De verteller van het verhaal is Alfgrim Hansson, een wees die opgroeit bij twee oude mensen die hij opa en oma noemt, in een hut in wat later de hoofdstad van het land zal worden. Alfgrim droomt ervan dat hij ook, net als opa, visser zal worden. Geen zeevisser, maar vlak onder de kust. Als hij opgroeit blijkt hij te kunnen zingen, tenminste dat vindt de dominee die dikwijls eenzame mensen begraaft op het vlak bij gelegen kerkhof, en dan Alfgrim vraagt om een lied te zingen. Hij krijgt op een gegeven moment ook les van een Deense muzieklerares. Van de dominee hoort hij dat het gaat "om de zuivere toon". Heel zijn jeugd door krijgt Alfgrim verhalen te horen over een andere IJslander die kan zingen, en die de hele wereld verovert met zijn stem. Uiteindelijk blijken die verhalen schromelijk overdreven en alleen in het leven gehouden om degene die Gard Holm, de zanger, blijft financieren, niet belachelijk te maken. Een mooi verhaal, waarin Laxness heel wat van zijn eigen jeugd heeft verwerkt. Opmerkelijk ook dat opa en oma woorden kostbaarder vinden dan geld: ze zijn zuinig met woorden en zeker met loftuitingen!

In my heart of hearts, I'd love to return to this one day, since I feel the story is much improved after I grasped the theme of it, but I'm honestly not sure. I can see myself keeping my copy on the shelf to return to bits and pieces of it, but not rereading entirely.

It was only my respect for Halldór Laxness that kept me from bailing on the book in the first half. The second half, once I got a grasp on what was going on, was fantastic though. ( )

Letto l'incipit de Il concerto dei pesci, ne sono rimasta davvero colpita, tanto da postarlo in un Citazione della settimana e da farmi delle gigantesche aspettative.

Il romanzo non è brutto, in effetti, ma mi tocca annoverarlo tra quelli che mi hanno detto poco o niente. Difatti, a parte l'inizio e la fine, che mi hanno tenuta incollata alle pagine, la parte centrale è stata piuttosto piatta. E questo nonostante abbia davvero apprezzato la critica di Laxness alla società borghese e al suo vuoto accumular denari.

È difficile non essere affascinati da Björn, nonno adottivo del protagonista (Álfgrímur), e dai bizzarri e derelitti individui che si trovano a frequentare la sua abitazione e che sono ormai fuori posto in un mondo sull'orlo di un grande cambiamento. Tuttavia, il premio come personaggio più intrigante del romanzo va certamente a Garðar Hólm, il più famoso cantante lirico d'Islanda che nessuno in patria ha mai sentito cantare. Garðar Hólm, infatti, è così sfuggente da rendere davvero difficile inquadrarlo in una qualunque definizione e non ho alcuna intenzione di provarci, rischiando di togliergli fascino.

È sorprendente che con tutti questi elementi apprezzabili alla fine mi abbia lasciato così fredda nei suoi confronti. Quindi, in conclusione, il mio consiglio è: sbattetevene della mia opinione e, se la trama vi incuriosisce, leggetelo lo stesso. Vale sempre per qualunque recensione, ma per questa in modo particolare. ( )

Solid, if a bit unfocused. I confess I'm not very keen on short novels that have digressions in them; if you're going to digress, do it properly! Or just write a great novella about a young man's artistic awakening, and his attempt to square the urge to create art with the certain knowledge that you're going to fail. ( )

Alfgrimur's mother left him in the home of a man and woman in Brekkukot when he was born and before she left to pursue dreams in America. His "grandfather" was a fisherman, specializing in lumpfish. His grandmother, who was not married to the grandfather but kept his house, seemed to always be up,never sleeping, but attending to the needs of the grandfather, Alfgrimur, and other guests. Alfgrimur grew up wanting nothing more than to follow in his grandfather's shoes as a lumpfisherman. Alfgrimur had a nice voice and was often asked to sing at funerals. Gardar Holm grew up in the village known as Georg, but he left to pursue a career in music years before. Alfgrimur is sent to the university where he meets Holm, but he eventually returns to Brekukkot. His grandfather wishes him to become a clergyman; others want him to become a singer; he would be content to be a lumpfisherman. The novel takes place in the days when Iceland is forging its identity. Of course, the parallel is that Alfgimur is forging his own identity at the same time. It's not really that long of a novel, but its reading should not be rushed in order to savor the imagery and depths of the novel. It's a coming of age story of both Alfgrimur and Iceland. ( )