The closest I’ve been to Iceland is the Maine coast. No recent volcano eruptions in Maine. Maine weather can be cold but Iceland has it beat. If you speak Icelandic as do 330,000 of the island’s inhabitants, you may be really good with languages but have few people to converse with in Portland or Kennebunkport. Both places offer great seafood and rugged terrain. They share another facet of life: fiction, mainly atmospheric thrillers. Maine claims Stephen King. Iceland claims Ragnar Jonasson.
If you watch Netflix, “The Valhalla Murders” may have
popped up on your much-watch streaming series list. Valhalla is Norse heaven or
their version of it. A majority of Icelanders share Viking DNA and Iceland was
once part of Norway. But the Valhalla in the series written by Thordur Palsson -is,
to paraphrase one former resident, “a living hell.” It’s a facility for
troublesome youth. It’s also home to predatory adults. You won’t be surprised
to find out that one of its youthful residents is now an adult and bent on
revenge for beatings and torture and rape by staffers. It takes eight episodes
for the police to get their culprit. Along the way, you get many views of snowbound
landscapes and slate-gray skies; frigid small towns and one big gray city,
Reykjavik.
You don’t need me to tell you that the countries of
Scandinavia have a reputation for gloom and doom. Norway claimed Iceland until
1944. Vikings were bloodthirsty conquerors (great sailors though). Icelandic
sagas feature much bloodshed. You’ve seen Ingmar Bergman movies. There are also
the bizarre worlds of Lasse Hallstrom in “My Life as a Dog” with a 12-year-old’s
ruminations on a dying Soviet dog in space and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” with
its Iowa teen protagonist as caretaker of his intellectually disabled brother
and morbidly obese mother. Also, Sweden is known for the graphic violence of Stieg
Larsson, author of three posthumously published novels that begins with “The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” It gave rise to films in Sweden and the U.S. that
were not designed for family popcorn night.
The latest energetic crime thriller from Iceland is
“Reykjavik” by Ragnar Jonasson and Katrin Jakobsdottir. The title is important
as the 1986 scene for most of the narrative. It also is the setting for the
city’s 200th anniversary bash and the famous summit meeting between
Ronald Reagan and Mikeal Gorbachev. Murder happens against this dramatic
backdrop along with the investigation of a 30-year-old cold case. On the way,
we meet a terrific roster of characters and a plot that kept me guessing.
“Reykjavik” was translated by Victoria Cribb. Hats off
to her for keeping the author’s pace and vision. Also, all the Icelandic names
of people and locations. We get lots of details of everyday life which includes
lots of coffee drinking. This story of death hums with life and makes it an
enjoyable read. I have a feeling a filmed version is in the works for the
streaming services. The author creates scenes that cry out for the cinema. We
shall see what transpires.
One more thing: the co-author of Reykjavik holds a
master’s degree in Icelandic literature. She wrote her master’s thesis on
another Icelandic crime fiction author, Arnaldur Indridason. She now is prime minister
of Iceland and previously was the Minister of Education. So there’s that…
Kudos for the books authors and editors who include a pronunciation
guide to the characters’ names and also placenames. I’d like to see more of
that in translated works.
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