Under the Glacier,New

Product DescriptionNobel laureate Halldr Laxnesss Under the Glacier is aoneofakind masterpiece, a wryly provocative novel at once earthy and otherworldly. At its outset, the Bishop of Iceland dispatches a young emissary to investigate certain charges against the pastor at Snfells Glacier, who, among other things, appears to have given up burying the dead.But once he arrives, the emissary finds that this dereliction counts only as a mild eccentricity in a community that regards itself as the center of the world and where Creation itself is a work in progress.What is the emissary to make, for example, of the boardedup church? What about the mysterious building that has sprung up alongside it? Or the fact that Pastor Primus spends most of his time shoeing horses? Or that his wife, Ua (pronounced ooha, which is what men invariably sputter upon seeing her), is rumored never to have bathed, eaten, or slept?Piling improbability on top of improbability, Under the Glacier overflows with comedy both wild and deadpan as it conjures a phantasmagoria as beguiling as it is profound.ReviewOne of the worlds most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. Jane SmileyLaxness is a beacon in twentiethcentury literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. Alice MunroThe qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humoroblique, stylized and childlikethat can be found in no other contemporary writer. The Atlantic MonthlyOne of the worlds most unusual, skilled and visionary novelists. Jane SmileyA marvelous novel about the most ambitious questions. It is also one of the funniest books ever written.: Susan Sontag, from the IntroductionThe qualities of the sagas pervade his writing, and particularly a kind of humoroblique, stylized and childlikethat can be found in no other contemporary writer. The Atlantic MonthlyLaxness is a beacon in twentiethcentury literature, a writer of splendid originality, wit, and feeling. Alice MunroFrom the Inside FlapNobel laureate Halldor Laxness's Under the Glacier is a oneofakind masterpiece, a wryly provocative novel at once earthy and otherworldly. At its outset, the Bishop of Iceland dispatches a young emissary to investigate certain charges against the pastor at Sn?fells Glacier, who, among other things, appears to have given up burying the dead. But once he arrives, the emissary finds that this dereliction counts only as a mild eccentricity in a community that regards itself as the center of the world and where Creation itself is a work in progress.What is the emissary to make, for example, of the boardedup church? What about the mysterious building that has sprung up alongside it? Or the fact that Pastor Primus spends most of his time shoeing horses? Or that his wife, Ua (pronounced 'ooha,' which is what men invariably sputter upon seeing her), is rumored never to have bathed, eaten, or slept? Piling improbability on top of improbability, Under the Glacier overflows with comedy both wild and deadpan as it conjures a phantasmagoria as beguiling as it is profound.From the Back CoverNobel laureate Halldor Laxness's Under the Glacier' is a' oneofakind masterpiece, a wryly provocative novel at once earthy and otherworldly. At its outset, the Bishop of Iceland dispatches a young emissary to investigate certain charges against the pastor at Sn?fells Glacier, who, among other things, appears to have given up burying the dead. But once he arrives, the emissary finds that this dereliction counts only as a mild eccentricity in a community that regards itself as the center of the world and where Creation itself is a work in progress.What is the emissary to make, for example, of the boardedup church? What about the mysterious building that has sprung up alongside it? Or the fact that Pastor Primus spends most of his time shoeing horses? Or that his wife, Ua (pronounced 'ooha,' which is what men invaria