Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.04.2017, Blaðsíða 42

Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.04.2017, Blaðsíða 42
Books 42The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 06 — 2017 The Book Burner Dagur Hjartarson on the risky business of publishing Words: Björn Halldórsson Photo: Timothée Lambrecq Dagur Hjartarson has just been shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature for his novel ‘The Last Confession of Love’. He is also, along with award-winning poet and graphic designer Ragnar Helgi Ólafs- son, one of the founders of Tunglið (“The Moon,” in English), a publish- ing house with the unusual business model of publishing each of its books in runs of only 69 copies, selling them exclusively at publishing events held on the night of a full moon, and burning any unsold copies. According to Dagur, the books published by Tunglið have a dif- ferent time span from other books.“Tunglið takes small books and creates small, precious mo- ments in time around them,” he says. “It opposes the eternity that the average publisher prom- ises—all those books whose pages turn yellow on the book- store shelf—and makes a stand for the beauty of the moment. The role of Tunglið is to be the moment and then disappear.” The company's unconventional publishing strategy was a means of making risk integral to their work. “Our goal has always been to run Tunglið at a moderate loss,” Dagur says. “To do so you natu- rally have to take chances. Every book that Tunglið publishes is, in a way, an attempt to sink Tunglið, to make it go bankrupt. It's thrill- ing. Publishing is at heart a risky business and Icelandic publish- ers are prone to take chances. We haven't seen too many new au- thors in the past few years and I'm not sure that the publishers are entirely to blame for that. Young authors need to be more daring, write more books and take more chances. Hopefully we'll see more new authors in the coming years.” Dagur’s own first novel was years in the making, starting in the early days of his MA in creative writing. “I think that ‘The Last Confession of Love’ is closely tied to the poetry that I've written,” he explains. “In writing the novel I found it best to let the writing flow freely. I found the novel form to be incredibly liberating and that feeling certainly left its mark on the book. I was never trou- bled by having to throw things out or worried about ending up with 200 pages of crap. Writ- ing crap is a part of the process.” “Naturally, I ended up throw- ing a lot of things in the trash,” he continues. “That doesn't both- er me, but I was still often filled with the usual sense of hope- lessness, which I always experi- ence at some point when writing, whether it's a poem, a short story or an email. It was often hard go- ing—but it's always hard going.” As is the case with most Ice- landic writers, Dagur has to find time for his writing alongside his day job—teaching, in his case. “Not being able to put 100% of my energy into the manu- script made everything harder,” he says. “But mostly, it just con- firmed what I already knew: you have to work hard. Even when you're writing crap, keep writ- ing. Keep writing, keep writing.” SHARE: gpv.is/dh06 Two Books The Greenhouse & On The Cold Coasts Words: Björn Halldórsson Each issue, we take a look at two Icelandic titles old and new, avail- able in English translation at most Reykjavík bookstores. If you’d like more ideas, or to read more on Icelandic literature, head over to gpv.is/lit for in-depth author interviews, guides, and more book reviews. Bragi Ólafsson – The Pets This black comedy of errors has its narrator, an unassuming young man named Emil, making the drastic decision to hide under his own bed to avoid Havard, a reck- less friend from his past, leading to him being trapped there for the rest the novel, while the interloper gallivants around his apartment and makes himself comfortable in his life—even hosting a party for Emil's friends and family. From his vantage point under the bed, Emil has the chance to voyeuris- tically observe and obsess over the social customs and behav- iors of the guests, and guess at the thoughts hidden behind their idle conversations. In opposition to the frustrations of this absurd setting, the writing is effortless and clear, engaging the reader with humor as well as the endear- ing ordinariness of the characters, especially when placed in opposi- tion to the amoral and puckish Havard. Hallgrímur Helgason – The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning The author of ‘101 Reykjavík’ here uses the tropes of hardboiled crime fiction for his own nefarious pur- poses. The result is a Tarantino- esque romp like no other. Tomislav “Toxic” Bokšic is a cocksure hitman for the Croatian mafia in New York who needs to go into hiding after a botched hit. Through a series of accidents, he ends up in Iceland, a country where murder is a rar- ity and gunmen are nowhere to be found, and is forced to contain his violent tendencies and take on a new identity. Soon he is making strides towards bettering himself and integrating into this unfamil- iar and peaceful society. His un- conventional worldview provides a unique outsider's perspective through which to gaze in wonder- ment upon the absurdities of mod- ern Icelandic culture and society. SHARE: gpv.is/2b06 Austurstræti 16 Tel. 551 0011 apotek.isAPOTEK KITCHEN+BAR ICELANDIC GOURMET MENU Freshly caught seafood and free range lamb – with a modern twist 7 COURSE DINNER MENU STARTS WITH A “REFRESHING“ SHOT OF THE NATIONAL SNAPS BRENNIVÍN PUFFIN Goats cheese, dill oil, berry gel, rye bread crumble OCEAN PERCH Slow cooked ocean perch, beetroot purée, spicy butter, serrano ham, beetroot MINKE WHALE Shallot vinaigrette, crispy Jerusalem artichokes SEA TROUT Yuzu mayo, tru€e mayo, crispy quinoa, apple PLAICE Samphire, green asparagus, sitrus beurre blanc RACK OF FREE RANGE ICELANDIC LAMB Grilled lamb fillet, leeks, pickled shallots, carrots, baked celeriac, dill-spinach cream, mustard sauce Dessert SKYR FANTASIA Skyr fromage, Skyr mousse, strawberry & lime gel, lime sponge cake 8.900 kr.
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