Atlantica - 01.09.2000, Side 20

18 A T L A N T I C A
Michael Crichton seems far-removed from the
Hollywood scene, and is a well-spoken, introspective
and strikingly tall, man. He spent an afternoon signing
his novels at leading Reykjavík book shop Eymundsson, and
stayed much longer than he was supposed to because, “He was
just too nice,” says an observer. “He chatted to each and every
one of his fans and wouldn’t leave until everyone who had
turned up left with a signed copy.”
I met up with Crichton on a rainy morning, just before he left
for a visit to Reykjavík’s art galleries, for Crichton’s many inter-
ests include modern art. But that’s not what brought him to
Iceland.
“My wife Anne-Marie became interested in Icelandic horses
some years ago. We now keep a number of Icelandic horses
and my wife is here to attend the Landsmót horse tournament.
You know, when we first got married, my wife carried a photo-
graph of me in her wallet. Now she carries a picture of her
Icelandic horse. My picture just got tossed out.”
Icelandic horses are sturdy and sure-footed, but definitely
small. With his height (at least 2 m) I wonder whether his legs
would not trail on the ground when riding one.
“I don’t ride, I’m not a rider. But even if it were not for my
wife’s interest in the horses I would definitely have visited
Iceland anyway. I am very interested in volcanic places, and
have spent a lot of time in Hawaii. I was actually surprised by
the great beauty of this country, I find it absolutely stunning.”
Due to the short duration of his visit, Crichton went on a
speedy journey, by day and night, through the desert and the
north of Iceland with Gunnar Dungal, the owner of
Eymundsson.
“I don’t usually travel through countries in 22 hours. It was
fascinating, and very beautiful travelling through the night. The
sunset lasts for a whole hour, then there is a bit of dusk and
then it rises again. I didn’t feel very tired, maybe all this daylight
gives you energy.” He takes a reflective pause and asks
whether this is the case. I laugh and tell him that we do tend to
sleep less in the summer and more in the winter. Crichton was
also intrigued by the mystical aspect of the landscape. “I asked
Gunnar about the elves, the huldufólk. Apparently you even
build roads around rocks where they are supposed to live.” I tell
him a lot of people here still believe in elves and supernatural
phenomena. “I think that is very sensible,” he says with a seri-
ous look on his face. Does Michael Crichton believe these sort
of things exist?
“I think it is very wise to believe that there is a whole part of
the world that remains unseen to us, and that there is still a lot
to discover.”
MOST of Crichton’s novels have been turned into blockbuster
movies. Jurassic Park, which won three academy awards, and
its follow up, The Lost World, were both top-grossing movies.
Recent films include Congo, Rising Sun and The 13th Warrior,
and it would seem that he writes with the big screen in mind.
“No, I don’t. But I think that novels have become more cine-
matic since the first moving pictures arrived in the 1850s. I think
Hollywood’s
Gentle Giant
name has been synonymous with Hollywood,
from his first films Coma and Westworld in the 1970s to adapta-
tions of his best-selling novels such as Jurassic Park and
Disclosure, and his successful TV series, ER.
Anna Margrét Björnsson met up with the multi-talented writer on his
recent visit to Iceland, and discussed horses, movies and elves.
airmail
Michael Crichton’s
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