Halldor Kiljan LaxnessAwards:
Nobel Prize in Literature-1955Nobel Committee
in its citation stated that the prize was given for
"for his vivid epic power, which
has renewed the great narrative art of Iceland. "
Born: 23/04/1902 in Reykjavik, Iceland
Died: 08/02/1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland
Citizen: Icelandic
Language: Icelandic
Influence: Lewis Sinclair, Ernest Hemingway,
Sigmund Freud, August Strindberg
Halldór
Guđjónsson was born in Reykjavik, but soon the family moved to Laxens.
a rural area about 15 km from the capital. Halldor spent the most
memorable part of his early life there and subsequently changed his
surname to Laxness in honor of the homestead land where he was raised.
His first work was a novel,Children
of Nature, which was published when Laxness was only 17.Then he
went abroad and during that transit period, his second novel,Under
the Holy Mountain was published in 1924. Halldor was an agnostic
but later changed to a devout Catholic.
Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír (The
Great Weaver from Kashmir)
was published in 1927 and it was hailed as a great masterpiece of
German expressionism.
In the mean time, his religious orientation was again undergoing
transformation and he got attracted to socialism while touring USA.
Laxness stayed in USA and attempted to write screen plays for
Hollywood films in between 1927-1929.His socialistic fervor waned
after Soviet Union took military action against Hungary in 1956.
He used to write even in his eighties and only towards the end became
immobilized due to Alzheimer's disease and died of old age.
Notable Works:
Barn náttúrunnar-Child of Nature(1919),
Undir Helgahnúk -
Under the Holy Mountain(1924),
Heimsljós--Part I,World Light(1937),
Heimsljós--Part-II,The Palace of the
Summerland(1938),
Íslandsklukkan --Part-I,
Iceland's Bell
(1943) , Atómstöđin--The
Atom Station
(1948),Brekkukotsannáll--The
Fish Can Sing(1957),Paradísarheimt --Paradise
Reclaimed(1960),Gerska
ćfintýriđ--The Russian Adventure(1938)
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