Moopy Book Club - Feb '20: "The Blue Fox" by Sjón

[Cerro de Casa]

Goodreads.com:

The year is 1883. The stark Icelandic winter landscape is the backdrop. We follow the priest, Skugga-Baldur, on his hunt for the enigmatic blue fox. From there we’re then transported to the world of the naturalist Friðrik B. Friðriksson and his charge, Abba, who suffers from Down’s syndrome, and who came to his rescue when he was on the verge of disaster. Then to a shipwreck off the Icelandic coast in the spring of 1868.

The fates of all these characters are intrinsically bound, and gradually, surprisingly, unravelled in this spellbinding fable that is part mystery, part fairy tale.


Sjón is a celebrated Icelandic poet and novelist. His novels have been translated into twenty-five languages and include From the Mouth of the Whale and The Whispering Muse (both by Telegram). Sjón won the Nordic Council Literary Prize, the equivalent of the Man Booker Prize, for The Blue Fox and "Best Icelandic Novel" for The Whispering Muse in 2005. Also a songwriter, he has written lyrics for Björk, including for her eight studio album, Biophilia.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Read this yesterday. I loved the hunting part and the scenery, the writing was fine, but the ending a bit meh. I expected more poetry. 2/5

 

[Mats]

ah yes, I need to order this...

 

[Mats]

I really liked the ending and how it came full circle. did you find it lacking?

the first part, which basically read like a bible with the short passages, was very striking even though the form was a bit tough for me. Icelandic storytellers really have a way with words (except Jon Kalman Stefansson who completely overdoes it)

 

[Cerro de Casa]

I'm starting this tonight

P.S. Death in Venice joined my DNF pile! I couldn't get into it at all.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

I really liked the ending and how it came full circle. did you find it lacking?

I don’t know, it didn’t engage me that much at all. There was no building up to that ”twist”.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

I finished this today and really enjoyed it. It's so beautifully written and he has managed to weave together so many different genres in such a short novella. It would be a 3.5/5 for me but because Goodreads doesn't allow half points I had to go with 3/5 because I'm conservative that way.

Now I need to finish Death in Venice because I don't do Book Club DNFs!