Independent People
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| Independent People | |
| Author | Halldór Laxness |
|---|---|
| Original title | 'Sjálfstætt fólk' |
| Translator | J. A. Thompson |
| Country | Iceland |
| Language | Icelandic |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Vintage Books |
| Publication date | 1934 (Part I), 1935 (Part II) |
| Published in English |
1946 |
| Media type | print (paperback) |
| Pages | 512 pp (first vintage international edition) |
| ISBN | 0-679-76792-4 |
Independent People (Icelandic: Sjálfstætt fólk) is an epic novel by Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, published in 1946. It deals with the struggle of poor Icelandic farmers in the early 20th century, only freed from debt bondage in the last generation, and surviving on an isolated croft in inhospitable countryside.
The novel (and author) is considered among the main proponents of social realism in Icelandic fiction in the 1930s.[1] It is an indictment of materialism, the cost of the independent spirit to relationships, and capitalism itself. This book, along with several other major novels, helped Laxness win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955.[2]
[edit] Plot summary
Independent People is the story of the sheep farmer Bjartur from just after he escapes his virtual enslavement to a local rural family in a remote area of Iceland, up through his attempts to build a family, a home, and a future for himself.
[edit] Themes
The novel reveals Laxness's anti-war leanings in a chapter that depicts Icelandic farmers sitting around talking about how the livestock sales sure have gone up since the Europeans started murdering each other for no good reason.
