Independent People

by

482 pages

English language

Published 1997

ISBN:
978-0-679-76792-3
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Goodreads:
77287

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(1 review)

Independent People: An Epic (Icelandic: Sjálfstætt fólk) is a novel by Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, originally published in two volumes in 1934 and 1935. It deals with the struggle of poor Icelandic farmers in the early 20th century, only freed from debt bondage in the last generation, and surviving on isolated crofts in an inhospitable landscape. The novel is considered among the foremost examples of social realism in Icelandic fiction in the 1930s. It is an indictment of materialism, the cost of the self-reliant spirit to relationships, and capitalism itself. This book, along with several other major novels, helped Laxness win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955.

4 editions

reviewed Independent People by Halldór Laxness

Review of 'Independent people' on 'LibraryThing'

Months after finishing this book, I still don't know how to describe it, so I'll just describe my reaction. I absolutely adored every word of Laxness's writing, and couldn't tear myself away even though the events he describes are such a succession of awfulness that I often wanted to put it down. The book wormed its way into my head in a way that I've rarely experienced since I stopped studying literature formally, and several of the scenes are still vivid in my mind now.

I think this is one of the finest books I've ever read, but don't read it if you're feeling down, because it's also one of the bleakest.