Week 7: On the Paving - Better Times

[Tamara]

Book 2 opens with the brothers revealing that Finna has died. Helgi claims their mother died on the day Bjartur killed the cow. He tries to disabuse Nonni of his fantasies of a better world and claims he saw Kolumkilli cutting the ear of Bjartur’s sheep. He tells Nonni he sees Kolumkilli because he (Helgi) is dead. Bjartur finds a dead ewe stuffed between the rungs of the ladder. Not long after, he finds a lamb hanging from the roof. He wonders if something supernatural is killing his sheep. He decides it must be rats, so he purchases a cat to keep the rats at bay.

Asta, now 15 years old, is still haunted by the night when Bjartur pushed her away. Ten sheep have been butchered with nails in skulls, slit throats, and bashed heads. Bjartur suspects supernatural forces and challenges Kolumkilli and Guthvor to fight him instead of killing off his sheep. He goes to Gunnvor’s cairn, speaks defiantly, and refuses to appease her by giving her a stone.

The rumor mill does a thriving business in town. The townspeople are convinced a ghost is killing Bjartur’s sheep. Helgi and Nonni claim they communicate with the ghost in the ewe-house. The townspeople gather one night to perform an exorcism with Bjartur’s sons acting as intermediaries between the villagers and the ghost. Bjartur loses patience with their talk and throws them out of his home. He announces he has sent for the authorities to capture whoever is destroying his sheep.

The bailiff joins Bjartur in his croft while they wait for the sheriff. Once again, the bailiff tries to convince him to sell the land. Meanwhile, Helgi, concerned about the sheriff’s visit, disappears in the snow. Gvendur and Bjartur look for him but with no success. Bailiff calls Bjartur “a pig-headed lout,” and suggests authorities should take his children away from him. The family is forced to eat “dead meat” since no one else wants it. All suffer from stomach ache.

It’s Christmas, again. The children think of Helgi who was never found. Asta still feels guilty about the night her father pushed her away, blames herself for her step-mother’s death, and weeps for her missing brother. She washes herself every night but is unable to wash away feelings of guilt. Bjartur tells her he is going away until Easter to earn money to buy more sheep. He puts her in charge and repeats his promise to build her a house. Asta cries, pleading with him not to leave, pouring her heart out to him, blaming herself for Finna’s death, and wishing she had never lived. Bjartur doesn’t know how to react. He tells his “chicken” to dry her tears and go to bed. She knows he won’t change his mind.

With Bjartur gone, the two brothers take care of the sheep. Asta thinks of her father’s departure and his promise to return at Easter. A teacher comes to the croft who claims to have been sent by Bjartur to educate the children until Spring. He tells them Bjartur now works for Ingolfur Arnarson and the co-operative society. He praises Ingolfur. The children are excited to see the teacher’s books and are intrigued by his wooden leg.

[Tamara]

The villagers come to Bjartur’s croft to perform an exorcism to get rid of the ghost plaguing his sheep. Bjartur throws them out of his house and ridicules their superstitions. But if Bjartur doesn’t believe in ghosts and their power to perform evil, why does he challenge Kolumkilli to a fight? And why does he go to Gunnvor’s cairn?

We never see Bjartur being physically affectionate toward any of his children or praising them in any way. The few times he uses a term of endearment is when he directs it at Asta by referring to her as his “chicken” or his “flower.” If he loves his daughter, why doesn’t he show it in ways she can understand? Why doesn’t he show his love for any of his children?

Bjartur had once been very dismissive of Ingolfur Arnarson and the co-operative society, but now he is working for them. Has he undergone a change? Is he compromising his principles?

What is your impression of Asta Sollilja?

Why is Helgi killing Bjartur’s sheep?

[Tamara]

Susanna wrote: "Is Bjartur that different from the workaholic of today who ignores his family and only cares about getting ahead in his career?"

Good point! There probably is no difference.
The problem is, though, Bjartur has alienated his whole family in the process. The boys blame him for their mother's death. Helgi butchers the one thing Bjartur seems to care about--his sheep. Bjartur tells Asta he is leaving to earn money to buy more sheep so he can build a house. He ignores her pleas not to go, and he makes it sound as if he is doing it for her:

"Yes," he said, "a house. I'll show them," and added in a milder voice as he touched her shoulder with his paw: "When a man has a flower in his life, he builds a house."

Interesting use of the word "paw" here. I'm not sure what to make of it. One doesn't normally think of a human being as having paws.

[Lily]

Anyone here familiar with Sweetland by Michael Crummey? Or its relationship as a read to Independent People , i.e., contrast/comparison? (I've been running into pairings/triads of books recently -- this was one such.)

[Tamara]

There was some discussion a while back about whether or not the bailiff and/or his wife knew Rosa was pregnant with their grandchild when Bjartur married her. Mystery solved. It turns out they knew.

This is the bailiff talking to Asta:

“Listen, pet,” he added, “you should tell Bjartur he ought to sell the croft. You can come along to us whenever you like, you needn’t ask anyone’s permission. You have my mother’s mouth.”
“What?” said the girl.
“You must be fifteen or so by now.”
Yes, she was fifteen just over a month ago.
“Yes, it’s a shame, but what can a fellow do? We ought to have taken you right away.”

[Alexey]

Tamara wrote: "Bailiff calls Bjartur “a pig-headed lout,” and suggests authorities should take his children away from him. ."

I do not like Bailiff motives for saying that but can't disagree with them. He is quite narrow-minded man who cannot understand that people may have different feelings and world view, and he believes that everybody who has is plainly stupid. There is an old Russian saying, 'Simplicity is worse than theft,' — and Bjartur is a good example of it, his simplicity literally killing people around him.

It is interestingly to know from himself what Bjartur thinks of cooperative now: I guess it is not very flattering opinion.

[Tamara]

Alexey wrote: "There is an old Russian saying, 'Simplicity is worse than theft,' — and Bjartur is a good example of it, his simplicity literally killing people around him...

Bjartur’s simplicity is based on his dogged, single-minded pursuit of independence. He is incapable of thinking outside his box of independence. He sees things in terms of black and white: if it furthers his independence, it must be good; if it hampers it, it must be bad. There is no subtlety or nuance in his thinking, no shades of grey.

I agree that Bjartur is a pig-headed lout. But I don’t see him as evil or malicious. I see him as misguided and down right stupid. Although he is capable of love and tenderness—mostly toward his sheep and occasionally toward Asta Sollilja—he is incapable of accommodating any thought, person, or action he suspects will cause him to deviate from his chosen path.

His dream of achieving independence, of owing nothing to anyone, is admirable. But he is so focused on achieving this dream that he is oblivious and/or indifferent as to how much pain he causes his family in pursuit of this dream. I feel like I want to grab him and shake some sense into him.

Old Fritha is right when she accuses him of killing them all with his “tyranny of man.”

[Lily]

I have been unable to reconcile what about this book earned it the prestige of a Nobel. What are the themes, the messages I have been unable to comprehend/hear/recognize?

[Tamara]

Lily wrote: "I have been unable to reconcile what about this book earned it the prestige of a Nobel. What are the themes, the messages I have been unable to comprehend/hear/recognize?"

I don't know if you have finished reading the book yet, Lily. If not, perhaps you need to reserve judgement until you have finished it.

[Lily]

I have -- I first listened to it. Then I have now a checked out hard copy. My intent -- let's see if I am up to it, is to read/relisten to it -- section by section. I sorta understand why this is considered "a classic", but given the time in history that Lazness wrote it, I wonder what he was trying to communicate to the world relative to the great themes of the day -- which certainly included "socialism" -- but that doesn't seem to me what this is about. I frustratingly wrote the message above, then moved to the comments at the end by other readers. I came back to erase mine, but you have gotten to them first, so I will not, only stand by them, not as "judgement" but as reaction. I must admit, I sometimes buckle under "great literature," but sometimes a sheep is a sheep, caring is caring, ....

I just did a similar exercise with a much less "great" book -- "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano. It was a selection of my "personal" zoom book group--I listened because I got (Libby) access to a popular book a considerable time before we were discussing it. Because I suggested the book to the trainer helping me regain strength, for her hi-school grad son following some variant of his mother's career path, and since some of the topics presented are controversial, I read the hard copy and then re-listened to the book. Still unimpressed by the writing per se, what a touching palate cleanser (for me) relative to Laxness.