Fotografía de autor

Kristín Eiríksdóttir

Autor de A Fist or a Heart

9+ Obras 34 Miembros 5 Reseñas

Sobre El Autor

Obras de Kristín Eiríksdóttir

Obras relacionadas

Best European Fiction 2011 (2010) — Contribuidor — 107 copias
Out of the Blue: New Short Fiction from Iceland (2017) — Contribuidor — 22 copias

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Género
female
Nacionalidad
Iceland

Miembros

Reseñas

This novel is an insightful psychological study of two lonely and eccentric individuals with a tenuous grip on their sanity. The protagonist and narrator Elín Jónsdóttir, is a theatre and movie prop creator in her late sixties. One of the latest projects in which Elín is involved is the production of a new play by a teenage writing prodigy - Ellen Álfsdóttir. Ellen happens to be the daughter of a famed playwright with whom Elín was acquainted. Elín, who has spent all her life pushing people away from her, now seems strangely drawn to the disturbed teenager and starts following her. The narrative is purportedly written by the older woman, and it alternates between her reminiscences, written in the first person, and scenes involving Ellen, written in the third person and incorporating poems Ellen wrote.

The scant plot details of A Fist or A Heart (such as they are) are revealed slowly and tantalisingly. In this respect, I found the novel gripping and atmospheric. On the other hand, I cannot say I “loved” the book. My reservations were two.

The novel is built on a premise of ambiguity. It is quite clear, that Elín and Ellen are meant to be reflections of each other. Both are lonely, both had an upbringing with an ‘absent’ father, both had problematic relationships with their respective mothers. In a way, Ellen’s mother Lilya could be read as yet another aspect of one composite character. By the end of the book, however, the ambiguity is taken to extremes. As Elín becomes more and more confused, it’s not even clear whether what we’ve learnt about the (younger) Ellen or, for that matter, Elín herself, should be taken at face value. Has Elín made up everything? Is Ellen partly or completely the product of Elín’s imagination? These questions (and other, less important ones, which also remain unanswered) kept bothering me after I finished the book. I’m sure some would hold this in the book’s favour. I’m more conservative in that respect and prefer greater “closure”.

My second reservation, although less central to the novel, I found possibly more troubling. Throughout the book there are frequent references to violence and violent acts. Elín’s props are, more often than not, meant for some Nordic crime film or shocking play: the grisly list includes severed limbs, decaying corpses, scarred bodies, a doll to represent an abused minors. In what is quite a short book, there is also a chapter about quite a stomach-churning episode of sexual violence (no further details here to avoid ‘spoilers’) and a sub-plot involving an unlikely meeting with a serial killer. I’d like to think that I’m not a squeamish reader (I’ve read my share of horror stories), but I did feel that these unsavoury details were not essential to the novel.

Reservations aside, I am still pleased at the opportunity of discovering a new author in her English language debut, and (given it’s unlikely I will ever learn Icelandic) I will seek out translations of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s other works once they – hopefully – become available.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-fist-or-a-heart-by-kristin-eiriksdo...
… (más)
 
Denunciada
JosephCamilleri | 3 reseñas más. | Feb 21, 2023 |
Kraftmikil og óvenjuleg saga tveggja kvenna. Elín er fullorðinn leikmyndasmiður sem tekur að sér að vinna við uppsetningu leikrits eftir unga upprennandi skáldkonu því hún kynntist henni við óvenjulegar aðstæður mörgum árum áður. Harmrænn og eftirminnilegur frásagnarmáti og mig hlakkar til að lesa fleiri sögur eftir Kristínu.
 
Denunciada
SkuliSael | Apr 28, 2022 |
This novel is an insightful psychological study of two lonely and eccentric individuals with a tenuous grip on their sanity. The protagonist and narrator Elín Jónsdóttir, is a theatre and movie prop creator in her late sixties. One of the latest projects in which Elín is involved is the production of a new play by a teenage writing prodigy - Ellen Álfsdóttir. Ellen happens to be the daughter of a famed playwright with whom Elín was acquainted. Elín, who has spent all her life pushing people away from her, now seems strangely drawn to the disturbed teenager and starts following her. The narrative is purportedly written by the older woman, and it alternates between her reminiscences, written in the first person, and scenes involving Ellen, written in the third person and incorporating poems Ellen wrote.

The scant plot details of A Fist or A Heart (such as they are) are revealed slowly and tantalisingly. In this respect, I found the novel gripping and atmospheric. On the other hand, I cannot say I “loved” the book. My reservations were two.

The novel is built on a premise of ambiguity. It is quite clear, that Elín and Ellen are meant to be reflections of each other. Both are lonely, both had an upbringing with an ‘absent’ father, both had problematic relationships with their respective mothers. In a way, Ellen’s mother Lilya could be read as yet another aspect of one composite character. By the end of the book, however, the ambiguity is taken to extremes. As Elín becomes more and more confused, it’s not even clear whether what we’ve learnt about the (younger) Ellen or, for that matter, Elín herself, should be taken at face value. Has Elín made up everything? Is Ellen partly or completely the product of Elín’s imagination? These questions (and other, less important ones, which also remain unanswered) kept bothering me after I finished the book. I’m sure some would hold this in the book’s favour. I’m more conservative in that respect and prefer greater “closure”.

My second reservation, although less central to the novel, I found possibly more troubling. Throughout the book there are frequent references to violence and violent acts. Elín’s props are, more often than not, meant for some Nordic crime film or shocking play: the grisly list includes severed limbs, decaying corpses, scarred bodies, a doll to represent an abused minors. In what is quite a short book, there is also a chapter about quite a stomach-churning episode of sexual violence (no further details here to avoid ‘spoilers’) and a sub-plot involving an unlikely meeting with a serial killer. I’d like to think that I’m not a squeamish reader (I’ve read my share of horror stories), but I did feel that these unsavoury details were not essential to the novel.

Reservations aside, I am still pleased at the opportunity of discovering a new author in her English language debut, and (given it’s unlikely I will ever learn Icelandic) I will seek out translations of Kristín Eiríksdóttir’s other works once they – hopefully – become available.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-fist-or-a-heart-by-kristin-eiriksdo...
… (más)
 
Denunciada
JosephCamilleri | 3 reseñas más. | Jan 1, 2022 |
Elín, again
Review of the Amazon Crossing paperback (2019) English translation of the Icelandic original "Elín, ýmislegt" (Elín, miscellaneous) (2017)

This was a full reading of the print edition, which I had previously only occasionally referred to during a listening of the Audible Audio edition last month. I had the same favourable impression, finding it just as intriguing. It was definitely easier to follow on a re-read having the previous familiarity and not being distracted or confused by the audio similarity of the Elín, Ellen and Helen names.… (más)
 
Denunciada
alanteder | 3 reseñas más. | Nov 14, 2019 |

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Estadísticas

Obras
9
También por
2
Miembros
34
Popularidad
#413,653
Valoración
½ 3.4
Reseñas
5
ISBNs
11
Idiomas
2