Books

ICELANDIC TALE BLENDS SEX, FANTASY AND REALITY IN A SMALL TOWN AS THE REST OF THE WORLD TEARS ITSELF APART

WORDS: ULI LENART

DEATH IN THE LAND OF FIRE AND ICE

BOOK OF THE MONTH

MOONSTONE:

THE BOY WHO NEVER WASSjón/Sceptre Books

→ Set in Reykjavik in 1918, this enchanting and unconventional Icelandic literary novel opens with a 16-year-old rent boy pleasuring a client while listening to the distant throb of a motorbike engine. Blurring reality, reverie and the intoxicating allure of early cinema, Moonstone is the story of young misfit Máni Steinn and his over-imaginative existence on the fringes of society. As the Great War continues to rage across the seas, a nearby volcano erupts, bruising the night skies with fiery colour, guiding a Danish ship as it docks in port. Tragically, the ship’s passengers carry with them the deadly Spanish flu that will grip the small capital, not relinquishing its hold until more than half the population are dead. As Máni himself begins to succumb to the pandemic, the shadows of existence deepen and everything changes. A short and precious reading experience, this is a beautiful, mesmerising, erotic and quietly extraordinary book. Winner of the Icelandic Literary Prize and the Icelandic bookseller’s prize for novel of the year, it is well worth your time. Sjón is also a playwright, poet, and lyricist — co-writing songs with Björk — as well as a performer in his own right, under the name of Johnny Triumph,