Valentines from Iceland

Valentines: stories, by Olaf Olafsson. New York: Pantheon, 2007. 216 pgs.

Do you like depressing books? Such as, those by Annie Proulx? Shipping News is one of my favorite books, but her subsequent ones are really, I mean really depressing.

Olaf Olafsson is another favorite author of mine. Like Annie, he is the author of books that, if you pick one up to read for 5 minutes, an hour and a half later you come back to reality with a start, and reluctantly put the book down. He is a  brilliant author who can immediately get you inside his protagonist's head. Olafsson's books are psychological studies of complex and disturbed individuals whose lives are revealed to the reader little by little.  I want to read anything that Olafsson writes, but the reviews for Valentines hadn't left me as eager to read it, so it took me a few years to get around to it.

Just like his other books, I couldn't put this one down. I read it in two sittings: both times when I intended to just read for a few minutes. This short story collection is organized in a series of 12 stories, each titled for a month of the year. Each is an ironic play on the title, for the characters exhibit every type of falling-apart relationship. Mis-understandings, missed connections, misplaced trust. Month after month, I fervently hoped for a positive note, a redeemed character, a regained relationship: a happy ending. Would I find it in October? In November, perhaps? WHAT ABOUT DECEMBER?

We know that the author is an Icelander living in New York; an accomplished scholar and a successful business executive; a husband and the father of three (three children; three novels). Reading this book makes you seriously wonder what kind of relationships he has. Perhaps he has learned from the mistakes of his characters, and has achieved the happiness that they find so elusive. I certainly hope so.

Walking Into the Night

Walking into the night, by Olaf Olafsson. New York: Pantheon, 2003. 265 pgs.




Olaf Olafsson never disappoints! This novel develops from an usual perspective: that of an Icelandic man who becomes butler to William Randolph Hearst.

It has been about 25 years since Kristjan Benediktsson left his wife and family in Iceland, suddenly and with no explanation. Christian, as he now calls himself, has a checkered past that is revealed slowly, throughout the novel, in Olafsson's signature style. Must of what we learn about Christian is from letters that he writes to his wife--letters that he will likely never send. Is he expiating his guilt, trying to explain himself to Elisabet--or to himself, or is he simply trying to maintain some connection to his past?

After the dissolution of his old life, Christian takes a position as manservant/butler to "The Chief": William Randolph Hearst. The year is 1921, and Hearst is spending much of his time at what we know as Hearst Castle, in San Simeon, California. The Ranch, as Hearst prefers to call it, becomes a retreat for the rich and famous, and for an Icelander with a secret past.

It is interesting seeing Hearst portrayed through the eyes of an employee. As Hearst's butler, Christian has a formal yet intimate relationship with his employer. I would like to think that the briefly sympathetic glimpses of the Chief show a side of him that really existed. Meanwhile, we see how he manages his house, his staff, his lover. As Christian prepares for parties, guests, and everyday life at the Ranch, we learn about how Hearst collected the furnishings and art to fill his castle, the daily menus that were printed for guests, and similar fascinating tidbits.

Meanwhile, the title of the book foreshadows the life of the man from Iceland: Kristjan's slow walk into the night, with portents of hiding, forgetfulness, darkness, and oblivion.

The Chief is calling. Sometimes I think everyone is afraid of him except me. I'm afraid of nothing but myself.

And,

I'll always be a stranger here, so there is little to remind me of what I miss...

As the book draws to a close, will we learn if Christian's wife Elisabet is alive, is forgiving? Will he be confronted by one of his children? Will he allow his past to live again in the present?

This is a beautifully told and ingeniously organized tale, with a memorable protagonist. Don't, ever, miss an Olafsson book.