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Uit De Bek Van De Walvis (2008)

by Sjón(Favorite Author)

3.48 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

World Editions

review 1: So what can I say about this book. I bought it on a book sale earlier this year and just recently read it. I loved the cover and the description of the book seemed great. I have to say that From the Mouth of the Whale was nothing at all what I expected it to be. I had imagined it to be an interesting adventure story about this intelligent Jonas Palmasson. The characters were very interesting, but there was not a lot going on in the story. I remember when I was in school and we got to read these old texts from Iceland, and I thought they were really different because they only explained what was physically happening, not describing any thoughts or feelings of the characters. This book however was the complete opposite of the old Icelandic tales I had to read in school. Most... more part of this book was just Jonas thinking and describing old events. It was interesting, but at the same time a bit frustrating since it felt like the book never really started. Like that feeling when you are having a conversation with someone and they just keep getting off track and never get to that important thing they had to tell you.I still enjoyed the book, and it felt easy to read it, but I don't think I would ever recommended it to someone.
review 2: This is the second book of Sjón's that I've read and I hope to read more. I spent a week in Iceland a few years ago and I'm fascinated by the place. There's an epic emptiness to it. I've read a few books by Icelandic authors and apart from Indridason's thrillers, I wonder what it would be like to read them without knowing Iceland. Nature has the upper hand in almost all the Icelandic novels I've read. There's no cosy fireplace, it's man against a climate that is not kind. Here, the main character has been exiled to an island off the coast of Iceland, so you can imagine the world is not doing him many favors. The story is beautifully told, I can only imagine the translator has done an incredible job as I don't read Icelandic, and probably never will. There's a lyricism in the writing that may also reflect Icelandic sagas, although I haven't got around to reading the sagas yet. From the Mouth of the Whale is a sometimes strange, often haunting and unusual book. less

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