Title: From the Mouth of the Whale
Author: Sjon
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 272
Rating: 3.5/5
Sjon is an Icelandic author who I’ve read before, though only once (with The Blue Fox). He’s known for his collaborations with Bjork and it’s easy to see why they’d make for a good combination, because both of their stuff is nuts.
This one reads like a sort of mixture between historical fiction, magical realism and religious text. It’s also interesting because it was originally written in Icelandic, and I always find it interesting to see how translated fiction retains some of the flavour of its source language. Perhaps that’s also why big chunks of this book are in super long paragraphs that stretch out over three or four pages.
It’s actually one of those books that’s kind of ephemeral, and where most of the joy of reading it comes from the beautiful way in which it’s written. Even while I was reading it, I couldn’t have told you what the plot was. Now that I’ve finished, all that’s left is the way it made me feel. But I think if you can remember the way a book made you feel, and if it made you feel good, then I think you can safely say that it’s worth reading.
Now I’m left hungry for more, and I’m sure I’ll pick up some more of Sjon’s books in the future. Surprisingly, I’ve been able to pick up two of them so far from charity shops and perhaps I’ll be able to get some more. Awesome.
