A review by nini23
Summer Light, and Then Comes the Night by Jón Kalman Stefánsson

challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An Icelandic village of 300 souls, nothing flashy, living their lives of quiet desperation. Incredible storytelling, the representative village narrator is circumspect about cause and effect of events. Moments of incomparable beauty and poignancy vie with the male gaze. Please also see content warnings.  As with Scandinavian/Nordic lit, weather and the seasons play a pivotal part in framing the story - the long interminable cold darkness of winter and the blazing insistent neverending brightness of summer. The cover art by Stephen Brayda portrays the sentiment gorgeously.  Translated from Icelandic by Philip Roughton, won the Icelandic Prize for Literature when originally published in 2006 as Somarljós, og sevo kemur nóttin.
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