he keeps us guessing and surprised.

These and other qualities make this one of the best books I have ever read. When I reached the last page, I wanted to begin again. It is as timeless as its landscape.

Rating: - Captivating

I have only just begun to read this book-(less than halfway through)- and I am captivated by the human-ness. The sign of an incredible author is that the message is relevant regardless of the period of time in which a piece is written. The thoughts, spiritual concepts and incredible beauty that Laxness portrays are so visionary that this book could never be out-of-date.

I found this book on a bookshelf on a private family island in Maine. I walked in to a cottage and saw it on a shelf...I pulled it out and read the beginning of the introduction and had to read it. I took it with me with the owner's name clearly printed inside - knowing it would make a difference in my life.

I loved the introduction and felt it helped me prepare for the intricate story about to unfold.

Brilliant!

Rating: - A many-dimensional epic

Besides the haunting descriptions of human relationships and of the stark environment, Laxness assesses the politcal dimension where traditional trading collides with planned management (the new co-op of the sheep raisers). It is a cruel story, often repetitive, with the central character of Bjatur who elevates personal independence and freedom to a fetish and to the detriment of his family. He literally chases his daughter out of the croft, barefoot and nowhere to go, when he finds out that she is pregnant. I have some misgivings about the ending where he reconciles with Asta Sollolja -- I am not sure whether there is a contrived element in it. In any case, Laxness deserved the Nobel Price of Literature for the book. He had the genius to present the overwhelming forces of human emotions and of indifferent nature as only a true epic can.

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