Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was

The defining literary characteristic of Icelandic novelist/poet Sjón's fiction may be the seemingly effortless way he builds atmosphere within his stories. Though most of his books tend to be slight (in length, that is), Sjón nonetheless excels at crafting an essence that pervades the story and lingers well after its conclusion. So it is with Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was, the fourth book to be rendered into English from the one-time Björk collaborator and lyricist.

Moonstone is set almost entirely in the autumn of 1918 (just before and after World War I's armistice) in the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik. Young orphan Máni Steinn, a gay youth with a fondness for cinema, is forced to contend, along with his fellow countrymen and women, the rapacious effects of a Spanish influenza outbreak. Contented mostly to indulge a fantasy dream world inspired by his silver screen viewings, young Máni (self-described as the author's most autobiographical character, despite not being gay himself) is but an interloper in the adult world around him. When Máni is caught in an act that shocks early 20th century Icelandic authorities, his fate is forever altered.

His sincerest and most personal tale (at least of those already available in English), Moonstone is a subtle work with enduring (and timely) resonance. Dedicated to his late uncle who died nearly a quarter-century ago from AIDS-related complications, Moonstone has been described as "the gayest book in Iceland" (Out magazine). Sjón foregoes much of the surrealism and mythology that colored his previous outings, but Moonstone is perhaps slightly richer on account of it. A slim but powerful work, Moonstone's atmospherics drift from the page, enveloping the reader in a personal, profound tale of individuality and the story of a young man trying to make his way amid catastrophe — in a world that would just as soon presume he doesn't exist. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com

The mind-bending miniature historical epic is Sjón's specialty, and Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was is no exception. But it is also Sjón's most realistic, accessible, and heartfelt work yet. It is the story of a young man on the fringes of a society that is itself at the fringes of the world--at what seems like history's most tumultuous, perhaps ultimate moment.

Máni Steinn is queer in a society in which the idea of homosexuality is beyond the furthest extreme. His city, Reykjavik in 1918, is homogeneous and isolated and seems entirely defenseless against the Spanish flu, which has already torn through Europe, Asia, and North America and is now lapping up on Iceland's shores. And if the flu doesn't do it, there's always the threat that war will spread all the way north. And yet the outside world has also brought Icelanders cinema! And there's nothing like a dark, silent room with a film from Europe flickering on the screen to help you escape from the overwhelming threats — and adventures — of the night, to transport you, to make you feel like everything is going to be all right. For Máni Steinn, the question is whether, at Reykjavik's darkest hour, he should retreat all the way into this imaginary world, or if he should engage with the society that has so soundly rejected him.

Sjón was born in Reykjavik in 1962. He is an award-winning novelist, poet, and playwright, and his novels have been translated into twenty-five languages. He is the president of the Icelandic PEN Centre and the chairman of the board of Reykjavik UNESCO City of Literature. Also a lyricist, he has written songs for Björk, including for her most recent project, Biophilia, and was nominated for an Oscar for the lyrics he cowrote (with Lars von Trier) for Dancer in the Dark. He lives in Reykjavik.