Independent People

halldór laxness james anderson thompson

Set in Iceland, this story is imbued with the lyrical force of medieval ballads and Nordic myth.

Genres fictionclassicshistorical fictionliteraturenobel prizenovelsscandinavian literatureliterary fiction20th centurybook club

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1934

Series

Sjálfstætt fólk

Literary awards

premi llibreter de narrativa,

Places

iceland,

This edition

Format: 544 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 2001 by Harvill Panther
ISBN: 9781860467769
ASIN: 1860467768
Language: English

Characters More characters

Bjartur í Sumarhúsum

The main character of Independent People and the farmer of Summerhouses. He is heroic and stubborn in equal measures. He wants nothing more than to be independent and free from debt. In order to keep up the appearance of a stoical saga hero, Bjartur inter...
Ásta Sóllilja

Bjarturs eldest child and only daughter (the biological offspring of Rósa and Ingólfur Arnarson). He refers to her as the flower of his life and she is the only person that he is able to show any tenderness. Ásta Sólilja both loves and f...
Nonni

Bjarturs youngest son. Nonni has a dream, given to him by his mother, that he will sing for the whole world. He yearns for the foreign countries that lie beyond Summerhouses. Nonni is the most sensitive and poetic of Bjarturs child...
Helgi

Bjarturs eldest son. Helgi nurtures a furious resentment towards his father, held in check by terror of his tyrannical reign. Eventually, he strikes out against Bjartur in the only way open to him.more...
Gvendur

Bjarturs middle son. Gvendur, like Ásta Sólilja, craves his fathers approval. Unlike his brothers, he is keen to keep on doing something and is outwardly uncritical of Bjarturs ideology. Bjartur is fond of him, but never give...
Ingólfur Arnarson

Named after Ingólfur Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland, Ingólfur is the biological father of Ásta Sólilja and the son of Jón and Madam of Mýri. He is rich, and rather arrogant and condescending, and is held in contempt by Bjartur....

About the author

halldór laxness

Born Halldór Guðjónsson, he adopted the surname Laxness in honour of Laxnes in Mosfellssveit where he grew up, his family having moved from Reyjavík in 1905. He published his first novel at the age of only 17, the beginning of a long literary career of more than 60 books, including novels, short stories, poetry, and plays. Confirmed a Catholic in 1923, he later moved away from religion and for a long time was sympathetic to Communist politics, which is evident in his novels World Light and Independent People. In 1955 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.