Reykjavik literature · Literature in Reykjavik
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Literature in Reykjavik
Literature in Reykjavik
The Fish Can Sing (Halldór Laxness, 1957). A story of a young boy growing up on a farm on the outskirts of Reykjavík in the early 20th century, during a period of rapid change in Iceland. Like many of the stories by Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, The Fish Can Sing (Brekkukotsannáll, "The Annal of Brekkukot", in Icelandic) is partly based on real people and places, although names have been changed.
101 Reykjavik (Hallgrímur Helgason, 1996). The quintessential book about downtown Reykjavík, capturing its spirit in a way no other book has. The main character never leaves postcode 101 if he doesn't need to, and spends his time either in bars and clubs or at home doing nothing. He has since become seen by many (who don't live in central Reykjavík themselves) as the model for the "101-type".
Jar City (Arnaldur Indriðason, 2000). A crime novel about the detective Erlendur, with the Reykjavík criminal police department. Portrays the grittier sides of the city, although perhaps slightly exaggerated for the sake of writing a good story. The book has also been translated as Tainted Blood, but the original Icelandic title (Mýrin, "the swamp") refers to the Norðurmýri neighbourhood, by the city centre. Arnaldur has written 10 further books about the detective, most of them happening in or around Reykjavík.
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Reykjavik Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.