The Blue Tower [Paperback]

Thorarinn Eldjarn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 1999

Combining adventure with Scandinavian political and literary history, Eldjrn's gripping saga of 17th-century Iceland consists mostly of the fictional memoirs of its real-life hero, Gudmundur Andrésson."" Publishers Weekly In 1649, Andrésson is sitting apparently forgotten in Copenhagen's notorious Blue Tower, where he has been imprisoned for writing a pamphlet attacking the Great Edict, the morality law set by the Danish colonial authorities in Iceland. Interspersed with descriptions of his suffering and despair in the cell, he narrates the story of an extraordinary life. A bright but poor farmer's son, he was sponsored by a kindly scholar, but prefers a life with connections and a rich wife. The birth of a child out of wedlock, counter to the Great Edict, and his scurrilous tract seal his fate. ""A lively chronicle of impish, often sardonic resistance to tyranny in all forms."" Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Combining adventure with Scandinavian political and literary history, Eldj rn's gripping saga of 17th-century Iceland consists mostly of the fictional memoirs of its real-life hero, Gudmundur Andr?sson (who lived from 1615 to 1654). Confined to Copenhagen's fearsome Blue Tower for writing against the Great Edict (a puritanical, draconian legal code imposed on Iceland by the Danes), Gudmundur explains his unjust captivity by recording the story of his life. From his earliest years as a peasant's son, Gudmundur displays an "excessive tendency to ponder things that are better left untouched." Detecting his talent for learning, a clerical neighbor sends young Gudmundur to the Holar cathedral school, where he meets Einar Arnfinnsson, who becomes his best friend. Gudmundur also learns to use his gift for poetry to revenge himself on his enemies. Like the ancient Irish, 17th-century Icelanders believe that poets possess supernatural potency: when students from rich families play tricks on Gudmundur, he repays them with verse lampoons, encouraging them to believe in his magical powers. Einar secures Gudmundur a deaconship, but a cabal of Gudmundur's enemies, including relatives of class bully Thorkell Gudmundsson, eventually strips him of his station. After he writes an essay against the Great Edict defending extramarital sex, Thorkell circulates a garbled, malevolently revised manuscript under Gudmundur's name: the forgery leads to Gudmundur's arrest. As sketched here, Gudmundur is charming, intelligent, vain and ultimately na?ve, a peasant scholar crushed by the establishment. In Scudder's stately English translation, Eldj rn's narrative of an obscure period in a far, cold country goes beyond historical verisimilitude, rendering Gudmundur and his troubles insistently memorable and intensely real.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The Blue Tower ($19.95 paperback original; Oct. 8; 186 pp.; 1-899197-45-1). A very interesting Icelandic novel based on the life of a real historical figure: poet Gudmundur Andresson, a 17th-century rebel against the oppressive colonial government of the Danes who had at that time conquered his homeland. His storywhich Gudmundur narrates while imprisoned in Copenhagen's infamous Blue Toweris a lively chronicle of impish, often sardonic resistance to tyranny in all forms (with special emphasis on sexual hypocrisy) and an appealing portrait of a ``natural man'' who's reminiscent of (perhaps modeled on) Selma Lagerlof's immortal Gosta Berling. Splendid and highly entertaining. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Mare's Nest Pub (October 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899197451
• ISBN-13: 978-1899197453
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,126,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wit and Wonder, June 15, 2000

By 

A. Jaleel (Naperville, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Blue Tower (Paperback)

When I picked up this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was originally written in Icelandic and I knew next to nothing about Iceland. But as I started reading, I discovered the brilliant wit and engaging style of its author, Thorarinn Eldjarn. The Blue Tower tells the story of Gudmunder Andresson, a man who is imprisoned in the Blue Tower for violating the Great Edict, a stringent adultery law. As he sits in the Blue Tower, awaiting death, Gudmunder looks back upon his life. Although he is born a simple peasant, his determination and his insatiable thirst for knowledge allow him to become a religious scholar. Yet at every step of the way, the forces of jealousy and slander block him from attaining the success he deserves. Pompous bishops, mischievous schoolmates, and a wicked one-eyed tailor all try to destroy him. But his knowledge and his ardent faith serve to sustain him. This is a work of wit and wonder, as humorous as it is wise. It is truly one of the most intelligently written novels that you will ever read.