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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
I decided to find a book by an Icelandic author and saw Sjon’s Moonstone: The boy who never was recommended. This book is a short experimental novel set, mostly, in 1918 Reykjavik when the Spanish flu pandemic has come to the island. Much of the book focuses on the main character’s work as a hustler or gay prostitute — although neither the word hustler nor the word prostitution ever appear, at least in my English translation. Be aware that there are many graphic descriptions of male-male sex. A good part of the novel concerns the importance of movies — there were only silent movies then. In particular, the serial film Les Vampires (ten episodes, roughly seven hours in length), a crime thriller that is now seen as one of the progenitors of both crime thrillers and experimental movies. I have seen the series as well as the 1996 film remake and the 2022 miniseries so those sections of the book stood out for me. Be aware that the most experimental aspect of the book is the ending and you may wonder just what to make of the story when you finish. I recommend this book if you have a certain tolerance for both explicit descriptions of sexual activities and experimental writing.
Have you read any Icelandic writers?
Do you have a favorite experimental novel? (For me, Nabokov’s Ada or Pale Fire were quite memorable.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
The writing is poetry, the story compelling, but I found the ending disappointing.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
based in Reykjavik in 1918, a very short but impactful novel centered on the ways we try to make ourselves disappear when we are rejected, when we are left to find our own sense of love because none exists for us, when we are not only facing the difficulties of our personal lives but also facing the impact of societal issues and we need an escape because we cannot face this reality
this was my pick for the Iceland prompt in the @storygraph reads the world challenge 🌎
I was excited by the concept of this book and tbh it was just the amount of pretentiousness for my liking. Could’ve been a 5 star if it weren’t for all the graphic sex - I actually had to set the book down after reading the first page and definitely would not have picked it up if I hadn’t requested it from the library. That said, this is a book I will probably re read again if not more than once.
I don't know what the point of this was and I'm not a prude, but man, there was so much graphic sex for such a short novella.
Reading this novel (novella?) I had the intoxicating feeling that I was actually inside a terrific piece of avant garde theater. Not watching it, exactly, but somehow part of it. Strange. It is so clearly “other” to any of my experience — place, character, time, language, organization — but at the same time it is exactly about epidemic, global catastrophe, social strictures and longing that I couldn’t help but understand the absolute heart of it.