16
DID YOU KNOW: Each Icelander will publish at least eight novels during his or her lifetime. They will also release at least two albums of original music, enjoy great success at the Venice Biennale and come second in the NY Marathon!
The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 17 — 2014
Literature| Too much
OMG!
Bookflood Is Coming ‘Tis the season to buy one of 800 new Icelandic books for your friends and family Words by John Rogers Photos by Hörður Sveinsson Icelandic winter really, really sucks. It’s dark almost all the time, and the streets are icy and beset by freezing winds and snow. The mood of Reykjavík’s denizens noticeably changes at this time of year, with many people suffering sleep disorders or SAD, and generally withdrawing back into domestic life. It’s a time of lining the home nest, cooking hot stews and soups, turning up the heating, perhaps shying away from more social events than usual, and generally strapping in for the long, dark months ahead. With indoor activities the order of the day, it’s a perfect time to engage with things that have long hovered on the backburner—creative practices and amusements, perhaps, such as painting, writing or knitting—or just curling up with a mug of coffee and a pile of books. Handy, then, that Iceland is home to a seasonal book bonanza known as the jólabókaflóð, which translates literally as the "Christmas book flood.” Literature becomes a hot topic of conversation leading into Christmas, with people treating the gifts they select as a point of pride. Indeed, the bookstores of Reykjavík see an annual torrent of new titles hitting the shelves almost simultaneously, with shopkeepers bracing themselves for masses of customers aiming to snap up the most talked-about titles.
Old Icelandic proverb: books make good gifts Of course, a Christmas book-rush is not unique to Iceland. Books are a classic present, ranking with an HBO box set for a sibling or a bottle of whisky for dad in imagination. The phenomenon of the Christmas book rush is consistent across Europe, with many national newspapers in England and France, for example, publishing an entire section featuring
author top-tens and literary gift ideas. quarter,” he says. “It’s getting crazy But here in Iceland, the ‘flood has some now. There are so many books coming interesting numbers attached to it, and in—in this store, we got eight titles yesthe feel of a more defined cultural traditerday alone, some by really big authors, tion that makes it stand out from what so many releases just blend in with each goes on elsewhere. other—people have to be really clever to For a start, there’s the sheer number rise to the top." of new titles that come out. In 2013, over 800 new books hit the shelves during the Tell me a story jólabókaflóð, accounting for a whopping 80% of country’s entire annual literary But, first things first—how did all this output. This number places Iceland at come about? Well, settle down, chilthe top of a whole dren—the theories on bunch of interjólabókaflóð’s origins "Great titles come out national charts, are many, and tap from some of Iceland's into various strands including the one best up and coming about new books of culture and history released per-capithat reach back to the authors, but they just ta—in fact, it’s more country’s very beginvanish. They’re probthan double that nings. As far back ably in the back of the of Iceland’s Nordic as the 12th century, neighbours, with Iceland was already a warehouse—behind around five titles Nordic literary leader all the shelves of new published for every via the sagas—that is, books, there’s a section those famous historic 1000 Icelanders. Kristján Freyr epics about revenge, they call ’the black Halldórsson is violence, intrigue, imhole,’ with all the forthe manager of probable adventures gotten books.” Laugarvegur bookand ill-fated affairs, shop Mál og menboasting a body count ning. He sits on the “front lines” as the that makes Vin Diesel look like the Dalai jólabókaflóð approaches each year. “I Lama. would say 60-70% of all the books we This love of tall tales and storytelling stock each year come out in the last was woven further into early Icelandic Sirra Sigrún Sigurðardóttir, Panopticon, 2014.
culture in the centuries that followed via “kvöldvaka,” a time of the evening when members of the household would gather around the fire to carry out domestic tasks like knitting and sewing, inventing and reciting poems and stories as they worked. By the 20th century, literature had became a source of national pride, with the country’s overall literacy rating amongst the best in the world. But as well as these cultural precursors of jólabókaflóð, there’s an economic story to be told. Around the time of World War II, most imports to Iceland were heavily taxed—with paper being a rare exception. This convergence of a strong literary culture and financial practicality clicked together neatly into the seasonal tradition we still see today.
Not waving, but drowning Back in present, jólabókaflóð isn't all fireside tales and bedtime stories. This unusual congestion of new books means that, inevitably, some titles are left by the wayside or buried beneath the weight of the competition. But the way that main publishers carry out their marketing is a problem too. “The worst thing about the jólabókaflóð,” says Kristján, “is that publishers are Erró, Two Faces, 1985.
The Elfschool
Visit Iceland’s largest art museum
Do you want to know why 54% of Icelanders belive that elfs do exsits?
artmuseum.is
Open daily One admission to three museums
Síðumúli 31, Reykjavík. - tel. +354-588-6060. - www.theelfschool.com
really competing with just a couple of major titles, say, the ones in the crimefiction genre. They get engaged in a kind of hyped-up chart race, and all the press is about just those few books." And with popular genres dominating the media coverage, it can be tough for books that lie outside of more commercial concerns to get the attention they deserve. “We have many very promising young authors,” says Kristján, “and I’ve seen their new works drown in the book flood. Great titles come out from some of Iceland's best up and coming authors, but they just vanish. They’re probably in the back of the warehouse—behind all the shelves of new books, there’s a section they call ’the black hole,’ with all the forgotten books.” And once the “new book!” novelty has worn off, there’s currently not much chance for worthy contenders to reach their audience. “The lifetime of each title in the market is definitely getting shorter,” says Kristjan. “People often work on books for years, and then the release date comes, but within two months there’s a yellow tag on the cover, and the price is reduced from 6,000 to 2,000 ISK. It’s like a conveyor belt—it happens so fast, and before you know it, you’re falling off the end.”
Reykjavík Art Museum
Guided tour in English every Friday at 11 a.m. at Hafnarhús
HAFNARHÚS
KJARVALSSTAÐIR
ÁSMUNDARSAFN
TRYGGVAGATA 17 101 RVK
FLÓKAGATA 105 RVK
SIGTÚN 105 RVK