Halldor Laxness
Halldor Laxness was born in Iceland in 1902 and he died in Iceland in 1998. Inbetween he travelled the world, studied in a monastary (almost joining the priesthood), moved to Hollywood (almost becoming a screenwriter), became friends with Upton Sinclair, got married, became a staunch socialist, won the Nobel Prize and was unoffically blacklisted from the United States. His first novel Child of Nature was published when Laxness was only 17 years old. He continued to write and publish throughout his life. Despite having travelled all over the world (Luxemburg, America, Russia, Germany, etc.) all of his works are set in Iceland, dealing with Icelandic people, places, and problems. While living in America he developed a strong friendship with American author Upton Sinclair. Yet his books have been translated into over 40 different languages. When he was 32 years old he published his most famous work, Independent People: An Epic. He died in 1998. While his novels have been translated into many different languages, and he is critically acclaimed and respected in nearly all of Europe, he remains widely unread in America.
Books
Halldor Laxness published over 60 books. However only a handful have been translated into English, and until 1997 had been long out of print in the United States. Here is a list of his books that have been translated into English and are currently in print.
Novels:
Books About Halldor Laxness
Links
The Great Weaver From Reykjavik
An article discussing the life and works of Halldor Laxness. Also, pictures.
Nobel Banquet Speech
A speech given by Laxness. Available as text (in Swedish and English), or audio recording (only Swedish).
Halldor Laxness and The CIA
An article discussing the blacklisting of Laxness, and the FBI and CIA's interest in the Icelandic author.
Halldor Laxness Museum
Pictures of Laxness, and his house. Information about Laxness and the museum. Mostly in Icelandic.
Videos
A three part documentary on Laxness. In Icelandic.
Here is one about the Laxness museum. It is in English.
The words of this song were written by Halldor Laxness. In Icelandic.
And the lyrics can be found in both Icelandic and English here
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