The Fish Can Sing

Rating:
Summary: The Tao of Lumpfish
Review: I could not help but think while reading this novel of a Frank Capra film from the 1930s entitled YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU about an eccentric household headed by Lionel Barrymore full of amiable zanies who stump the frenetic world around them.

Laxness, Iceland's only Nobelist, writes of a young orphan named Alfgrim who may or may not be a relative of the great opera singer Gardar Holm, who also hails from Brekkukot, where the old lumpfisherman Bjork maintains a rambling house on the outskirts of what was to become the country's new capital, Reykjavik. This house is filled with lodgers who get to stay rent-free for no other reason than that they ask.

Alfgrim keeps crossing paths with Gardar Holm and the young woman who wants to become the singer's lover. For some reason, the singer always cancels his appointments to the chagrin of his sponsors and fans; and the young woman, Blaer Gudmunsen, is always given the slip. The unhappy Holm is in stark contrast to Alfgrim, who maintains his balance by being suspicious of fame and content with a future of gathering lumpfish.

In the end, this is an feel-good work of considerable artistry, with a masterful, rich sense of characterization. The translation by Magnus Magnusson is excellent, as befits the man who at one and the same time is both one of the best translators of Icelandic Sagas and the TV host of BBC's MASTERMIND and WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYHOW?

Rating:
Summary: A remarkable read
Review: Laxness' book, "The Fish Can Sing" is a remarkable book. At first, it seems like a random series of vignettes about early 20th-century Icelandic life, full of detail and life, but appearing loosely bound at best. But by the end of the novel, the reader realizes he is in the hands of a master craftsman as the rich detail provided in earlier chapters come back to play important roles in the culmination of the book and its plot.

There's an endless array of well-defined, complicated, and vivid characters. There's the lavish countryside painted simply - evoking the same feeling you get from a good watercolor. Then there's the plot, which is mysterious and complex, but leaves you with much to ponder.

A nod to the translator, Magnus Magnussen, because the prose is fertile and poetic. It's unbelievably rich, yet brilliantly sparse. This is the way prose should be.

Laxness and Magnussen have given us a beautiful, soulful book. It's a remarkable read.

Rating:
Summary: A Most Beautiful, Intelligent Book
Review: Nicholas Shakespeare wrote of the Nobel Prize winning Laxness:

"To read Laxness is to discover an extra taste bud. He creates a world that belongs in another dimension, like the landscape of his country- familiar, strange, seen as in a dream. His is an endearing and unforgettable voice."

Shakespeare's description, of course, is a generalisation of what one can expect of Laxness's works. His description is lacking, to say the least, without much thought.

THE FISH CAN SING is a wonderful introduction to Laxness. A tale of the young Alfgrim- a David Copperfield like person who was abandoned as a child by his mother- who is now living with the wise fisherman Bjorn. When Alfgrim's innocent world collided with that of the famous singer Gardar Holm, the reader is taught a thing or two about life, and many of it's challenges.

The book is written by an intelligent man. And you'll be rewarded after finishing it. This is something you can re-read every year.

Rating:
Summary: A Most Beautiful, Intelligent Book
Review: Nicholas Shakespeare wrote of the Nobel Prize winning Laxness:

"To read Laxness is to discover an extra taste bud. He creates a world that belongs in another dimension, like the landscape of his country- familiar, strange, seen as in a dream. His is an endearing and unforgettable voice."

Shakespeare's description, of course, is a generalisation of what one can expect of Laxness's works. His description is lacking, to say the least, without much thought.

THE FISH CAN SING is a wonderful introduction to Laxness. A tale of the young Alfgrim- a David Copperfield like person who was abandoned as a child by his mother- who is now living with the wise fisherman Bjorn. When Alfgrim's innocent world collided with that of the famous singer Gardar Holm, the reader is taught a thing or two about life, and many of it's challenges.

The book is written by an intelligent man. And you'll be rewarded after finishing it. This is something you can re-read every year.

Rating:
Summary: Charming
Review: The charm of this book is in its atmosphere. You get a wonderful feel of early C20 Iceland and the characters that inhabit it, from the old-fashioned fisherman who ignores market economics to the admirer of modern cesspits. The age of the novel, like its hero, progresses from child to early-adolescent. A particularly charming thing about this novel is the way rather grimy adult features of adulthood are transformed by the place and its people. The cesspit-admirer, for instance, sees modern cesspits solely as an exciting new invention; and the farmers, when they discover barbed wire, just string it up in purposeless and harmless lines across the country.

The plot involves an orphan boy (Alfgrimur) who might be a gifted singer, his experiences while growing up, and his relationship with the elusive "famous Icelandic singer" Gardar Holm. But "fame" appears to be something petty, the god of Danish shopkeepers (Danes, of course, are grown-up) -- and the "one true note" which Alfgrimur seeks can be attained just as well while singing at funerals in the local churchyard.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece!
Review: This brilliant work amply demonstrates why its author, Halldor Laxness, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955(?). Without much of a plot--it portrays the maturation and awakening of a young man, Alfgrimur Hanson--"The Fish Can Sing" is nonetheless very rich in characterization and aptly depicts life in early 20th century Iceland. As an American who has lived in Iceland for the last two years, I have grown to appreciate Laxness's insight into the character of the proud and independent Icelandic people. I have read two other Laxness books which I could find printed in English--"Under the Glacier" and "Independent People"--and although those are very good, "The Fish Can Sing" is outstanding and clearly my favorite. Humorous, though-provoking and ultimately very moving, this book is one which you will surely enjoy and not readily forget.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, wonderful book
Review: This is a book which can be well described in one word as Charming. My dear friends, this is the story of a boy growing up in an iceland. the boy lives with his grandparents who are from the 'Byorn Barcocot man' tribe - it's charming already. also he falls in love and learns to sing from the well known icelandic singer 'Gerhard Holm' it has no linear narrative but a lot of charming, astounding, delicate little stories told and interwined in a naive and beautiful way of simplicity and delicateness. It's a book to grow up with - but you can well read it as a grown up man.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: What a wonderful book. If you loved Independent People as much as I did, you will love this book too. It has the same wit and some similar themes. The book does have a plot (despite what a couple of other reviewers say), but the author develops his story slowly. Once you're "into it" (be patient!) you will be glad for the pace. There are so many marvellous details here to savor. I just loved it, and plan to read it again in the near future.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: What a wonderful book. If you loved Independent People as much as I did, you will love this book too. It has the same wit and some similar themes. The book does have a plot (despite what a couple of other reviewers say), but the author develops his story slowly. Once you're "into it" (be patient!) you will be glad for the pace. There are so many marvellous details here to savor. I just loved it, and plan to read it again in the near future.