Sometimes grim, sometimes uproarious, and always captivating, Iceland's Bell by Nobel Laureate Halldor 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...
Sometimes grim, sometimes uproarious, and always captivating, Iceland's Bell by Nobel Laureate Halldor Laxness is at once an updating of the tr...
