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142nd out of 513 books
—
499 voters
The Blue Fox
by
Sjón,
Victoria Cribb
“The Blue Fox is a magical novel.”—Bjork
The year is 1883, and the stark Icelandic landscape is the backdrop for this spellbinding fable that is part mystery, part fairy tale. The fates of a priest, a naturalist, and a young woman with Down syndrome are intrinsically bound and gradually, surprisingly unraveled.
"Sjon's fable...describes its world with brilliant, precise, con...more
The year is 1883, and the stark Icelandic landscape is the backdrop for this spellbinding fable that is part mystery, part fairy tale. The fates of a priest, a naturalist, and a young woman with Down syndrome are intrinsically bound and gradually, surprisingly unraveled.
"Sjon's fable...describes its world with brilliant, precise, con...more
Paperback, 112 pages
Published
September 1st 2008
by Telegram Books
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Bailar en la oscuridad fue la estremecedora revelación de Björk en el terreno de la interpretación. La acompañaba Catherine Deneuve, pero ni siquiera su belleza lograba restar destellos a la estrella de la islandesa.
Lars von Trier quiso que las letras de las canciones de esta película fuesen de Sjón, un autor compatriota de Björk que ya destacaba dentro de la vanguardia de las letras nórdicas.
Ayer ocupé mis ratos de lectura con una novelita de Sjón -cuyo nombre completo es Sigurjón Birgir Sigurð...more
Lars von Trier quiso que las letras de las canciones de esta película fuesen de Sjón, un autor compatriota de Björk que ya destacaba dentro de la vanguardia de las letras nórdicas.
Ayer ocupé mis ratos de lectura con una novelita de Sjón -cuyo nombre completo es Sigurjón Birgir Sigurð...more
it's curious the ways in which a novel that doesn't otherwise astound us can still have more of a lingering effect than those that so effortlessly do. sjón's the blue fox (skugga-baldur) is a novella set in late 19th century iceland concerning the fates of three individuals (or four, if you count that of the eponymous canine). as an icelandic novelist and poet, it is nearly inevitable that sjón would garner comparisons to nobel laureate and countryman halldór laxness, given that he is one of but...more
Dedim ya, ağır gribim bu aralar. Bir an iyi oluyorum, sonra yine başlıyor tatsız, boğazımı acıtan bir öksürük. Az da uyuyuorum bu aralar. Hem zamankinden daha az. Beş saatlik uyku fazla gelir oldu. Anlamıyorum neden. Bana çok vakit kalıyor, orası doğru da bir an gelecek de bu birikmiş yorgunluk çok fena patlayacak diye de korkuyorum bir yandan. İşte yine bu az uykulu gecelerin sabahından birinde taa geçen sene Ekim’de okumaya başlayıp yarım bıraktığım bir kitabı bitirdim.
İtiraf etmek lazım. Ben...more
İtiraf etmek lazım. Ben...more
"Blue foxes are so curiously like stones that it is a matter for wonder."
Sjón's mythical masterpiece weaves together two stories that take place over a few short midwinter days in Iceland in 1883. At the start of the book we follow the priest, Baldur Skuggason, as he hunts a blue fox across frozen landscapes. The first 30 or so pages are as sparse as the midwinter landscape they depict, sometimes only a handful of sentences occupy the page, but their poetic brilliance just intensifies the proces...more
Sjón's mythical masterpiece weaves together two stories that take place over a few short midwinter days in Iceland in 1883. At the start of the book we follow the priest, Baldur Skuggason, as he hunts a blue fox across frozen landscapes. The first 30 or so pages are as sparse as the midwinter landscape they depict, sometimes only a handful of sentences occupy the page, but their poetic brilliance just intensifies the proces...more
2 likes
·
like
· see review
Um livro trazido pela Cavalo de Ferro. Um escritor que partilha o glaciar com Bjork, o que lhe impulsiona o caminho para a divulgação da obra. Da Islândia é incontornável Halldór Laxness (também recuperado pela editora) e nesta prosa jovem sente-se algo desse folclore, da poesia da imagem e da saga individual dos personagens - o que é recomendável. É uma narrativa lenta e profunda, com tempo para olhar a aurora boreal e sobreviver às avalanches (literalmente). Abandono, miséria humana, crendice,...more
It may have the cutest cover of any book I've read as an adult, be described as a "fairy tale", with a recommendation from Bjork, but this story is far from twee.
The original Icelandic title is "Skugga-Baldur", also the name of one of the central characters - not a nice man - whom we first meet as he hunts the blue fox. The harshness of that sound, and the use of his name as the title, far better reflects the tale and its brutal environment. This is not "The Snow Goose" featuring a rare fox inst...more
The original Icelandic title is "Skugga-Baldur", also the name of one of the central characters - not a nice man - whom we first meet as he hunts the blue fox. The harshness of that sound, and the use of his name as the title, far better reflects the tale and its brutal environment. This is not "The Snow Goose" featuring a rare fox inst...more
A Self-Righteous Aside
Searching for images of a Blue Fox is disturbing. Here is a non-disturbing picture:
but for just about every photo of fox in the wild, there is a creepy drawing of cartoonish blue vixen with big boobs, or even worse pictures of fattened and depressed looking foxes being kept in cages awaiting their murder for their fur, dead foxes having been killed for their fur, or well the end result of their murder. Now murder might be a harsh word, and some people believe fur is right t...more
Searching for images of a Blue Fox is disturbing. Here is a non-disturbing picture:
but for just about every photo of fox in the wild, there is a creepy drawing of cartoonish blue vixen with big boobs, or even worse pictures of fattened and depressed looking foxes being kept in cages awaiting their murder for their fur, dead foxes having been killed for their fur, or well the end result of their murder. Now murder might be a harsh word, and some people believe fur is right t...more
21 likes
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like
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Sjón is an Icelandic writer/poet and musician who is well known in literature circles in his native homeland. Some may already be familiar with some of his work as he has collaborated in the past with the musician Björk, writing lyrics for several of her songs. The Blue Fox is the only of his novels available in English currently and is being reissued alongside two others this May translated by Victoria Cribb.
The Blue Fox is a quirky, short novel mostly concerning a hunter and his prey, a rare b
...more
I have read and mulled over "The Blue Fox" before writing this review and I am still quite torn over how to talk about it to others. Let's begin with this: I enjoyed it a little lesser than "The Whispering Muse" while reading it, but came to like it just the same after having read it.
Accessibility is why. "The Blue Fox" had more references to the Icelandic way of life, from its culture to its folklore and its environs. This is by no means a bad thing, but it definitely took away some understandi...more
Accessibility is why. "The Blue Fox" had more references to the Icelandic way of life, from its culture to its folklore and its environs. This is by no means a bad thing, but it definitely took away some understandi...more
Written by a prolific Icelandic author, I'm not sure even how to describe this--short, deceptively simple, the story [almost fable] of a blue fox, a pastor, and a girl with Down Syndrome in Iceland--but that's almost too many details for this simple tale.
The descriptions are poetic and breathtaking--
"In the halls of heaven it was now dark enough for the Aurora Borealis sisters to begin their lively dance of the veils. With an enchanting play of colours they flitted light and quick about the grea...more
The descriptions are poetic and breathtaking--
"In the halls of heaven it was now dark enough for the Aurora Borealis sisters to begin their lively dance of the veils. With an enchanting play of colours they flitted light and quick about the grea...more
Mar 25, 2012
Rainbowgirl
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Rainbowgirl by:
Pioup
Shelves:
roman,
fantastique_fantasy
C'est un roman très court, qui commence par de petites scènes brèves avec fondu au blanc. Touche par touche, avec une narration qui se donne des airs décousus mais n'en est pas moins fascinante, les personnages sont posés, et avec eux la nature glacée, l'odeur de tabac, de poudre et de thé, le langage particulier des benêts et des hommes gelés. Et on est pris, et on ne sait plus où a mis les pieds. Est-ce un fragment de chronique sociale ou un conte venu du froid ? En tout cas, c'est un récit ét...more
For such a compact, quick story it's terrific how deeply The Blue Fox pulls you into its world — the descriptions and details, from characters to landscape, are so precise and evocative. The story itself is simple, at first glance, but woven with mythic intimations of transformation and revenge that kept me engrossed and alert. There's a degree to which I know I missed elements of the story, though, because while I think I picked up on a couple of particular references to Iceland lore and litera...more
I found this book in a little bookstore in London, and while I was only able to read the first few pages, I knew already I had found something wonderful in Sjon's writing. I'm a huge fan of Bjork as well, and imagine my surprise when I found out that Sjon was the lyricist to my favorite songs Bjork has sung! So as soon as I got back to the US, I got myself a copy and dove right in. The thing I love about the Icelandic culture is the awesomeness and constant imagery of nature in all it's art form...more
The beauty of the blue fox contrasts the ugly character of the priest who hunts her.
The magic and grandeur of the landscape destroys the self serving, avaricious, self righteous Baldur Skuggason.
The quiet kindness and sympathy in the story of Abba, the Down's syndrome child who grows into a woman cared for by the naturalist Fridrik and unknowingly loved by the priest's servant shame the empty ritualistic religion of the Reverend Baldur Skuggason who will not even let Abba in his church.
The stor...more
The magic and grandeur of the landscape destroys the self serving, avaricious, self righteous Baldur Skuggason.
The quiet kindness and sympathy in the story of Abba, the Down's syndrome child who grows into a woman cared for by the naturalist Fridrik and unknowingly loved by the priest's servant shame the empty ritualistic religion of the Reverend Baldur Skuggason who will not even let Abba in his church.
The stor...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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A fine book for anyone who appreciates a good tale well told. At first I worried that Sjon's pared-down prose would slip into peciosity, but he spins a sly story that evokes both the most primitive and brutal aspects of 19th century Icelandic life and its surprising interactions with cosmopolitan European society. I am not one for magical realism, but this is a story where a dying, loutish parish priest should absolutely engage a dead fox in a theological debate on the evils of electricity. Over...more
Written by the Icelandic author and poet Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, or Sjón, The Blue Fox is just one of Sjón's many works amid a respectable repertoire that includes poetry, children's books, novels, and plays. Among his credits is a lyrical collaboration with fellow Icelander, Björk on the song “I've Seen it All.” A beautifully written and simplistically poignant song, “I've Seen it All” reflects the insight of Sjón’s lyrical voice and the seemingly prophetic power of his first name Sigurjón,...more
This book has been on quite a few blogs for a while and highly recommended. It is only 100 pages long and I read it in a day. Written by Sjon from Iceland (he writes lyrics for Bjork), it is set in the Icelandic wilderness in 1883. We are told two juxtaposed stories that become invariably linked as the tale comes together. The first follows Baldur Skuggason, a priest, hunting for the valuable Blue Fox in the snowy wastelands. Then we follow Fridrik B. Fridriksson a few days earlier, a naturalist...more
Sjon is a wonderful writer who deserves to be more widely known in the English-speaking world. He writes sparingly, and his books always contain at least one baffling, hallucinatory scene which I find I must read and re-read to make sense of, and while some might find these passages obscure and offputting, sometimes part of the pleasure of reading is to fill in the gaps in attempt to better grasp the intended meaning.
This was my end-of-holiday gift to myself instead of the ubiquitous woollen jumper :P I found the story to be sometimes amusing, sometimes a little strange, but always intriguing.
Unfortunately my limited knowledge and understanding of Icelandic culture meant I did not pick up the word play and cultural/folktale references which I later read about in book reviews.
Unfortunately my limited knowledge and understanding of Icelandic culture meant I did not pick up the word play and cultural/folktale references which I later read about in book reviews.
A starkly beautiful little fable, very evocative in terms of place; you can almost see your breath as you're reading. I was put in mind of Plato's "The Cave" during the latter section with the Priest & the Fox. This would be an interesting one to discuss with a group of literature students, and it's a novel I will happily revist one day.
Mar 02, 2013
Sanna
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
nordic-fiction
Seemingly this book and the story are very simple - partly because the whole book is only just over 100 pages. The unfolding story is beautifully told, with vivid language. It's easy to imagine the 1800's Icelandic setting before your eyes while reading. When I started this book, I immediately knew I'd read it in one go. Turns out it's a big story in small package.
It's hard to explain what made this book so amazing to me, the best you can do is to pick it up and read it yourself.
It's hard to explain what made this book so amazing to me, the best you can do is to pick it up and read it yourself.
A wonderful read! It's a 'page turner', but, at the same time makes you find yourself stopping to ponder musings of an unconventional imagination, that mixes history with mythology. I had a chance to meet Sjon at "West Coast Live" We discussed Iceland's 'Hidden People'. Interesting conversation...
The first chapter, with just a few paragraphs on each page, makes you feel you're right there in Iceland hunting for the blue fox. The second chapter is spellbinding and moving. The third chapter is bizarre and esoteric. The fourth chapter I'm still trying to figure out.
A book that makes you think.
A book that makes you think.
A beautifully written and constructed novel, as atmospheric and enchanting and tender and compassionate as it is cruel and glacial and harsh and ignorant all in the same biochemical reaction, as arcane as it is lucid. Allegorical, but read literally just as pleasing. Who is the hunter and who is hunted?
More Scandinavian literature. This is a really intriguing novella about a priest hunting a fox in late 19th century Iceland. The story is deceptively simple, but I wish I had read this in one sitting rather than across a week. I would have better appreciated the poetic pace of the writing. Still, I enjoyed it. Bjork did too apparently. Good old Bjork.
KOBOBOOKS
Reviewed by The Independent (14 Jul 2012)
Reviewed by The Independent (14 Jul 2012)
A dreamy, poetic, 19th Century Fairy-tale about a blue fox in Iceland. The story follows a priest who is hunting the fox, a naturalist and a simpleton in his care. Very short (takes about an hour to read), a little strange, and very intriguing.
This little book is a gem. A two subway ride read that's as rich in it's deceptively simple character studies as it is in its folklore. It brings to mind another short book, Tinkers, which despite its size is pound for pound a great read.
It's very interesting to see the magic realism. I was afraid, the closer I got to the end of this book, that it would be too rushed at the end. Though I'm sure some elements were lost in the translation, Sjon is a great writer.
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Sjón (Sigurjón B. Sigurðsson) was born in Reykjavik on the 27th of August, 1962. He started his writing career early, publishing his first book of poetry, Sýnir (Visions), in 1978. Sjón was a founding member of the surrealist group, Medúsa, and soon became significant in Reykjavik's cultural landscape.
More about Sjón...
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Apr 19, 2012 09:26pm