Reykjavík Grapevine - jun. 2021, Síða 26

It’s that time of the year again—
the time of maddening light and
endless days that mess up your
sense of time completely. Yes, you
guessed it, it’s summer! And what
else is there to do during these
overwhelming hours than to read
something utterly stupid, or bet-
ter yet, incredibly brilliant?
It’s true that Icelanders, like
most Scandinavians, aren’t very
fond of writing about summer.
Most Icelandic authors seem to
prefer something gloomier—usu-
ally a desolate farm that’s fallen
to despair, with a storm on the
horizon and rogue sheep. Howev-
er, you need not despair, for here’s
a selection of jolly and bright Ice-
landic novels to take you through
the summer months.
‘Summer Light, and
Then Comes the Night’
by Jón Kalmann
This is the book that made Jón
Kalmann an overnight superstar.
In fact, right now he’s probably
the most beloved fiction writer in
Iceland—one of those guys that
you’d like to send a friend request
to on Facebook and ask him over
for a coffee. (Not that I’d do that,
but Jón, if you’re reading this…)
Yes, I’m a fan boy and will
proudly admit it.
‘Sumarljósi!, svo kom nóttin’
(‘Summer Light, and Then Comes
the Night’) is a beautiful poetic ef-
fort that is both incredibly wise
and insanely funny. The book is
compiled as a series of short sto-
ries over one summer in a small
Icelandic fishing town, with
each story connected by a strong
thread. The protagonists include
an odd astronomer, boys in a
haunted warehouse and a police
man who can’t seem to man his
son up before he commits suicide.
Notably, nobody dies in this odd
village. In fact, the town doesn’t
even have a cemetary. In my view,
the book is a masterpiece, and
what's important here, it happens
over the summer, so it’s totally re-
latable to you, who we’re sure are
also odd astronomers in small,
eerie fishing villages.
‘Here We Are’ by Kjartan
Ragnarsson
From a master to a newby. ‘Here
We Are’ is the debut poetry book
from Kjartan Ragnarsson and
it’s quite promising. Not only is
it beautifully written, but it was
also originally written in Eng-
lish—targeting an international
crowd—which is a remarkably
unique feat in the Icelandic liter-
ary world. It’s also, I must add, a
refreshing one.
Each poem in the book is part
of a larger story of a city and
Kjartan’s poems allow the read-
er to dive into each character’s
thoughts, revealing their inner
connections. Of course, I must ad-
mit that the effort does bear some
of the unavoidable characteristics
of a new writer, but it’s ultimately
a surprising, worthwhile read.
‘The Sagas and Shit’ by
Grayson Del Faro
I can’t go on without mentioning
one of the funniest books in the
Northern Hemisphere and it’s
definitely not one I have any per-
sonal connection to. No way.
Grayson Del Faro’s epic ‘The
Sagas and Shit’ began as a regular
Grapevine column. It was quickly
discovered, though, that it was
something special. Grayson, who
is a scholar of the Icelandic sagas,
has a deep understanding of these
complex stories and his summa-
ries were not only enlightening,
but also extremely funny. See,
Grayson doesn’t approach these
cultural holy grails with the same
dusty attitudes as most schol-
ars. No, he draws out the core
meaning and messages and puts
a modern twist on them. Think
intrigue, drama and sex jokes you
really don’t want your gradma to
see.
Warning: This is one of those
books that will make you acciden-
tally piss yourself while scream-
ing and laughing at the silliness
of these insane vikings, who, like
you, went completely mad in Ice-
land’s endless summer nights.
‘666 Jokes’ by Hugleikur
Dagsson
We’ve now reached the infa-
mously dark and twisted humour
of comic artist Hugleikur Dags-
son. Where to start? First off, it
really is insane that this humor-
ous genius hasn’t been cancelled
by an angry mob yet. Truly mind-
boggling. But I think the answer
is simple—the man is so talented
that even though his humour is
as depraved and dark as it gets, he
still manages to entertain, shock
and showcase his brilliantly sar-
castic messages to the world. It’s a
delicate line, but he treads it.
In ‘666 Jokes’, Hugleikur show-
cases the best and worst of Icelan-
dic humour. These are thoughts
you might not even say in a tight
group of friends while drunk by
the campfire and everyone’s cell
phones are out of battery. Huglei-
kur makes fun of everything—
and I mean everything. Only the
bravest of the brave should read
this book, for Hugleikur is like
a lovely Icelandic summer festi-
val—filled with unruly madness,
riot, burning tents and crappy
folk music.
26The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 06— 2021

SÆTA SVÍNI! / Hafnarstræti 1-3 / Tel. 555 2900 / saetasvinid.is
790 1.490
HAPPIEST
HAPPY HOUR
IN REYKJAVÍK
ICELANDIC GASTROPUB
Books To Read
Before The
Endless Summer
Days Rob You Of
Your Sanity
Books
Valur’s top summer reads for the “warm”
Icelandic “beach” weather
Words: Valur Grettisson Photo: Art Bicnick
Grayson Del Faro doing his viking yoga routine