Hubert Seelow Books

Die Sammlung 'Sieben Zauberer' des isländischen Nobelpreisträgers Halldor Laxness vereint realistische und mystische Erzählungen, die alltägliches Leben und träumerisches Abenteuer verbinden. Sie spiegelt eine Mischung aus Weltaufgeschlossenheit und isländischer Fabulierfreude wider, erzählt mit Witz und Ironie.

"Fräulein" Rannveig erzählt von der Rückkehr einer jungen Frau mit unehelichem Kind nach Island und den Konflikten mit ihrer Familie, insbesondere ihrer schönen Schwester Thurid, die sie ausgrenzt. Die Geschichte thematisiert die Erwartungen an Wohlanständigkeit und deren Auswirkungen.

When the Americans make an offer to buy Icelandic land to build an atomic war base, a storm of protest is provoked throughout the country and it is here that Laxness finds the catalyst for his story. Told by a country girl from the north, the novel follows her experiences upon taking up employment as a maid in the house of her Member of Parliament. She finds herself in a world very different to that of her upbringing and, marvelling at the customs and behaviour of the people around her, she emerges as the one obstinate reality in a world of fantasy. Her observations and experiences expose the intellectual society of the south as rootless and shallow and in stark contrast to the ancient culture of the solid and less fanciful north. The colourful, yet at times dark, cast of characters whom she meets personify the southern fantasy world. In this black comedy, Laxness has painted a masterpiece of social commentary as relevant today as when it was first written in 1948.

Sometimes grim, sometimes uproarious, and always captivating, Iceland's Bell by Nobel Laureate Halldór 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 Jón Hreggviðsson 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 Jón 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 Snaefríður, 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.