Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.11.2015, Blaðsíða 26

Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.11.2015, Blaðsíða 26
26 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 17 — 2015LIFE By Kári Tulinius To get the most obvious question out of the way, you need to write. You can write in any language in the world, but if you want to take part in Icelandic liter- ary society, it helps to have translations into Icelandic, or at least English. What type of literature you write is not as im- portant as it perhaps was in the last few decades of the last century, when real- ist fiction and poetry were completely dominant. In recent years, writers have debuted with anything from excerpts from their teenage diaries to science fiction novels. The important part is to write and then share your writing in some way. I have written! Where do I share my writing? There are many places. Online you can make a blog, post on Facebook or send something to a webzine. In the physi- cal world it is a bit trickier. There are two literary magazines you can send Icelandic language poetry, essays and fiction to, the quarterly Tímarit Máls og menningar and the biannual Stína. But the most fun way to share your writing is to take part in a reading. If none of your friends are organizing a reading, do it yourself and ask other writers to join you. Plenty of bars and cafés in Reykjavík are more than happy to host events like that. But I'm a recluse who's afraid of public speaking and have neither friends nor an internet connection... In which case you better print out your writing and mail it to a publisher. Due to the tininess of Icelandic society, there are no agents. Writers generally deal with their publishers themselves. After you have sent your manuscript to a publisher you will generally have to wait a few months for an answer. If you get rejected, send your manuscript somewhere else and start writing a new one. If you do get accepted, then a long process of editing and rewriting will take place, and at the end of it you will have a book published. There are some publishers that are open to publishing books in languages other than Icelan- dic, but most do not. I want my book out now! The world can't wait for my genius! If you are fine with an ebook, then you can publish your manuscript online. Otherwise you take your manuscript to a printing press and pay them to print it. You will probably have to hire a de- signer to take care of the layout and cover, if you do not know how to do those things yourself. The same goes for proofreading and editing. This will all cost a considerable sum of money. But in the end you will have a book, which you can sell in bookstores and deposit to the National Library. And generally, if it is a good book, Iceland- ers do not look down on writers who self-publish. In fact, Gyrðir Elíasson, Sjón and Einar Már Guðmundsson—the last three Icelandic writers to have won the Nordic Council Literature Prize (the biggest prize Icelandic-language books can receive)—all started out by self- publishing. So if you have no patience for regular publishing, go for it. So, I’m In Iceland And I Want To Be A Writer—Where Do I Start? To celebrate the annual BOOKFLOOD SEASON, it’s a Very Special 'So What’s This'! “But Were You Not Amazed?” 'The Summerland' by Guðmundur Kristinsson By Grayson Del Faro When I was handed ‘The Summerland: The Deceased Describe Their Passing and Reunion in The Other World’ to re- view, I thought it was a joke (hahaha, give the new guy this ancient book to review, hahaha). The cover design looks like it came straight from the ‘80s: a painting of a First Nations person in a war bonnet, poorly superimposed over a fluorescent rendering of a boat sail- ing through an open door. Two words in the subtitle were left randomly un- capitalised. The book was still shrink-wrapped and I wondered how long it had been sitting around the office. I was startled to discover it had first been printed in 2010 and reprinted subsequently; the English translation was released in July 2014. Perhaps I’d fallen into that cliché: books and their covers. So I checked my attitude and read it. The bad news 'The Summerland' appears to be with- out any kind of structure, meandering aimlessly through multiple subjects and approaches. Author Guðmundur Kristinsson alternates between the first and third person in reference to him- self, and random words and passages are bolded throughout. He describes the life of one particular English medi- um, Horace S. Hambling, in the first 50 pages, before launching into a stream of vignettes on séances and spirits as reported by various mediums. These include reports on the afterlife from the author’s dead son and British soldiers who occupied Iceland during World War II, among many others. The book concludes with a long, episodic narra- tive description of passing through The Summerland itself as told by the spirit of Einar Loftsson; it comes off as quite similar to John Bunyan’s parable ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress.’ Guðmundur has written books on both Spiritualism (the belief and prac- tice of communicating with spirits) and Icelandic history, and both passions are clear throughout the book. His ability to report history works better in his fa- vour, however. The strongest section of the book is that detailing the history of the British occupation of Iceland, inter- spersed with reports from beyond by its now passed airmen. The historical pas- sages read lightly and clearly. His prose is clipped and frank, lend- ing ease to the reader here. At times this style is endearing in its frankness, especially when detailing otherwise wildly farfetched claims such levita- tion, transfiguration, and conjuring, but more often falls completely flat. Between the allegations and the style, entire paragraphs are dead in the wa- ter from the first bland sentence: “Al- though none of Abraham Lincoln’s biographies state that he was a Spiritu- alist, it was well-known in his time. His mother was a physic.” Serving you Joan of Arc realness I must admit here that I am not the staunchest of realists; I have quite esoteric leanings. I am down with Tarot readings, aura colours, Numerology, vibes, and the like. So I don’t say this lightly. The book is clearly aimed only at those acquainted with and devoted to Spiritualism, making no concessions to any noobs. One is expected to know the difference between healing and trance séances, ether and ectoplasm, a medium’s spirit guide and their special guardian “doorkeeper.” A few scenes stand out. Guðmundur has a séance with the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, who was convinced to abolish slavery by a medium telling him of the future in the voice of a male spirit. A blind British woman is possessed by the spirit of Leonardo da Vinci to paint a portrait of Horace’s favourite spirit guide, a wildly inaccurate stereotype of a Sioux native named Moon Trail; it is then declared “a live-long study [of] da Vinci” by “specialists at the Tate Gallery in London.” (I haven't even mentioned the Engrish-speaking Ming Dynasty “Chinaman” guide.) An Icelandic medium visits France and has a vision of Joan of Arc: “Sitting behind her was a man, a ‘dead’ man, who guided and protected her… She obeyed all his commands. With his help she was able to achieve a great deal… which otherwise would have seemed an impossible task for such a young girl.” Some sections read like fantasti- cally revisionist historical fiction. At one point, a spirit is asked “But were you not amazed?” about passing on; he was. I could ask myself the same of the book. Convinced? Not quite. But amazed? Absolutely. The good news Spoiler alert. The good news is that the spirit world sounds quite pleasant. The spirit of the author’s deceased son visits him years later to talk about his spirit girlfriend from Akureyri and their adopted spirit child. Death is described as quite similar to depictions from car- toons: a younger, prettier spirit replica of yourself emerges from the head of your earthly body until your ethereal umbilical cord detaches. You awake in a spirit hospital attended by spirit doctors and nurses, where you get dressed and go move into your spirit life. In Summerland, there are nice jobs, houses, weather, pets, and even tourist cruises to spirit islands, all memories of happiness and fulfilment brought over from life. For those interested in Spiritualism and undaunted by a hearty peppering of typos and self-published design and editing flaws, you’ve found your ency- clopaedia. The book is an undeniable glut of information on the specifics of Spiritualism. But sceptics and fence- sitters are unlikely to be convinced and would be better advised to start their New Age edification with something a little more accessible. Say Eckhart Tolle, or even Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore’s 1990 film ‘Ghost,’ for example.
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