Read Rökkurbýsnir (2008)

Online Book

Author

Sjón

Genre

Historical Fiction

Rating

3.48 of 5 Votes: 1

Your rating

ISBN

9979657472 (ISBN13: 9789979657477)

Language

English

Publisher

Bjartur

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

Free Online

Rökkurbýsnir (2008) - Plot & Excerpts

I might have to give this another read to get a better grasp of the story itself. That being said, the flow and lyricism of the prose-poetry takes you on as much of a journey as this bizarre, incredible tale of Jonas the Learned. If you're not the biggest fan of despair and momentary gore, then this tome might not be for you. There are interludes of explaining important herbs, which were actually kind of interesting. Overall, it's a beautifully weird, morose acid trip where you just want the suffering to be over for our main character. This book has won awards and accolades, but I have to say I found it rather disappointing. Maybe I had the wrong expectations, but instead of being carried away to an Icelandic fantasy/ historical fiction, I found myself mired in something more akin to mystical, magical realism with prose that could be so purple it became tedious to wade through at times. I can imagine that some readers find it more poetic than I did, but honestly I don't think I would recommend it to any of my friends.