Independent People
Independent People by Halldor Laxness is a significant work from the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on January 14, 1997. This edition spans 512 pages and is presented in English. The novel recalls Iceland’s medieval epics and classics, set in the early twentieth century, and follows the life of Bjartur of Summerhouses, an ordinary sheep farmer whose fierce determination to achieve independence drives the narrative.
Readers will encounter a story that intertwines themes of family life and personal struggle, as Bjartur’s quest for freedom clashes with his daughter’s desire for autonomy from him. The novel captures the emotional intensity of their relationship, revealing both the harsh realities and the poignant moments of their lives. With its vast scope and intimate details, Independent People offers a rich exploration of human resilience and the complexities of familial bonds.
Official synopsis Publisher
From the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author: a magnificent novel that recalls Iceland’s medieval epics and classics, set in the early twentieth century starring an ordinary sheep farmer and his heroic determination to achieve independence. • “A strange story, vibrant and alive…. There is a rare beauty in its telling.” —Atlantic Monthly
If Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book’s protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to free himself is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic.
Having spent eighteen years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur’s spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching, elemental in its emotional intensity and intimate in its homely detail. Vast in scope and deeply rewarding, Independent People is a masterpiece.
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