false 3399860 2 Emil is back in Reykjavik from a trip to London. On the plane ride home he met a beautiful girl named Greta. He’s hoping Greta will call—and that she won’t call while he’s on the phone with his girlfriend, Vigdis. The moment he settles down at home, Havard, a drunken, violent lout from Emil's past, shows up on his doorstep. Spying Havard through a window—and not wanting to have anything to do with him—Emil does the only sensible thing he can think of: he hides under his bed and waits for Havard to go away. A man with sensibilities of his own, Havard, standing ignored on the doorstep, does the only reasonable thing he can think of: he breaks into Emil’s place, starts drinking his booze, and ends up hosting a bizarre party for Emil's friends. An alternately dark and hilarious novel, the breezy and straightforward style of The Pets belies its narrative depth, and disguises a complexity that increases with each passing page. 1477683 2005 The Pets total:52|5:7|4:19|3:15|2:9|1:2| 52 176 101 21 4 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 10:21:44 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 14:37:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 12:02:07 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 06:31:16 -0700 2008 The L Magazine:

The Swedish Academy’s Horace Engdahl recently asserted that "The U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature…” The statement may have ruffled those ...more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Jan 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 19:25:05 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 16:16:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 30 18:03:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 01 14:17:58 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 12 20:36:29 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 18:29:41 -0700 2009
"Back in Reykjavik after a vacation in London, Emil Halldorsson is waiting for a call from a beautiful girl, Greta, that he met on the plane ride home, and he’s just put on a pot of coffee when an...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 05:22:28 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 15:57:51 -0800 2009 The Pets by Bragi Ólafsson, translated from the Icelandic by Janice Balfour.

Emil, a 30-something native of Reykjavík, finds himself in a most bizarre situation. A former acquaintance with an apparent psychiatric illness, Harvard, pays a visit to Emil after a five-year hiatus. Emil hi...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 08 22:57:59 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 16:43:09 -0800 2008
I feel bad saying t...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 02:38:49 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 20:29:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 9 false false Thu May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 06:45:42 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 19:28:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 29 15:28:34 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 03 14:05:03 -0800 2009 The Pets sounded intriguing based on the back cover, but I was thoroughly disappointed by the end. I didn't like any of the characters--much less care about them. I don't think the plot warrants 156 pages, but what irked me most is that there's not a climax in the traditional sense. In other words, ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 29 10:10:25 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 13:30:46 -0700 2008 after: This is a quick, fun little book. The main character spends more than half the book hiding under his bed, as several people he knows (who don't know each other) come over and try to figure out where he's gone and why he's not at home. Bragi Ólafsson has a very engaging writing style, which m...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 16:10:41 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 16:12:58 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 11:58:15 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 12:02:41 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Fri Dec 19 07:18:59 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 07:21:10 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Tue Dec 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 19:03:31 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 19:03:31 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jan 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 18:24:05 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 18:45:22 -0800 2009 2 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 09:16:29 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 16:55:38 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 08 09:51:59 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 08 09:51:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Feb 11 18:54:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 18:54:31 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Thu Nov 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 28 08:40:09 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 06 10:45:17 -0800 2008
I stopped reading it.]]>