From reading Independent People and Under the Glacier, I recognized Laxness' sardonic humor throughout the book and for the times I found myself laughFrom reading Independent People and Under the Glacier, I recognized Laxness' sardonic humor throughout the book and for the times I found myself laughing out loud, I had to give the book a starting point of at least 3 stars, however for it's length (600 pages) it didn't carry the same epic weight of Independent People. It's 4 parts seemed too removed from each other as we followed Ólafur Kárason, epic poet, through his life, which didn't allow me to rate higher than that 3-star point. Even his contemporary allusions to social upheaval, war and societal change were too disjointed to really challenge thought the way other Laxness' novels have done for me.
As I read in another review, Ólafur seemed less the protagonist who acted in the novel as much as someone acted upon by others, which dulled down the character. In part 3, he seemed the most energetic, but it ended rather slowly. Love figures prominently in Ólafur's journey and he steadfastly clings to his poetic art instead of world possesions an I can even tell the poet was happy at the last, but it still read like a tragedy which seemed to steal away from the lasting 'sunny' feeling that I unfortunately couldn't share with Ólafur....more
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