Sigurdsson, Olafur Johann

Baton Rogue. 1992. Louisiana State University Press. 1st American Edition. Very Slight Water Stain to Side Edge, Otherwise Very Good in Dustjacket. 0807117781. Translated from the Icelandic by Alan Boucher. 224 pages. hardcover. Jacket illustration - ‘Vetrarskogur’ (Winter forest) by Jon Reykdal, 1990. keywords: Literature Iceland Translated. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The twelve stories collected here in THE STARS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, the first comprehensive sampling of Sigurdsson's writing available in English, were published in Iceland over a period of some thirty-five years and provide an excellent introduction to his fiction. They embrace a range of emotions and experiences, from the innocence of childhood in the isolation of the countryside, to the loneliness of life in a growing town, to the frustrations of old age. In ‘The Changing Earth,' the effects of the revolving seasons on the Icelandic countryside form a backdrop to the coming-of-age of a farm youth who experiences first disillusionment and then a new sense of freedom as he matures and begins to appreciate the nature of love. ‘Pastor Bodvar's Letter,' offers an ironic portrait of an aging, largely content man who, as he nears the end of his days, must come to terms with his life's disappointments. Many of the stories, particularly those told from the point of view of children, have the quality of fables. In the title story a boy is seduced by the boundless possibilities of a more exotic world represented by the trinkets proffered by a pair of wayfarers. In another, a child, inspired by an itinerant carpenter who has come to work at his family's farm, dreams of building a pyramid. Other stories are concerned with the fragility of human connections in an ever more impersonal society. In ‘The Hand' a solitary man and an old woman, lodgers in the same house, forge a tentative yet important bond. In ‘The Blind Boy' a composer, unable to complete his commissions, nonetheless is able to create beautiful music that soothes a sightless child. inventory #47104 ISBN: 0807117781.