Halldór Laxness

Halldór Kiljan Laxness /ˈhaltour ˈcʰɪljan ˈlaxsnɛs/ (born Halldór Guðjónsson; Reykjavík, Iceland; April 23, 1902-Mosfellsbær, February 8, 1998) was a Icelandic writer, poet and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955.

Biography

He was the eldest of the three children of the marriage formed by Guðjón Helgi Helgason (October 23, 1870-June 19, 1919) and Sigríður Halldórsdóttir (October 27, 1872-September 17, 1951). His sisters were Sigríður (April 28, 1909 - August 18, 1966) and Helga (May 5, 1912 - January 15, 1992).

He moved in 1905 to the Laxnes farm in Mosfellsbær, a rural area north of the Icelandic capital. He soon began reading books and writing stories. At the age of 14 he published an article in the newspaper Morgunblaðið. His first book, the novel Börn náttúrunnar (Children of Nature ), was written at the age of 17. He traveled widely, living in Europe after the First World War, visiting Russia in its Stalinist period, the United States just before the Great Depression, and India under Nehru.

Catholicism and development

In 1922, he joined the Abbey of Saint Maurice in Clervaux (Luxembourg), whose monks followed the rules of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Laxness was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church in 1923. It was then that he adopted the surname Laxness and added the name Kiljan (after the Irish martyr Saint Kilian).

Between the walls of the abbey he practiced personal study, read books and studied French, Latin, theology and philosophy. While there, he wrote the story Undir Helgahnjúk, published in 1924. Shortly after his baptism, he became a member of a group that preached the conversion of the Nordic countries. But his religiosity did not last long. During a visit to the United States, he was attracted to socialism. Partly through the influence of Upton Sinclair, whom he befriended in California, Laxness jumped on the socialist bandwagon, writing burlesque and satirical essays about his impressions on trips through Russia, Europe, and South America. He went to Iceland, Canada and California (1927-1930) to strengthen himself in the idea of communism.

Career

Between 1927 and 1929, Laxness resided in the United States trying to make a living as a screenwriter. The Wall Street crash impressed him deeply. About that period of his career he would say years later: “I did not become a socialist by reading books but by seeing the unemployed dying of hunger in the parks” . He declared himself an atheist and sympathizer of the Soviet Union and dedicated himself to criticizing North American society.

In the 1930s, he became the "apostle of the new generation" and strongly attacked Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran, an influential writer who was also being considered for the Nobel Prize. The demoralization of the occupation period was never described as dramatically as Halldór Laxness in The Atomic Station (1948), which depicts a post-war society in Reykjavík completely disrupted by the avalanche of foreign gold. In 1968 he published the novel Under the Glacier, which takes place on the Snæfellsjökull glacier.

During his career he wrote poetry, journalistic articles, plays, travel literature, short stories and fifteen novels. Major influences on his literature include Freud, Nietzsche, Strindberg and Proust.

Prizes

In 1955, he won the Nobel Prize in literature for his "vivid, epic power that has renewed the great Icelandic narrative."

In 1969, the University of Copenhagen awarded him the Sonning Prize.

Adult life

He moved to the United States and tried to make movies. He returned to Iceland in 1945 and settled in Gljúfrasteinn, Mosfellsdalur, until his death. His house in Gljúfrasteinn is now a museum operated by the Icelandic government.

He married twice and had four children. He died in 1998 at the age of ninety-five.

Works on Laxness

A biography of Laxness by Halldór Guðmundsson won the Icelandic literary prize for best non-fiction work in 2004. In 2005 the National Theater of Iceland awarded the play Halldór in Hollywood by Ólafur Haukur Símonarson, which is about the years Laxness spent in the United States. Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson wrote a controversial biography for which Laxness's family has denounced him.

Works

• 1919: Börn natturunnar, novel
• 1923: Nokkrar sögur, stories
• 1924: Undir Helgahnúk, novel
• 1925: Kaþólsk viðhorf, essay
• 1927: Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír, novel
• 1929: Alþýðubókin, chronicles
• 1930: Kvæðakver, poems
• 1931: Salka Valka (Part I) - Τhey vinviður hreini, novel
• 1932: Salka Valka (Part II) - Fuglinn í fjörunni, novel
• 1933: Fótatak manna, stories
• 1933: I Austurvegi,
• 1934: Straumrof, theatre
• 1934: Sjálfstætt fólk (Part I), Independent - Landnámsmaður Íslands, novel
• 1935: Sjálfstætt fólk (Part II) - Erfiðir timar, novel
• 1935: THórður gamli halti, stories
• 1937: Dagleið a fjöllum, chronicles
• 1937: Heimsljós (Part I) - Heimsins (after: Kraftbirtingarhljómur guðdómsins), novel
• 1938: Gerska æfintýrið,
• 1938: Heimsljós (Part II) - Höll sumarlandsins, novel
• 1939: Heimsljós (Part III) - Hús skáldsins, novel
• 1940: Heimsljós (Part IV) - Fegurð himins, novel
• 1942: Vettvángur dagsins, chronicles
• 1942: Sjö töframenn, stories (see хættir)
• 1943: Islandsklukkan (Part I) The Bell of Iceland or Bells of Iceland - Islandsklukkan, novel
• 1944: Íslandsklukkan (Part II) - Hið ljósa man, novel
• 1946: Íslandsklukkan (Part III) - Eldur í Kaupinhafn, novel
• 1946: Sjálfsagðir hlutir, essays
• 1948: Atómstöðin, The atomic base - novel.
• 1950: Reisubókarkorn, chronicles
• 1950: Snæfríður Íslandssól, theater (from Íslandsklukkan)
• 1952: Gerpla, novel
• 1952: Heiman eg fór, novel
• 1954: Silfurtúnglið, theatre
• 1954:
• 1955: Dagur í sennn, chronic
• 1957: Brekkukotsannáll, The Fish concert - novel.
• 1959: Gjörníngabók, chronicles
• 1960: Paradísarheimt, Paradise claimed - novel.
• 1961: Strompleikurinn, theatre
• 1962: Prjónastofan Solin, theatre
• 1963: Skáldatími, chronicles
• 1964: Sjöstafakverið, stories
• 1965: Upphaf mannúðarstefnu, chronic
• 1966: Dufnaveislan, pteatro
• 1967: Íslendíngaspjall, chronicles
• 1968: Kristnihald undir Jökli, Under the glacier, novel
• 1969: Finlandspunktar, chronicles
• 1970: Innansveitarkronika, rnovela
• 1970: One, Theatre (of Kristnihald undir Jökli)
• 1971: Yfirskygðir staðir, chronicles
• 1972: Guðsgjafaþula, novel
• 1972: Norðanstúlkan, theatre (of Atómstöðin)
• 1974: хðhátíðarrolla, chronic
• 1975: Í tuninu heima, memoirs I
• 1976: Úngur eg var, memoir III
• 1977: Seiseijú, mikil osköp, chronicles
• 1978: Sjömeistarasagan, Memories II
• 1980: Grikklandsárið, memories IV
• 1981: Við heygarðshornið, chronicles
• 1984: Og arin líða, chronic
• 1986: Af menníngarástandi, chronicles
• 1987: Dagar hjá múnkum, memoirs
• 1987: Sagan af brauðinu dýra, tale
• 1992: Jón í Brauðhúsum, tale
• 1992: Skáldsnilld Laxness
• 1996: Fugl a garðstaurnum og fleiri smasögur, stories
• 1997: Únglíngurinn í skóginum, poem
• 1998: Perlur í skáldskap Laxness
• 1999: Úngfrúin góða og Húsið, tale
• 2000: Smásögur, stories
• 2001: Gullkorn úr greinum Laxness
• 2001: Kórvilla to Vestfjörðum og fleiri sögur, stories.
• 2001: Laxness um land og