Independent People

Questions About Independent People

by Halldór Laxness

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Answered Questions (1)

I am very disappointed to have read the introduction before reading the book. He left nothing but the reading to be discovered. Having a hard time getting motivated to dive into it. Is it worth the read?

Sid Gustafson Please do not read the introduction to this book, or any other introduction to a work of art by a Nobel Laureate, please.

Unanswered Questions (3)

Just finished it and loved it, but I have a question: (spoiler alert) Was I supposed to intuit that Helgi was killing the sheep (perhaps from the conversation between he and Nonni at the beginning of Book 2, in the chapter “On the Paving”) or was it made explicit somewhere that I missed?

Can the geography of the book be traced to real places in Iceland, or does Laxness just use generic names that could be anywhere in the country?

How difficult is the Icelandic prose? Would a foreigner who is learning Icelandic be able to appreciate this work?

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