My rating:

add to my books

Under the Glacier

by Halldór Laxness, Magnus Magnusson (Translator)

3.54 · rating details · 352 ratings · 56 reviews

Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness’s Under the Glacier is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, a wryly provocative novel at once earthy and otherworldly. At its outset, the Bishop of Iceland dispatches a young emissary to investigate certain charges against the pastor at Sn?fells Glacier, who, among other things, appears to have given up burying the dead. But once he arrives, the emis...more

Paperback, 256 pages

Published December 18th 2007 by Vintage (first published 1968)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Favorite Magical Realism Novels

246th out of 479 books — 1,597 voters

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

Best Nordic Fiction

35th out of 92 books — 14 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 594)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 22, 2007

Marissa rated it

I couldn't find Independent People in my library (which I had only read half of and really wanted to finish) so I picked of this book of Laxness's instead and I am glad I did. I was expecting something slightly more magical realist so I was maybe a bit disappointed that it was not but was glad the "crazy" beliefs, stories, people, etc. became what they did.
The first 3/4ths of the book seem to be filled with silliness. The pastor isn't doing his job and the women don't sleep or ...more

like 4 likes

· see review

Aug 19, 2008

Mark rated it

Shelves: fiction

It's not that I hated "Under the Glacier" or didn't get a chuckle from it occasionally (OK, more like a wan smile). But to call it, as Susan Sontag did, “a marvelous novel about the most ambitious questions" and "one of the funniest books ever written," is a stretch. (And btw, I'm glad I was never invited to comedy night at the Sontags).

Written by Icelandic Nobel Prize winner Halldor Laxness, "Under the Glacier" is the story (using the term loosely)...moreIt's not that I hated "Under the Glacier" or didn't get a chuckle from it occasionally (OK, more like a wan smile). But to call it, as Susan Sontag did, “a marvelous novel about the most ambitious questions" and "one of the funniest books ever written," is a stretch. (And btw, I'm glad I was never invited to comedy night at the Sontags).

Written by Icelandic Nobel Prize winner Halldor Laxness, "Under the Glacier" is the story (using the term loosely) of a bishop's emissary who hunts for the truth (using the term loosely) about what has gone on with the parish pastor (ditto on the loosely) of a remote district next to a glacier. There are rumors that Pastor Jon has not held church services in years (true), is long separated from his wife but has refused to seek a divorce (maybe) and may have hauled a dead body onto the glacier without a proper burial (very maybe).

The entire mercifully short novel is written in a style I would call Scandinavian magic surrealism, where hardly any character is what he or she seems, no one is "normal," and where a mysterious woman may be dead, or alive, or a bit of both.

The narrator, in keeping with his instructions to merely be the eyes and ears of the bishop and render no opinions, designates himself either "the undersigned" or "embi" (for emissary of the bishop, get it, wink wink?).

Mixed in is a housekeeper who makes only baked goods, a self-defensive truck driver, a man who perpetually loses horses, a wealthy expatriate who returns with three latter day hippies to oversee a resurrection, and a casket which it takes several chapters to open and then reveals its contents to be .... well, you'll have to enter the maze to find out.

The theology in this novel is profound in a way that would impress Shirley MacLaine; the humor has not a side split nor a knee slap in sight, and the bottom line is, well, let's see ... maybe not to tramp around through a bog at night without shoes on? -- that's as good a guess as any.

It does have its moments, but not enough to get me up the side of the glacier to three stars.

(less)

like 3 likes

· see review

May 04, 2007

emily rated it

glaciers and absurdity

who doesn't judge books by their covers? i was in kramerbooks, soon to be headed to iceland, when this one called to me. i reached past the reds and blues and modern arts for a lovely green book with a title that pulled at my heartstrings. even though it was "ordinary people" that won halldór laxness the nobel prize, i went with "under the glacier" because of its title and because the subject matter seemed so fascinating.

how do i ...moreglaciers and absurdity

who doesn't judge books by their covers? i was in kramerbooks, soon to be headed to iceland, when this one called to me. i reached past the reds and blues and modern arts for a lovely green book with a title that pulled at my heartstrings. even though it was "ordinary people" that won halldór laxness the nobel prize, i went with "under the glacier" because of its title and because the subject matter seemed so fascinating.

how do i describe it? there's an intro by susan sontag that labels it as: science fiction, a philosophical novel, a dream novel, a comic novel, and a visionary one. that's a fairly good start. it involves a young emissary from the bishop of iceland who is sent from reykjavik to investigate odd rumors about the pastor - and town - of snaefells glacier. in short order, this becomes an investigation of all things considering "christianity at the glacier." and that investigation is hilarious. there were times, reading it, when i thought it very well might be the funniest book i have ever read.

christianity, taoism, hinduism, reincarnation, hatha yoga, nature poetry, biblical verse, mythical fish, intergalactic communication, horse abusers and imported french biscuits ... all come together in the narrative, yet there is cohesion in the absurdity. i think what i liked best about it were the ruminations on literature itself, such as the bishop's instructions to the emissary:

"no verifying! if people tell lies, that's as may be. if they've come up with some credo or other, so much the better! ... remember, any lie you are told, even if deliberately, is often a more significant fact than a truth told in all sincerity."

there are so many other gems that are underlined in my copy, but here is the first that truly hooked me, from a letter from the parish clerk to the bishop of iceland: "In conclusion, it's quite true that our church is a little worse for wear, although in fact there haven't been many complaints; but God is said to be great. No need to elaborate further on that. Your Grace's loving and obedient servant ..."

for me the high point of the book comes about halfway through, in a long discussion between old friends pastor jon primus and dr. syngmann (mundi), the angler and businessman and mystic who returns to perform biotelekinesis - life induction - in the energy field of the glacier. the chapters that outline their discussion, through the notes of the emissary, play two different but captivating philosophies against one another. the chapters also hint at regret and nostalgia, the way our lives change separately from those we were once close to. the climax, then, for me, is pastor jon's soliloquy at mundi's funeral.

i'll leave the final words to pastor jon:

"It's a pity we don't whistle at one another, like birds. Words are misleading. I am always trying to forget words. That is why I contemplate the lilies of the field, but in particular the glacier. If one looks at the glacier for long enough, words cease to have any meaning on God's earth."(less)

like 3 likes

· see review

Dec 23, 2011

Daniel Gamboa rated it

I wanted to read one of Laxness' books and this one, and not Independent People, caught my attention, because of its unique plot. Believe me, this book is UNIQUE. I often found myself not having a clue about what was going on, but there was always something ahead letting me know that THAT was the point: to make you feel as confused as the bishop's emissary. I agree that this is not a 5 star book, because Laxness often rambles about the same over and over to make you feel consfused, and that can ...more

· see review

Mar 22, 2011

Elizabeth Adams rated it

Glacier The first book by Halldor Laxness that I read, Independent People, is his most famous: the story of the unimaginably grim lives of Icelandic peasant sheep-herders. In spite of its grimness (and length - it goes on for some 512 pages) I loved the book, and was anxious to read another by the same author.

Under the Glacier is much shorter, not grim at all, and it's funny. Susan Sontag, in her introduction, points out that it's unlike anything else that Laxness ever wrote, and goes ...moreGlacier The first book by Halldor Laxness that I read, Independent People, is his most famous: the story of the unimaginably grim lives of Icelandic peasant sheep-herders. In spite of its grimness (and length - it goes on for some 512 pages) I loved the book, and was anxious to read another by the same author.

Under the Glacier is much shorter, not grim at all, and it's funny. Susan Sontag, in her introduction, points out that it's unlike anything else that Laxness ever wrote, and goes on to describe how the novel can be seen as science fiction, dream novel, comic novel, sexual turn-on, and five or six other categories as well.

The young narrator is a wet-behind-the-ears emissary from the bishop (he calls himself "EmBi") sent to investigate rumors of the demise of Christianity in a remote town. The church, supposedly, is boarded up; the pastor's wife, of dubious reputation already when she came on the scene 35 years ago, has long since disappeared; the pastor is reported to have stopped celebrating the sacraments, particularly funerals; and there are alarming stories of someone or something unburied but instead stored in a casket on the glacier itself. Embi, knowing himself to be naive and unqualified, sets off to find out what he can and write a report for the bishop. He meets a bizarre collection of Icelanders at Glacier, all of whom proceed to give him a friendly but royal runaround. Their treatment of him is comic but also cruel, but the open-minded Embi takes it all with equanimity and a kind of dispassionate objectivity -- the only thing he complains about is the lack of any real food; he's expected to subsist on gallons of coffee and endless cakes -- until the pastor's wife reappears and takes him under her spell.

Sontag's assessment is witty and erudite (no surprise there) and the book, which truly is enigmatic, does not end with a neat summary of what this strange journey has been about. For me, however, this novel is primarily a fable that draws from the Icelandic saga tradition (particularly in its depiction of a shape-shifting woman, an enchantress deeply connected with mystical Nature and whose power over men is almost absolute) entwined with a journey into the largest and hardest human questions. As in Independent People, Laxness looks deeply into human nature and the resulting institutions and politics, but this time with a much lighter touch that never tips into caricature or overdramatization - flaws that I felt marred the concluding section of Independent People.

Embi's quest for the truth calls into question (and lampoons) the role of organized religion as well as that of New Age and quasi-scientific beliefs, while asking us to look more deeply at nature and our place within it. And to what lengths are we willing to go to find out the truth, after all?

I certainly don't have Under the Glacier all figured out; instead the book lingers in my mind and continues to ask questions - a quality that fulfills my test for excellence in literature.(less)

· see review

Aug 21, 2009

Matt rated it

I re-read this one recently, which is pretty rare for me to do with books I'm not teaching. I remember really liking this the first time I read it a couple years ago, but also feeling like I didn't quite get it, so I went back, and I'm glad I did.

The rap on this book is that it's a weird cosmic-philosophical exploration of terms of Christianity in a humorous, light-touch kind of way, with a lovable Candide-esque narrator. That's at least partly true, and I think I was able to follow th...more

· see review

May 11, 2009

Christy rated it

Found it hard to condense my still tangled senses of this book to a staff pick card, since I only truly enjoyed the last part, when Ua returned. But here was my (very boring) try:

"Following a host of strange rumors, a young man is sent as an emissary of the Bishop of Iceland to investigate the parish at Snaefells Glacier, a landscape which profoundly roots and underlines the novel. Written by Iceland's premier author, Under the Glacier is a novel both comic and metaphysical, myt...more

· see review

Jan 12, 2012

A.C.Hale rated it

Shelves: iceland, saga, 20c-fiction

Not the most accessible Laxness book so it may be worth starting off with Independent People, above all else this a very Icelandic book - in a good way!

Presented as a series of reports from the Bishop of Iceland's emissary who is sent to Snæfellsnes (under glacier) to investigate strange reports of funerals being held on the glacier, the loss of faith of the local pastor and boarding up of the local church.

As soon as he arrives the comedy of errors begins. The pastor devo...more

· see review

Jan 22, 2008

Christopher Kelsey rated it

Shelves: scandinavian

Unlike anything else I've read. Quick, witty, and very strange. The story is ostensibly a face-value report of a clergy investigation in a rural Icelandic town...where the slow approach of the Glacier seems to have replaced religion. There, life has become more practical but truth less important, and, ultimately, life more mysterious.

like 2 likes

· see review

Oct 10, 2008

Frederick rated it

This book received glowing reviews in the NYT. The glow must have emanated from the reviewer's crack-pipe because the book completely sucked (I swear that I will never pick up another "modern Candide" as long as I live) and I am contemplating filing suit to get my $16.95 back.

like 1 like

· see review

Sep 13, 2007

Mark rated it

Shelves: fiction

Hilarious tale of Christianity at the Snaefellsjökull glacier (where Verne's heroes descend to the center of the Earth) by Icelandic Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness.

like 1 like

· see review

Jun 29, 2007

Joseph rated it

If you read one book on Icelandic Mormons this year, make sure it's Under the Glacier. Laxness writes with such beauty and grace.

like 1 like

· see review

Oct 27, 2009

Jessica rated it

Shelves: books-that-i-own

Hilarious and disturbing. A book of ancient fears, straying from the path and unanswerable questions. When you venture down this path to Snaefells Glacier with the appointed emissary to the bishop of Iceland, first you will believe that nothing is as it seems. Later you may realize that everything was always precisely as it seemed and it was you who were too dense to grasp the meaning of the word "seems." The dialogue will make you want to write, the wandering mysterious plot will keep...more

· see review

Aug 20, 2008

Charlie rated it

oh my god this book was awesome

like 1 like

· see review

Jun 05, 2008

Matt rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Matt by: Leslie Dann

I don't think I grasped all the nuances of this book, but fell in love with how bizarre it all is with humor mixed in. This would be horrible for a book discussion because of the disjointed plot, but fasinating to read.
From what I understood of it, a worker for the bishop of Iceland gets assigned to investigate a community by the glacier on rumors of their un-christian life that included a scandalous burial. He goes to the glacier finds the church boarded up and the community including the...more

· see review

Apr 28, 2008

Abi rated it

Shelves: scandinavia, 20th-century, favourites, nobel-prize-winning

A novel ostensibly about an emissary of the Bishop of Iceland, who is sent to the remote town of 'Glacier' to investigate the rumour that Pastor Jon is not burying the dead, that the church is boarded up, and that in general Christianity is being 'tampered with'. The investigation leaves the emissary moiled in confusion and improbability as he discovers that the church being boarded up is one of the least strange things about Glacier. One of the characters is a woman named Ua who may or may not ...moreA novel ostensibly about an emissary of the Bishop of Iceland, who is sent to the remote town of 'Glacier' to investigate the rumour that Pastor Jon is not burying the dead, that the church is boarded up, and that in general Christianity is being 'tampered with'. The investigation leaves the emissary moiled in confusion and improbability as he discovers that the church being boarded up is one of the least strange things about Glacier. One of the characters is a woman named Ua who may or may not have been killed, turned into a fish, frozen under the glacier, and then later defrosted and resurrected by a group of travelling American hippies. If that doesn't sound like a fun and interesting read to you, then what does? Even if it doesn't, trust me, it is.
This is fast becoming one of my favourite Laxness books. Although the issues that concern Laxness are closer to the surface than in much of his other work, they remain intriguing and the upside is that Laxness appears to give his own philosophies a freer rein; it's more obviously a book about thought rather than things. Not in a crude, force-it-down-your-throat way though, and not to say the plot isn't charming, because it is. It is a commentary on history, art, literature, identity, mythology, science and religion. There's a lot to get out of this little volume, and the novel is highly rewarding for the reader who allows themselves to be swept up in the baffling but amusing eccentricities of the Glacier community. The novel as a whole is bewildering, but pleasantly so, leaving the reader feeling refreshed and enchanted, if more than a little uncertain about how to feel. The joy of the unfamiliar is uplifting, like walking the first footsteps into fresh fallen snow. Any preconceptions you bring to this novel are almost certain to be proven wrong, even if like me, you had already read a number of Laxness novels (this was my fifth). I know I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much after the reviews I had read of it. It's also very different from his other novels, the one that shows the scantest disregard for the boundaries between Icelandic sagas & folklore and reality. The writing is classic Laxness, though: wry, laconic, beautiful. Embi is one of his most endearing characters, Pastor Jon his most philosophical, Jodinus Alfberg one of his most interesting, Ua definitely one of his most confusing. I hope I've done a better job of translating the wonder of Under the Glacier, but it is unlikely. Under the Glacier is a minor classic and deserves a lot more attention than, sadly, it will ever get; even less than the glorious Independent People.

Sidenote: Bringing a knowledge of the sagas and of Icelandic folklore will enable a reader to get a bit more out of this particular Laxness experience. It's by no means necessary, but they are a fairly important layer in the novel.(less)

· see review

Nov 14, 2009

Erika rated it

Shelves: northern-europe, 20th-century

My experience with this book:
This is supposed to be funny?
What's going on here?
Am I getting it?
This is supposed to be funny.
What's going on here?
Am I getting it?
This is sort of funny.
What's understanding?
On some level, I am getting it.
This book is funny, absurd funny.
What's up with the effing fish and the yogis from Los Angeles?
Ok.

My reaction upon finishing the book:
It was amazing. I think I got...more

like 1 like

· see review

Aug 17, 2009

Lydia rated it

It's not fair for me to give this book a low score. It's the kind of book that you would like, if you liked this kind of book. It's deconstructed and strange and has lots of digressions. There's religion and Icelandic myth and lots of descriptions of the glacier. Mysterious people come and go, and are not as they seem. My linear and lumpen brain struggles to be patient with creative structures so after 90 pages i had to put it down. But give it a whirl if you enjoy being confused!

like 1 like

· see review

Jun 04, 2009

Joe rated it

Shelves: x2009-may, nobel-prize-laureates, 2009

Like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this narrative is powered by the adventurous ignorance of its narrator. Unlike The Guide, this book plunges into scarier versions of the universe and never comes up for air. It's basically a novel-length ghost story set in rural Iceland.

"When I discovered history was a fable, and a poor one at that, I started looking for a better fable, and found theology." [76:]

"Hasn't the world been created, then?" ...more

· see review

Oct 04, 2011

Carolyn rated it

Once again, Laxness creates characters who reflect a whole range of aspects of the human condition - innocence, stupidity, spirituality etc, without necessarily explaining everything. I am not going to write a full review of this novel until I have re-read it, as I know there are far more depths that I want to explore.
I watched the film of this book last night and rather enjoyed it. It followed the novel in spirit, if not in all details. I recommend that you read the book before watching...more

· see review

May 16, 2010

Deborah rated it

This one stands out as the most quirky, macap, utterly brilliant novels that I have ever read. I searched all over trying to find another copy since I thought the one I had was missing the last 20 pages. But no, that was all part of the the way this book undoes all of those formulaic conventions that novels are usually known for. Fun.

like 1 like

· see review

Jul 14, 2011

Judith rated it

In my dotage, I find I have less patience than I once had, and I didn't have the patience for this one. Sorry THE and Dagny. I risk your wrath and dismay at your recommendation of this Nobel Prize-winning author's book. I generally like all things Icelandic, but this one just didn't do it for me.

· see review

Aug 11, 2011

Nic added it

"Not as immediately rewarding as The Fish Can Sing, but I suspect will bear rereading in a couple of months: definitely some images that stick with me - the author trudging across a bog in the rain towards the end - but overall a bit too oblique to penetrate very deeply."

· see review

May 11, 2010

Steve rated it

Shelves: novels, translations

The first time I read this it left me cold, but coming back to it a few years later I can't say why -- this time it was hilarious, with a terrific deadpan absurdity and brisk pace. I especially liked the way the narrator, charged by his Bishop to write a report on the strange goings-on at the glacier, struggles to leave out his own opinions and judgements while recording such ridiculous events and characters. It creates so many layers of distortion and doubt that it calls into question religion,...more

· see review

Mar 08, 2011

Richard rated it

A tentative four... I am not a fan of magic realism, but / and this is a very quirky exercise in MR avant la lettre. There is something completely charming in Laxness' wry humor about these strangely ludicrous and ludicrously strange events.

· see review

Feb 16, 2010

Jess rated it

Shelves: iceland

An emissary to the bishop goes to a town in the Icelandic interior, under a glacier, to find out what the heck is going on. The result is absurdist, madcap, and mercifully short.

· see review

Apr 09, 2010

Aimee rated it

Too bad I have to give it any star. As my friend Sharon said "friends don't let friends read 'Under the Glacier'". It was bad & didn't make any sense to me. Blah

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 17, 2009

Kate rated it

I was way out of my depth in reading this book, but it was still an interesting experience. Also, going back and reading Susan Sontag's introduction after finishing helped put it in some sort of framework and let me understand it a little. I might try one of his other books sometime.

· see review

Oct 04, 2010

Bryony rated it

This is a quirky and often bizarre book that has a very humourous take on Icelandic life and values in the middle of nowhere.

· see review

May 09, 2011

Hlöðver Sigurðsson rated it

MUST READ!! The sarcasm is endless, and humor always close.

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 19 20 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (14)

More editions...

Genres

European Literature > Scandinavian Literature

7 users

Literature

3 users

Literature > 20th Century

3 users

Literary Fiction

2 users

Novels

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

The Pets
by Bragi Ólafsson
Angels of the Universe
by Einar Mar Gudmundsson
The Blue Fox
by Sjón
101 Reykjavik
by Hallgrímur Helgason
Egil's Saga
by Anonymous

About Halldór Laxness

Born Halldór Guðjónsson, he adopted the surname Laxness in honour of Laxnes in Mosfellssveit where he grew up, his family having moved from Reyjavík in 1905. He published his first novel at the age of 17, the beginning of a long literary career of over 60 books, including novels, short stories, poetry, and plays. Confirmed a Catholic in 1923, he later moved away from religion and for a long time w...more

More about Halldór Laxness...

Books by Halldór Laxness

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About Under the Glacier

3 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Under the Glacier

“Like all great rationalists you believed in things that were twice as incredible as theology.” — 7 people liked it

“Remember, any lie you are told, even deliberately, is often a more significant fact than a truth told in all sincerity.” — 6 people liked it

More quotes…

Groups That Shelved Under the Glacier

Around the World in 80 Books

332 members

last activity 3 hours, 2 min ago

shelf: read

Leesclub leuven

24 members

last activity Dec 31, 2011 07:39am

shelf: read

title link	preview: Under the Glacier
avg rating	preview: Under the Glacier Goodreads rating: 3.54 (352 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14265.Under_the_Glacier?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320556030m/14265.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14265.Under_the_Glacier?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Under the Glacier by Halldór Laxness[/url]

Under the Glacier

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website