The Fish Can Sing (1957)
1957
316 pages
Fiction
Modern Classics
This is the tale of Alfgrim, an abandoned child, left in the turf-and-stone cottage of Bjorn of Brekkukot on the outskirts of what is now Reykjavik. The central motif is the dichotomy between a genuine and unassuming way of life in an old homestead and the misguided pursuit after fraudulent renown. One of Laxness’ most endearing and many-faceted novels with a large 1collection of unforgettable individuals.
Reviews
“One of the greatest novelists of the 20th century.”
DIE WELT
“Laxness is a poet who writes to the edge of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot: he takes a Tolstoyan overview, he weaves in an Evelyn Waugh-like humour: it is not possible to be unimpressed.”
DAILY TELEGRAPH
“This weird and wonderful novel, about the price you pay for 'the one true note', is Laxness at his best: a reminder of the mad hilarity of the Icelandic sensibility. An endearing and unforgettable voice.”
NICHOLAS SHAKESPEARE
“It is a novel (a world) that transmits something of the wonder of life, its strangeness, its goodness, ocassions for stubbornness, and the stoicism of people - people everywhere.”
MURRAY BAIL
“Laxness's view of a child's bounded universe has humour and a light touch.”
GUARDIAN
“One of the world’s most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists.”
JANE SMILEY
Rights Sold
ItalyIperborea
NorwayOktober
GermanySteidl
FranceLibrairie Arthéme Fayard
The NetherlandsDe Geus
MacedoniaMikena doo
PortugalCavalo de ferro
GeorgiaBakur Sulakauri
ChinaLijiang
LebanonArab Scientific Publishers
GreeceKastaniotis
UK/USARandom House/Vintage
IndiaKalachuvadu
Previously translated into 16 languages
Spain / South AmericaTrotalibros