| Iceland's Bell Contributor(s): Laxness, Halldor (Author), Roughton, Philip (Translator) |
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ISBN: 1400034256 ISBN-13: 9781400034253 Publisher: Vintage OUR PRICE: $15.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2003 Annotation: Sometimes grim, sometimes uproarious, and always captivating, Iceland's Bell by Nobel Laureate Halldir Laxness is at once an updating of the traditional Icelandic saga and a caustic social satire. At the close of the 17th century, Iceland is an oppressed Danish colony, suffering under extreme poverty, famine, and plague. A farmer and accused cord-thief named Jon Hreggvidsson makes a bawdy joke about the Danish king and soon after finds himself a fugitive charged with the murder of the king's hangman. In the years that follow, the hapless but resilient rogue Hreggvidsson becomes a pawn entangled in political and personal conflicts playing out on a far grander scale. Chief among these is the star-crossed love affair between Snaefridur, known as "Iceland's Sun," a beautiful, headstrong young noblewoman, and Arnas Arnaeus, the king's antiquarian, an aristocrat whose worldly manner conceals a fierce devotion to his downtrodden countrymen. As their personal struggle plays itself out on an international stage, Iceland's Bell" creates a Dickensian canvas of heroism and venality, violence and tragedy, charged with narrative enchantment on every page. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary - Fiction | Historical - General - Fiction | Humorous - Black Humor |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 2003050070 |
| Series: Vintage International |
| Physical Information: 0.95" H x 5.32" W x 8.33" (0.72 lbs) 448 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Sometimes grim, sometimes uproarious, and always captivating, Iceland's Bell by Nobel Laureate Halld r Laxness is at once an updating of the traditional Icelandic saga and a caustic social satire. At the close of the 17th century, Iceland is an oppressed Danish colony, suffering under extreme poverty, famine, and plague. A farmer and accused cord-thief named Jon Hreggvidsson makes a bawdy joke about the Danish king and soon after finds himself a fugitive charged with the murder of the king's hangman. In the years that follow, the hapless but resilient rogue Hreggvidsson becomes a pawn entangled in political and personal conflicts playing out on a far grander scale. Chief among these is the star-crossed love affair between Snaefridur, known as "Iceland's Sun," a beautiful, headstrong young noblewoman, and Arnas Arnaeus, the king's antiquarian, an aristocrat whose worldly manner conceals a fierce devotion to his downtrodden countrymen. As their personal struggle plays itself out on an international stage, Iceland's Bell creates a Dickensian canvas of heroism and venality, violence and tragedy, charged with narrative enchantment on every page. |