Remind you of someone you know?

I want to share a quote from The Journey Home (pg. 24, reviewed below) because it reminds me of...well, a number of people close to me.

"I asked her what qualities good cooks should have. She answered straight off: 'They must be wicked sinners.' 'What?' I exclaimed. 'Yes,' she continued, 'they must be so wickedly sinful that their only hope of redemption is to bring happiness to others through good food.'"

Not that we're sinners, mind you...well, at least not wicked sinners.

Man of Many Talents

The Journey Home, by Olaf Olafsson. New York: Random House, 2000. 296 pgs.



This book was my first introduction to the enigmatic Olaf Olafsson. Why enigmatic? Well, here is a man who got his degree in physics, is a highly successful corporate executive, and in his spare time writes bestselling novels. Oh, and he does his own translations, being equally proficient, it appears, in Icelandic and English. No doubt this doesn't keep him busy, and he has many other fascinating hobbies to which we are not privy. And... he's still young. (No, I will not define young. Let's just use the universal definition, shall we? Younger than myself.)

This novel introduces us to Disa (a woman about as young as myself), who has finally decided to leave the emotionally secure life she has built for herself in England to return to Iceland, and confront her memories, fears and past. On the face of it the story sounds like many you have read, but not when Olafsson is spinning the tale. He is a master of plot twists and turns, and interweaves mysteries and surprises into the lives of his characters, always in a believable way.

Olafsson lets you come to know Disa little by little: you see Disa from the outside, and slowly discover what is inside. The story line is discontinuous, with flashbacks to Iceland, World War II Germany and England, and present day England. As in real life, the protagonist's point of view is flawed and limited. Consequently my opinion of Disa as I read the book was fluid and changing. Using first person narrative, flashbacks and letters, Olafsson gives you a growing sense of his character, whom you never come to know completely. And why should you? Do you know yourself completely?

Iceland Reads

Iceland, by Jim Krusoe. Chicago: Dalkey Archive Press, 2002. 182 pgs.





Here is a really interesting book. It isn't by an Icelandic author, and only part of the novel is actually set in Iceland. Paul is a man with some vague digenerative organ disease, and without many social skills. He's a fellow who seems to flow along with life's tide of events, passively adapting to whatever presents itself. In this acquiescent manner he falls in love, takes a trip to Iceland with a carpet cleaner he barely knows, narrowly escapes death hiking on a volcano, and falls into a marriage with an Icelandic woman. Paul's surreal journey felt strangely familiar--had I read the book before? Did it remind me of another book I had read? What was it about this book that I recognized? I finally realized that reading this book was akin to dreaming a dream. It has the same feeling that dreams have: events unfold without foreshadowing, strange things are accepted as everyday occurrences, one glides along unquestioningly. Dream this book!


Absolution, by Olaf Olafsson. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. 259 pgs.





Another masterful story by Iceland's justifiably most-famous author. It is no wonder that Olafsson's works have been translated into 14 languages. He writes about characters that are complex, believable, vulnerable yet strong, fatally flawed. His plot twists and flashbacks are handled with precision and suspense.

This story travels from Iceland to Denmark to Manhattan. As it unfolds you discover the many-layered secrets of a wealthy man who has had everything--and has lost everything. Or has he?



Silence of the Grave, by Arnaldur Indridason. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder. London: Vintage, 2005. 290 pgs.





This is the second "Reykjavik Murder Mystery," featuring police inspector Erlendur, that has been translated into English. A movie based on the first (Tainted Blood, or Jar City) was recently released under the title Myrin.

The author grudgingly releases a few more secrets of Erlender's past, which unfold layered within the action of the mystery. An interesting look at Reykjavik, past and present, and at characters who are beginning to claim our affection.