Reykjavík Grapevine - 26.09.2014, Page 29

Lóa, a distraught single mother whose eldest daughter suf-
fers from a severe case of anorexia, drives out to Akranes
one evening for an unclear reason. Along the way, her car
blows a tire, cutting her mysterious journey short. She pulls
into what she thinks is a service station but is actually the
home of Sveinn, a stoic and enigmatic hermit, who repairs
her vehicle and offers her dinner.
Words
Elliott Brandsma
Reykjavík
Köbenhavn
London
Berlín
@burgerjoint
29The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2014 LITERATURE
After a candid and tearful conversation
over a bottle of wine, Lóa falls asleep
on Sveinn's couch and awakes the next
morning in a state of panic, for she left
her young daughters, Margrét and Ína,
back home in Reykjavík, completely
unattended. While frantically gathering
her belongings, Lóa stumbles across
Sveinn's workshop, where she discovers
the hermit’s morbid occupation: creating
eerily life-like silicone sex dolls.
Equally disturbed and fascinated by
the human-sized dolls’ realistic features,
Lóa makes an impulsive decision to steal
one of the figurines as a conciliatory gift
for her ailing daughter
Margrét, in hopes that
it will provide much-
needed companion-
ship to alleviate the
child’s growing isola-
tion. She stuffs the
mannequin into her
car and speeds off
toward the city, com-
mencing the plot of
Guðrún Eva Míner-
vudóttir's gripping and
peculiar novel, ‘The
Creator.’
Masterfully trans-
lated into English by
Sarah Bowen, ‘The
Creator’ is a bizarre
tale by one of Icelan-
dic literature’s bright-
est young literary
talents. The novel not
only poses search-
ing questions about
the pervasive nature
of human loneli-
ness, but also offers
a brutal depiction of
a woman whose fam-
ily has been ravaged
by divorce and men-
tal illness. Despite its
grave subject matter,
‘The Creator’ is one
of those rare books
that skilfully address
unsavoury topics in a
redemptive, humor-
ous and even poignant
way.
'The Creator'
also exhibits one of
Guðrún Eva's great-
est strengths as a
writer: her ability to
seamlessly sew together a cast of seem-
ingly disparate characters. When Sveinn
wakes up and finds one of his dolls miss-
ing, he chases after Lóa to retrieve his
stolen property. On his way to the city,
he teams up with a forlorn convenience
store clerk named Lárus, who eagerly
helps the hermit track down the thief’s
location. Later in the story, Margrét,
afraid of being institutionalized for her
illness, runs away after school, forcing
Lóa and Sveinn to set aside their differ-
ences and search for her, a crisis that
momentarily closes the rift between the
two distant souls. Even Raven-Black
Lola, Sveinn's stolen sex doll, serves as a
sort of redemptive, unifying figure within
the story, compelling the main charac-
ters to come together and examine the
grim realities of their isolated existence.
Contrary to what the reader might ex-
pect, none of these
strange scenarios or
quirky relationships
feel implausible or
forced, due in large
part to Guðrún Eva's
meticulous storytell-
ing and Sarah Bow-
en’s precise, polished
translation.
'The Creator' is
a splendidly written
novel that tackles
ambitious questions
about what it means
to genuinely relate to
another human being.
However, not every
reader will enjoy the
deeply philosophical
nature of the novel’s
storyline. Those who
prefer their novels to
tackle light subject
matters and wrap
them up with neatly
resolved endings will
find that ‘The Creator’
might draw them too
far out of their literary
comfort zone.
On the other hand,
those looking for a
solid read with unfor-
gettable characters,
a thought-provoking
plot and a generous
dose of unconven-
tionality should abso-
lutely pick up a copy
of ‘The Creator.’ It is
an exceptional work,
a stunning overture to
Guðrún Eva’s promis-
ing literary career.
A Stirring Depiction
of Human Loneliness
Book review: ‘The Creator’
by Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir
Winner of the 2011 Icelandic Liter-
ary Prize for Fiction, Guðrún Eva
Mínervudóttir is one of the most
daring and innovative young voices
in Icelandic literature today. She
has published seven novels in to-
tal, including her widely celebrated
‘Allt með kossi vekur’ ('All Is Awak-
ened With A Kiss'), for which she
was awarded Iceland’s top literary
honour. ‘The Creator’ (‘Skaparinn’
in Icelandic) was a commercial
success in Iceland when it was first
published in 2008; it is the first of
Guðrún Eva’s works to be trans-
lated into English.
Guðrún Eva currently works in
Hveragerði, where she resides with
her husband and infant daughter.
About The
Author