Gunnar Gunnarsson

[The Growth of the Spoil]

Has anyone read anything by Gunnar Gunnarsson? I've decided to take a sampling of Icelandic literature, and his work sounds pretty interesting. If anyone has any recommendations, that would be great. Do people prefer Laxness?

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by The Growth of the Spoil

Do people prefer Laxness?

Probably a question more for the Icelandic Literature thread, than this guy. I don't know if he's been translated into English, and little Icelandic literature has, so Laxness, while not the be-all-and-end-all, is probably the most prominent Icelander in English translation.

[hdw]

Originally Posted by Stewart

Probably a question more for the Icelandic Literature thread, than this guy. I don't know if he's been translated into English, and little Icelandic literature has, so Laxness, while not the be-all-and-end-all, is probably the most prominent Icelander in English translation.

As Gunnar (it's usual to refer to Icelanders by their first name rather than the patronymic non-surname) wrote in Danish, I suppose you could stick this on either the Icelandic or the Danish Literature thread, depending on whether you want to prioritise nationality or language.

He supposedly wrote in Danish rather than Icelandic to maximise his reading public, whereas the Faroese writer William Heinesen wrote in Danish because his native Faroese was not then taught and studied in schools, meaning that there would not be an accepted standard language in which to write. His books were eventually translated into Faroese.

Harry

[hdw]

There are several good websites where you can find Icelandic literature in the original language and in English translation, e.g. the site run by the library of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They don't seem to have a home page, that I can find, but if you want to look up, say, Jónas Hallgrimsson, you'll find him at Jonas Hallgrimsson: Selected Poetry and Prose

There's also the EGIL project at the University of Nottingham - Electronic Gateway for Icelandic Literature (EGIL)

Harry

[Adah's Ditch]

I don't know anything about The Black Cliffs past its 1700s setting, but it's been well-accepted critically. "Guest the One-Eyed" is I guess the best known "Borg" work, but Livets Strand sounds like his best work to read. Laxness really owes fame to Gunnar, who translated the Salka Valka, which doesn't sound nearly as interesting as The Great Weaver from Kashmir or Christianity at Glacier. Although the "World Light" tetralogy is better known than the Islandklukkan trilogy, the satires The Atom Station and The Happy Warriors sound superior to both. Hope that helps, but I have never read anything Icelandic.

[Adah's Ditch]

Originally Posted by hdw

There are several good websites where you can find Icelandic literature in the original language and in English translation, e.g. the site run by the library of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They don't seem to have a home page, that I can find, but if you want to look up, say, Jónas Hallgrimsson, you'll find him at Jonas Hallgrimsson: Selected Poetry and Prose

There's also the EGIL project at the University of Nottingham - Electronic Gateway for Icelandic Literature (EGIL)

Harry

Wow, I've been familiar with EGIL for a couple years now, but that first site has some great dual-language resources (the only way I read outside English and French) I have yet to encounter. Thanks.