Reykjavík Grapevine - 28.05.2004, Page 30

Salka Valka - A Political Love Story,
as Halldór called the second half of the
novel, tells the story of the headstrong
pauper Salka Valka from the age of ten
to twenty-five and is an excellent book
for adolescents, girls especially. Why
then did I not read it earlier? The an-
swer is personal. My father was a male
chauvinistic working class man, and he
adored Laxness’ books, especially Inde-
pendent People. But what he saw in the
novels was what he wanted to see, and
his endless quotes from Laxness were
not tempting for a girl growing up. So
although I loved my father dearly, I
hated his idol and did not read his nov-
els until I had to; at university. Then I
read practically all of them during one
winter, mostly aloud to my husband
(we had no television but we did have
a baby so we could not go out
much). I was deeply moved by the story
this first time through, and the final un-
forgettable sentences of Salka Valka still
make me cry. Yet there is no other end
possible. If life is to go on for both of
them, Arnaldur and Salka must part.
Salka Valka is a milestone in Laxness’
career but people do not agree as to
whether it is his last juvenile novel or
his first mature one. The very inter-
esting thing about the novel is that it
started out as a manuscript for a motion
picture, written in Los Angeles, and
it so happens that this manuscript was
printed for the first time this year, both
in English and Icelandic, in the literary
magazine Tímarit Máls og menningar
(1/2004). Halldór Laxness went to
L.A. in 1927, determined to become a
scriptwriter in Hollywood.
“The film life here is magnificently
interesting and I have good hopes to
get into that as soon as I have written
something in English,” he writes to his
fiancée in Iceland. He wanted Greta
Garbo to play the main character in the
film which was to be called Salka Valka,
A Woman in Pants or The Icelandic
Whip! Unfortunately it all came to
nothing.
But the novel lives and charms new
readers constantly, because Salka Valka
is such a fantastically real person. It is
almost weird how much a young man
of twenty-something in the late 1920s
knows of the inner life of girls! If ever
a novel convinced me that to be really
outstanding, a writer has to be both
man and woman, it is this wonderful
book.
Seven other favourites
Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241): Edda.
(Tales from Nordic Mythology. Eng-
lish translation 1987).
Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614-1674):
Passíusálmarnir. (First printed 1666.
Engl.transl.: Hymns of the Passion,
1966).
Stefán Hörður Grímsson (1920-2002):
Hliðin á sléttunni. (Poems, 1970).
Laxdæla Saga. (13th century. Engl.
transl.: The Saga of the People of
Laxardal, 1997).
Sturlunga saga. (13th century. Engl.
transl.: Sturlunga Saga, 1970-74).
Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807-1845): His
collected poetry. (A selection translated
by Dick Ringler in Bard of Iceland,
2002).
Halldór Laxness (1902-1998):
Íslandsklukkan (1943-1946). transl:
Iceland´s Bell.
by Silja Aðalsteinsdóttir
It should be an impossible task for a person involved in Icelandic litera-
ture as a writer, critic and editor to decide on a favourite book - choose one
of thousands. But I am not in doubt. My favourite book, since I first read
it at the age of 23, has been Salka Valka by Halldór Laxness. It was first
published in two volumes 1931 and 1932 and has been reprinted many
times.
When I first saw it, at the time I
realised how powerful Icelandic film
could be. It was the first time I experi-
enced being profoundly moved by an
Icelandic film and I saw how important
Icelandic film making is. I was graduat-
ing from acting school at the time it
came out, and it influenced me both as
an individual and as a prospective film-
maker. The acting of the older people is
great, and at it´s best. This is a first rate
Icelandic film.
My top 8 films of those I haven´t par-
ticipated in are (in no particular order):
1. Börn Nátturunnar (Children
of Nature). Directed by Friðrik Þór
Friðriksson. 1991.
2. Nói Albinói (Nói the Albino).
Directed by Dagur Kári. 2003.
3. Á köldum klaka (Cold Fever). Di-
rected by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson. 1995.
4. Með allt á hreinu (No English title
available). Directed by Ágúst Guð-
mundsson. 1982.
5. Hrafninn flýgur (Also known as:
Revenge of the Barbarians/When the
Raven Flies/Korpen flyger (Swedish)
directed by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson. 1984.
6. Magnús. Directed by Þráinn Ber-
telsson. 1989.
7. Sódóma Reykjavík. Directed by
Óskar Jónasson. 1993.
8. Útlaginn (Outlaw: The Saga of
Gísli). Directed by Ágúst Guðmunds-
son. 1981.
Of the films that I have acted in, I
think the best ones are Djöflaeyjan
(Devil´s Island), directed by Friðrik Þór
Friðriksson and Ævintýri á okkar tí-
mum (A Fairytale of our times) directed
by Inga Lisa Middleton.
Baltasar Kormákur is the acclaimed
director of the films 101 Reykjavík and
Hafið (The Sea). He has also starred
in numerous roles on stage and screen.
He is currently directing his third film,
starring Forest Whitaker.
by Baltasar Kormákur
Children of Nature by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, based on the book by
Halldór Laxness
Countdown:
8. Múm - Summer make good (2004).
Minimal pop, makes you feel good.
7. Gunnar Þórðarson - Gunnar
Þórðarson (1975). Sounds like a
mixture of Stevie Wonder, Beach Boys
and Beck.
6. Sagtmóðigur - Plata (1998). Great
Icelandic punk.
5. Olympia - Olympia (1994). Epic
Electrometalpunk. Before their time.
4. Reptile - Fame and fossils (1990).
Sweet eccentric girl-pop.
3. Bless - Melting (1989). Go check it
out, it’s outstanding!
2. Purrkur Pillnikk - Googooplex
(1982). My favourite band in the world!
Featuring Einar Örn, of later Sugar-
cubes fame.
and the winner is...
1. Hljómar - Hljómar (1968)
1.Sandgerður (A Girl From Sandgerði)
2. Ástarsæla (Love Ecstasy)
3. Ég elska alla (I Love Everybody)
4. Lífsgleði (Life Happiness)
5. Er hann birtist (When He Appears)
6. Saga dæmda mannsins (The Story
Of The Outlaw)
7. Dansaðu við mig (Dance With Me)
8. Ég mun fela öll mín tár (I Will Hide
All My Tears)
9. Vertu kyrr (Stay)
10. Að kvöldi dags (In The Evening)
11. Ég er þreytt á þér (I Am Tired Of
You)
12. Regn óréttlætisins (The Rain Of
Injustice)
Hljómar is one of the best bands to
come from Iceland. They were the
country´s biggest band in the sixties
and the seventies, and sometimes called
“the Icelandic Beatles”. But I think
they’ve got a fair share of uniqueness,
and deserve to be remembered for this
masterpiece. The album has 12 songs,
the A-side (first 6 songs) are written
by Gunnar Þórðarson, whose first solo
album also made my list, in 7th place.
The songs are a mixture of hippy-rock
and beautiful melodies, with harmonies
and orchestral arrangements straight
from heaven! The remaining 6 songs
are Icelandic cover versions of songs like
“Crying in the Rain” by Carole King,
“Since You’ve Been Gone” by Aretha
Franklin/Ted White and “Window
Of The World” by Burt Bacharach.
Hljómar manage to alter these songs,
and make them into something entirely
their own.
There is a slight Crosby, Stills, Nash
and Young feeling about this album,
because nearly all of the songs have
amazing vocal harmonies, and build
around the voices. There were four reg-
ulars in Hljómar, but the fifth member
on this album was a American/Icelandic
girl called Shady Owens. She is, in my
opinion, the best female vocalist ever to
sing in Icelandic. It is beyond me why
she is not a multi-millionaire today, but
she moved to England and continued
to sing backing vocals for many artists
after her contribution to Icelandic rock
music. Her American accent in the
Icelandic language is still unmatched,
and absolutely charming and irresist-
ible. Song number 6 is the highlight of
side A, with a Velvet Underground-y
tambourine and classical guitars, and
psychedelic backing vocals. Songs 8, 11,
and 12 are all more than perfect.
On the whole, an Icelandic master-
piece, not to be missed!
Heiða first came before the public
eye with band Unun, whose members
included Dr. Gunni and former Sugar-
cube Þór Eldon. She currently fronts
band Heiða og Heiðingjarnir, as well
as having a music program on Satur-
day nights on Rás 2. Her latest album,
10 fingur upp til Guðs, is available in
stores.
by Heiða Eiríksdóttir
Here you go: The list we’ve all been waiting for. The eight best
Icelandic albums of all time (the order is the order of the day, and it might
have been different another day.)
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Salka Valka
by Halldór Laxness
Hljómar
Hljómar
Children of the Nature
by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson