Wow. Double Wow. Triple Wow.
It's upsetting to me that the only reason I knew about this new ranslation of Under The Glacier coming out was that the New York Times printed Susan Sontag's introduction a few Sundays before its release. This should have been much more publicized. This is an important work.
I think I can say that Laxness deserved his Nobel Prize for Literature. Not only does this novel cross into many genres. It's sci-fi, it's fantasy, it's romance, it's historical fiction, it's political and social commentary...(the list can go on forever). This book is very engaging and yet a crazy read.
The style of writing is a bit different than most novels. The young man working for the bishop is referred to as Embi (Emissary of Bishop, I guess) and he uses a tape recorder to conduct his research. Much of the book is written as if it is a series of interview transcriptions. The translation seems quite good. I have heard that many of Laxness' works had been poorly translated to English. I think this is done well. There are probably things that wouldn't please the author himself, but it is better than many other works of translated literature I've read.
RATING: 4.5/5
MORE INFO AND SPOILERS FOLLOW
In this story the Bishop of Iceland is concerned about rumors he has heard about goings on in Snaefells Glacier. If that name sounds familiar it is because that location plays an important part in Jules Verne's classic novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. The Bishop sends an emissary a student who has not yet been ordained to observe the goings on at "Glacier" and report back to him. It turns out that the Pastor at Glacier is an old-style Christian Mystic who no longer says mass and spends more time working as a handyman for the community than as a man of cloth. The Pastor remains married to a mysterious woman who disappears for over 30 years.
Strange things happen at Glacier. There are women who never seem to eat or sleep. Corpses disappear or are taken up to the glacier and a strange building is built next to the boarded-up church.