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More copies of this ISBNThe Great Weaver from Kashmirby Hallador Laxness
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:"Laxness brought the Icelandic novel out from the saga's shadow. . . . To read Laxness is also to understand why he haunts Iceland-he writes the unearthly prose of a poet cased in the perfection of a shell of plot, wit, and clarity."-Guardian "Laxness is a poet who writes at the edge of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot: He takes a Tolstoyan overview, he weaves in a Waugh-like humor: it is not possible to be unimpressed."-Daily Telegraph "Laxness is a beacon in twentieth-century literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling."-Alice Munro Halldr Laxness'first major novel propels Iceland into the modern world. A young poet leaves the physical and cultural confines of Iceland's shores for the jumbled world of post-WWI Europe. His journey leads the reader through a huge range of moral, philosophical, religious, political, and social realms, exploring, as Laxness expressed it, the "far-ranging variety in the life of a soul, with the swings of a pendulum oscillating between angel and devil."Published when Laxness was twenty-five years old, The Great Weaver from Kashmir's radical experimentation caused a stir in Iceland. Halldr Laxness is the master of modern Icelandic fiction. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955 for his "vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland." Philip Roughton's translations include Laxness'Iceland's Bell, for which he won the American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Prize in 2001. Review:"Roughton's beautiful, poetic translation of Laxness's novel tunes readers in to the frustrated genius of its principal character, far better than that character's own lengthy philosophical discourses do. Shortly after World War I, Steinn, a young Icelandic poet-philosopher, heads abroad to make himself 'the most perfect man on earth' and perceive 'glory on the visage of things.' Leaving behind his homeland and would-be sweetheart, Dilj, for Europe, Steinn proves a master of any doctrine he cares to take up, but fails to satisfy his longing for perfection. His 'aesthetic soul' leads Steinn to embrace communism while abandoning his own mother, and later to join the order of the Benedictine monks at the expense of worldly intimacy. Much of Steinn's agony stems from the fact that his quest for perfection is solipsistic; even in his most pious phase, he shows utter disregard for people, including Dilj and his own family. Though he's destined to fall from the get-go, it's intriguing to see how Laxness's antihero dives into manifold ideologies, achieving essentially the same result each time." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Synopsis:Laxness' first major novel, published in 1927, propelled Iceland into the modern world, but it's radical experimentation caused a stir as it told the story of a young poet who left the physical and cultural confines of Iceland's shores for the jumbled world of post-WWI Europe.
About the AuthorBorn in 1902, Laxness has been touted as the master of modern Icelandic fiction. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955, "for his vivid epic power which has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland,"according to the committee. His work includes novels, essays, poems, plays, stories, and memoir: sixty books in all. He died in 1998. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
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