Independent People - Halldor Laxness

Title: Independent People

Author: Halldor Laxness

Country: Iceland

Year: 1946

Pages: 512 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5

Independent People is the story of Bjartur of Summerhouses, an Icelandic crofter who has bought his own croft after 18 years of servitude to the Bailiff of Myri. Bjartur is conservative, stubborn, and fearful of progress. He is not especially likeable, but you can't help being drawn into his plight. Bjartur prides himself on being an independent man, defining independence as freedom from servitude. However, freedom and independence from starvation, sickness, and extreme poverty are issues he confronts on a daily basis.

Halldor Laxness won the Nobel Prize in 1955, and many view Independent People as the crown of his achievements. Despite this, it remains an obscure novel--it took months to obtain a copy through the interlibrary loan system--from a small country most Americans know little about. For me, that is part of its charm.

The book is hard describe. It is about many things: Icelandic sheep farmers in the early 20th century, self-sufficiency and independence, a satirical look at Bjartur's limitations, the impact of war, and the juxtaposition of economics and politics (particularly socialism vs capitalism), all play out through the course of this epic novel. There are long discussions of ancient Icelandic poetry, for Bjartur is a poet, which really gives the story a timeless quality. Framing these themes is the relationship between Bjartur and his only daughter Asta Sollija.

Independent People certainly hold its own in comparison to other works of the time by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and Pearl S. Buck. It is a book to read when you have the time to sit down and browse slowly.

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Title: Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
Country: Britain
Year: 1861
Rating: 5 out of 5
Pages: 484

First Sentence: My father's family name being Pirrip, and my christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.

I have only read Dickens once before, an that was not of my own volition. I read A Tale of Two Cities in 10th grade, and really loved it. For some reason, I never went back. I always meant to, and when My Year of Reading Dangerously came about at Estella's Revenge, and Great Expectations was January's book, I figured I couldn't put it off any longer.

I will admit, it was a slow start. For the first 50 pages or so, I wasn't entirely captivated. Then I really became interested and engaged with the characters, particularly Miss Havisham, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the novel.

As many of you probably know, since Great Expectations started out as a weekly serial, there is never a lack of suspense. Dickens' writing is intricate and detailed, and there are more twists and turns than many of the other books I have read from his time period. His ability to hone in on the nuances of human behaviour, particularly through Pip's fallibility, is a highlight in what I consider to be a true masterpiece. Great Expectations covers virtually every aspect of the human condition, and causes the reader to consider their own human nature and "great expectations". Highly Recommended.

So throughout life, our worst weaknesses and meannesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom we most despise. (p.218)

To The Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf

Title: To the Lighthouse
Author: Virginia Woolf
Country: British
Year: 1927
Rating: A-
Pages: 310

First sentence: "Yes, of course, if it's fine tomorrow," said Mrs. Ramsey.

Short summary: This novel takes place in three parts taking place at the summer home of an English family, the Ramseys, in the Hebrides. The first part takes place over one afternoon and evening; the second spans ten years in which the home is left unoccupied; and the third part is a morning after the ten years in which some of the original characters return to the Ramsey's summer home.

Is this for a challenge? I decided to substitute this novel for Orlando by Virginia Woolf in the TBR challenge. Both have been on my bookshelf for a very long time. I also read it for the Seconds challenge.

What I thought: Virginia Woolf is not an easy read. But she is a delight. To the Lighthouse is written in a similar stream-of-consciousness style as Mrs Dalloway (reviewed here). However, Mrs Dalloway is mostly all about Clarissa: her relation to others, and others' (servants, family, friends) in relation to her. To the Lighthouse is more a story of the interrelationships amongst a group of people, and delves into the psychology of imagination and emotion from a variety of perspectives (albeit, some of the characters are not very interesting). It is not a novel to be read for its plot. The main focus of the story is on the inner workings of the people we meet. The third section of the novel seems to drift about, and I am left wondering if this is an unintentional weakness, or a hidden purpose that shows how things can fall apart.

It may help to have a broader knowledge of Virginia Woolf's work and career, to begin to capture and understand the larger artistic aims of this novel. As I discovered with Mrs Dalloway, Woolf's novels are best enjoyed at a leisurely pace. It is another book that I hope to come back to again someday.

No, she said, she did not want a pear. Indeed she had been keeping guard over the dish of fruit (without realizing it) jealously, hoping that nobody would touch it. Her eyes had been going in and out among the curves and shadows of the fruit, among the rich purples of the lowland grapes, then over the horny ridge of the shell, putting a yellow against a purple, a curved shape against a round shape, without knowing why she did it, or why, every time she did it, she felt more and more serene; until, oh, what a pity that they should do it--a hand reached out, took a pear, and spoilt the whole thing. (p.163)

Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco

Title: Foucault's Pendulum
Author: Umberto Eco
Country: Italy
Year: 1988
Pages: 641 pgs.
Rating: A

I believe Umberto Eco is the only author I have ever read that can fill a novel with intense intellectual thought, numerous complex theories and treatises, yet still have a well-developed plot and characterization. And, it's a page turner (although the pages do turn a little slower than other books).

I read this book with a dictionary and Internet connection nearby. Yet, I also treasured it's pulpy, film noirish elements (a pulp novel for intellectuals, perhaps?). "The stale, rancid smell of cigarette butts, the ashtrays all brimming. The kitchen sink piled high with dirty dishes, the garbage bin full of disemboweled cans...This was the apartment of a man who had worked nonstop for days without budging, eating only when he had to, working furiously, like an addict." How Eco manages to incorporate pop culture references (Mickey Mouse, Casablanca) into such a novel and make it work, is genius.

Mainly because I studied the theory extensively as a postgrad, I immediately recognized Eco's reliance on postmodernist theory to advance the narrative (post-modernism as the theory that there is no absolute truth; rather, truth is relative to the community we belong to, and to those that hold power). "Official history," the colonel said with a bitter smile, "is written by the victors. According to official history, men like me don't exist." (p.123) -and- "Or is the message really that we should look at everything in a different way" (p.13)

I am surprised this book was a bestseller, and I wonder if all those who bought the book ever got around to starting---and finishing, it. I for one had the book sit on my shelf for 4 years before I was brave enough to open it. And definitely, the first chapter or two are pretty hard to get into. But after that, it was a joy to be in the world of this scholarly detective novel.

Causabon's self-reflection:
"The other evening I had to believe the Plan was true, because if it wasn't, then I had spent the past two years as the omnipotent architect of an evil dream. Better reality than a dream: if something is real, then it's real and you're not to blame." (p.164)

"In those halcyon days I believed that the source of enigma was stupidity. Then the other evening in the periscope I decided that the most terrible enigmas are those that mask themselves as madness. But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth." (p.95)
Fun Piedmontese expression:
"Ma gavte la nata. Take out the cork." You say to to one who is full of himself, the idea being that what causes him to swell and strut is the pressure of a cork stuck in his behind. Remove it and psssssh, he returns to the human condition." (p.56)

Great Art vs. dime novels:
'Maybe only cheap fiction gives us the true measure of reality... Great Art makes fun of us as it comforts us, because it shows the world as the artists would like the world to be. The dime novel, however, pretends to joke, but then it shows us the world as it actually is - or at least the world as it will become... What has taken place in the real world was predicted in penny dreadfuls.'

The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis (including critical essays)
Author: Franz Kafka
Translator: Stanley Corngold
Pages: 194pgs.
Rating: B

More than anything, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka has given society a healthy debate. Never truly explaining his work, Kafka has left academics and inquiring readers alike pondering the meaning of his stories. Metamorphosis is no different.

Taken at face value, Kafka presents a simple story. The first sentence sets the mood and theme for the entire story: “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” Gregor becomes an insect, and the rest of the short story describes how he lives out the rest of his life. All philosophical pandering is ultimately left to the masses.

Kafka does not explain why the Metamorphosis occurred. Nor does he give any inkling to the depths of the story, its symbolism, and deeper meaning. In this vacuum, numerous theories have been developed ranging from Freudian interpretations, religious symbology and connotations, and Marxist attacks on the “bourgeois condition”. Many do not even agree on an accurate English translation for the title, and would rather see it changed to a variety of options, ranging from Transformation to Transubstantiation.

Is it an existential novel? Maybe. Is it a simple story? Maybe. Eighty years of analysis have not been able to answer these questions, I’m not about to try. Why such pressure to give a story one true meaning? If 50 people are affected by Metamorphosis in 50 different ways – more power to Kafka!

Did I like this story? Maybe. It’s honestly hard to say. Was it worth reading? Definitely. I already feel as if this is a story that will stick with me for a long time. When I least expect it, it will pop back into my subconscious, looking to be explored.

What did I think? I’m not telling. ☺ At least, not yet.

Some interesting quotes:
"Gregor tried to imagine whether something like what had happened to him today could one day happen even to the manager; you really had to grant the possibility."

"Unfortunately the manager's flight now seemed to confuse his father completely, who had been relatively calm until now, for instead of running after the manager himself, or at least not hindering Gregor in his pursuit, he seized in his right hand the manager's cane, which had been left behind on a chair with his hat and overocoat, picked up in his left hand a heavy newspaper from the table, and stamping his feet, started brandishing the cane and the newspaper to drive Gregor back into his room. No plea of Gregor's helped, no plea was even understood; however humbly he might turn his head, his father merely stamped his feet more forcefully."

"In the beginning she [cleaning woman] also used to call him over to her with words she probably considered friendly, like 'Come over here for a minute, you old dung beetle!' or 'Look at that old dung beetle!' To forms of address like these Gregor would not respond but remained immobile where he was, as if the door had not been opened."

Up next is D for Deadbeat, some cozy mystery reading to relax with (but most likely will not review). Then its back to the teens and twenties of the 20th century, with Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway.