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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
This book made me question my sanity, and I love it! I'm not sure what I read, but whatever it is it's fantastic.
This is the kind of book to read and re-read, getting something new out of it each time without ever figuring it out.
This is the kind of book to read and re-read, getting something new out of it each time without ever figuring it out.
After the first few pages, I did not want to finish this disgusting book, but I kept at it because it was for my Book Club. Overly descriptive sexual encounters combined with grotesque descriptions of the plight of the 1918 pandemic left me with a snear on my face. I did finish the book and was glad it had as few pages as it had. I have no desire to read anything else by this author and unless you are a glutton for punishment, don't waste your time on this abhorrent book. By the way, I will not be attendng the Book Club meeting to discuss this book. Over and out.
Around the World Reading Challenge: ICELAND
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Set in 1918 Iceland in the middle of the Spanish Flu epidemic and focusing on a young, queer hustler. It's a short story, and it's very odd. I'm sure there is something quite deep and profound here that I was just too dull to understand, but this did absolutely nothing for me. I didn't get it, wasn't interested or invested, and I found the ~reveal~ completely boring because I just hadn't cared enough about the story. I picked this one for the queer themes, but I found it underwhelming. Super quick read, and I'm sure it's my fault I didn't get this one.
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Set in 1918 Iceland in the middle of the Spanish Flu epidemic and focusing on a young, queer hustler. It's a short story, and it's very odd. I'm sure there is something quite deep and profound here that I was just too dull to understand, but this did absolutely nothing for me. I didn't get it, wasn't interested or invested, and I found the ~reveal~ completely boring because I just hadn't cared enough about the story. I picked this one for the queer themes, but I found it underwhelming. Super quick read, and I'm sure it's my fault I didn't get this one.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
This brief novel reads like a thrumming fever dream. As its chapters flash past, we are only dealt glimpses of a worldly plot that is otherwise interspersed with hallucination, memory, and warpage.
Set in 1916 Reykjavik, Iceland, during the scourge of Spanish influenza, and following a queer teenage boy coming of age in a time and place absent of terminology for what he is experiencing, the entire story is underscored by a sense of desolation and remoteness. Everything feels liminal: the small city seated in a vast, cold, and empty expanse; the small, rocky island hovering above the choppy seas; the lone queer boy passing between unspoken, anonymous encounters; the sickness, stalking through town and ravaging victims with haunting, AIDS-like premonitions of a grim future that few of the characters will be around to see. It all takes on a fabular quality. Moonstone is experimental, and while it isn’t my favorite read of late, I have to lend it credit for its immersiveness and originality.
Also, bonus points for writing queer people into historical fiction — in this case, literally into Iceland’s founding as an independent state. LGBTQ people aren’t new, but you wouldn’t know it by most accounts. It matters to be alive in the past, even if only by fiction.
Set in 1916 Reykjavik, Iceland, during the scourge of Spanish influenza, and following a queer teenage boy coming of age in a time and place absent of terminology for what he is experiencing, the entire story is underscored by a sense of desolation and remoteness. Everything feels liminal: the small city seated in a vast, cold, and empty expanse; the small, rocky island hovering above the choppy seas; the lone queer boy passing between unspoken, anonymous encounters; the sickness, stalking through town and ravaging victims with haunting, AIDS-like premonitions of a grim future that few of the characters will be around to see. It all takes on a fabular quality. Moonstone is experimental, and while it isn’t my favorite read of late, I have to lend it credit for its immersiveness and originality.
Also, bonus points for writing queer people into historical fiction — in this case, literally into Iceland’s founding as an independent state. LGBTQ people aren’t new, but you wouldn’t know it by most accounts. It matters to be alive in the past, even if only by fiction.
Another Sjón novel I devoured in one sitting (I really shouldn't do that, I know). Written before the pandemic it captures life during a pandemic (1918), an eventful time for my wonderful Iceland. Katla erupting, independence, World War one...
We follow Máni Steinn, a 16 yo, lonely, queer boy who dropped out of school and who earns his money as a teenage prostitute while living with his great-grandmother's sister. He tries to escape reality by watching as many movies as he can. We follow him against the backdrop of the world's events.
As always Sjón's poetic writing style is what captivated me from the beginning till the end. He is Iceland's most talented writing creative (poems, novels, Bachelorette's lyrics, The Northman...). Can we translate more of his work soon please, because I have only one novel left.
We follow Máni Steinn, a 16 yo, lonely, queer boy who dropped out of school and who earns his money as a teenage prostitute while living with his great-grandmother's sister. He tries to escape reality by watching as many movies as he can. We follow him against the backdrop of the world's events.
As always Sjón's poetic writing style is what captivated me from the beginning till the end. He is Iceland's most talented writing creative (poems, novels, Bachelorette's lyrics, The Northman...). Can we translate more of his work soon please, because I have only one novel left.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don’t know about this one. I read The blue fox by this author this year, and found it to be lyrical and beautiful. Alternatively this is brutal and sharp and hard to follow in a dreamy way. It’s not bad necessarily, but I feel like there wasn’t enough threads linking the whole thing. Not my favourite.
This actually lives up to the seemingly improbable genre labelled in the blurb as "the mind-bending miniature historical epic" and although the concluding deus ex machina effect and the sudden shift into magic realism might be disconcerting to many, it was what bumped it into [5] territory for me. If you've followed my reviews and know my obsession with lost-generation writers (i.e. 1920's) you would understand. Explaining further here would be a spoiler for the ending.
But even before that, the story of a 16-year-old cinephile who earns the money to satisfy his film craving by being a gay hustler in 1918 Reykjavik, Iceland was completely intriguing as well. I don't know all of the silent films referenced but certainly the 7-hour "Les Vampires" that is mentioned is an actual film serial of the time. On top of that background there is layered one of the periodic eruptions of the Katla volcano, the Spanish Flu pandemic which sickened 10,000 of the town's population of 15,000 AND the independence of Iceland itself. All of this packed into a novella length work.
[Note: There are 2 very explicit sex scenes and the effects of the Spanish Flu are also expressed very graphically.]
But even before that, the story of a 16-year-old cinephile who earns the money to satisfy his film craving by being a gay hustler in 1918 Reykjavik, Iceland was completely intriguing as well. I don't know all of the silent films referenced but certainly the 7-hour "Les Vampires" that is mentioned is an actual film serial of the time. On top of that background there is layered one of the periodic eruptions of the Katla volcano, the Spanish Flu pandemic which sickened 10,000 of the town's population of 15,000 AND the independence of Iceland itself. All of this packed into a novella length work.
[Note: There are 2 very explicit sex scenes and the effects of the Spanish Flu are also expressed very graphically.]
A very short historic novel set in Iceland for 2 mos at the end of 1918, and the flu epidemic there. Throw in a gay narrator and some silent picture references, info and history too. And a coda about 10 years later that brings in the Pool film magazine and working group (I knew of some of the members, I did not know they were involved as a group in early film criticism and experimental film).
I really enjoyed this, and learned quite a bit about silent film history, Iceland, and the flu epidemic . The sections on the flu epidemic itself (written back in 2013, published in English about 2017) are really quite good, and an excellent commentary on what we've been going through for the past 2 years. The sex scenes are quite detailed and graphic.
Sjon is a writer, artist, and co-authors lyrics with Bjork.
I already have one of his earlier works on order, and looking forward to reading more of his work.
Reads really quickly - lots of blank pages.
I really enjoyed this, and learned quite a bit about silent film history, Iceland, and the flu epidemic . The sections on the flu epidemic itself (written back in 2013, published in English about 2017) are really quite good, and an excellent commentary on what we've been going through for the past 2 years. The sex scenes are quite detailed and graphic.
Sjon is a writer, artist, and co-authors lyrics with Bjork.
I already have one of his earlier works on order, and looking forward to reading more of his work.
Reads really quickly - lots of blank pages.