A review by arirang
And the Wind Sees All by Andrew Cauthery, Guðmundur Andri Thorsson, Björg Árnadóttir
4.0
Guðmundur Andri Thorsson's Valeyrarvalsinn (literally The Waltz of Valeyri) was nominated for the
2013 Nordic Council's Literature Prize, eventually losing out to Kim Leine's Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden, which, translated as [b:The Prophets of Eternal Fjord|23365800|The Prophets of Eternal Fjord|Kim Leine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413747603s/23365800.jpg|19080187], was also shortlisted for the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award (my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1974085662).
Valeyrarvalsinn has been translated from Icelandic into English, as 'And The Winds Sees All' (bugbear alert - I really wish publisher/translators wouldn't change titles), by Andrew Cauthery and Björg Árnadóttir, an interesting translation duo who work together on translations in both directions (e.g. an Icelandic version of Wind in the Willows).
And it has been published by the wonderful small independent publisher Peirene Press, who have the strapline Contemporary European Literature. Thought-provoking, well designed, short, as part of their 2018 “Home in Exile” series alongside the very worthy Soviet Milk and Shadows on the Tundra.
The author's own explanation of the novel is worth reading (from http://www.islit.is/media/pdf/Fabulous-Books---Gudmundur-A.-Thorsson.pdf when the novel was being promoted for translation):
The mist. It comes off the sea and slides along the spit. Every summer's day. it creeps up the fjord as evening approaches, noses around the slopes and foothills and slips into the village, where it curls around the boats in the harbour and licks the corners of the houses, before lifting itself upwards just enough for me to be able to peep through people's windows.
I see the secrets, I see the people cooking, peeing, pottering or skulking about. Some weep, some listen, some stare. I see people silent, or screaming into their pillows. I see people throwing out rubbish and useless memories, and I do not look away. I never look away. I see all.
The identity of the narrator here (who isn't 'the wind' of the English title) is only made clear in the closing chapter.
The blurb on the back reads: 'Relaxing Nordic hygge in a novel: the entire story takes place in two minutes', neither clause of which is really accurate.
The organising principle of the stories that follow is indeed based around a two minute bike journey undertaken by Kata (known as 'Kata Choir - most of the characters have been bestowed with similar nicknames) to the village hall, where she will lead the local choir in a concert. And the different chapters take us through the stories of many of the villagers that she encounters on her ride, or are preparing for the concert, but the stories themselves roam into their different, and often troubled, pasts.
It is fascinating to see also how the different stories fit together as characters reappear, events from the past mentioned in one story are explained in another. As one of the residents whose family have lived their since the village was founded, in the late 19th century, ponders: You spend half your life trying to find out things about yourself that the village already knows about you when you are born.
As for 'relaxing Nordic hygge': to me the book only really gets into its stride when we move past the more bucolic descriptions of the village and some of the stories take a darker turn: for example we later learn, as a visitor queries Kata's identity, of the disturbing story of how she came, not by choice, from Eastern Europe to the village. And the post-financial crisis setting starts to become more relevant, as for example we get to stories of leveraged banking loans against the value of fishing quotas, and foreign currency mortgages, both of which spell disaster for both borrower and lender.
The blend of modern and traditional is beautifully done:
The village has its own history, its characters, its legends. The characters and legends have long since gone, and all that is left are people and events. Reverend Sæmunder sometimes says in his sermons that the village “is beyond the world and all the perils thereof”. Smyrill the poet on the other hand always says [...] that the village is the world in a nutshell. Neither is true. The world is blessed with a million nuances of human life that can not be found in Valeyri. And as attested to by the rooftop satellite dishes, the SUVs on the streets, the graffiti on the buildings, the young people's wanderlust, the Polish migrant workers and the Asian women in the fish factory who keep the local economy going, Valeyri is immeasurably far from being 'beyond the world' or not needing it at all. The world buys the fish that is caught by the ships registered here.
And even though the revenue from fishing doesn't all end up here- who knows, maybe only a tiny part of it does - Lára Lár, and latterly her son, Jói, have always taken great care to ensure that their crews include local seaman, and have kept fish processing going all year round.
This doesn't displace [a:Jón Kalman Stefánsson|2779048|Jón Kalman Stefánsson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1265649614p2/2779048.jpg]'s stunning [b:Himnaríki og helvíti|7710085|Himnaríki og helvíti|Jón Kalman Stefánsson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1326661971s/7710085.jpg|6513641] trilogy as my favourite Icelandic writing, but highly worthwhile.
Peirene had an incredible run of 6 consecutive longlist places for the Independent Foreign Fiction / Man Booker International Prize with 2016: [b:White Hunger|23697987|White Hunger|Aki Ollikainen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442356000s/23697987.jpg|19142490], 2015: [b:The Dead Lake|20308483|The Dead Lake|Hamid Ismailov|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388685676s/20308483.jpg|28143058], 2014: [b:The Mussel Feast|16138043|The Mussel Feast|Birgit Vanderbeke|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361473560s/16138043.jpg|192385], 2013: [b:The Murder of Halland|14624369|The Murder of Halland|Pia Juul|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1338144615s/14624369.jpg|20268345], 2012: [b:Next World Novella|10300307|Next World Novella|Matthias Politycki|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348095186s/10300307.jpg|15202273], 2011: [b:Beside the Sea|7516243|Beside the Sea|Véronique Olmi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479890960s/7516243.jpg|9725380], particularly impressive as they only published 3 such books each year. They missed out in 2017 and 2018, but I very much hope to see them back on the list in 2019.
2013 Nordic Council's Literature Prize, eventually losing out to Kim Leine's Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden, which, translated as [b:The Prophets of Eternal Fjord|23365800|The Prophets of Eternal Fjord|Kim Leine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413747603s/23365800.jpg|19080187], was also shortlisted for the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award (my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1974085662).
Valeyrarvalsinn has been translated from Icelandic into English, as 'And The Winds Sees All' (bugbear alert - I really wish publisher/translators wouldn't change titles), by Andrew Cauthery and Björg Árnadóttir, an interesting translation duo who work together on translations in both directions (e.g. an Icelandic version of Wind in the Willows).
And it has been published by the wonderful small independent publisher Peirene Press, who have the strapline Contemporary European Literature. Thought-provoking, well designed, short, as part of their 2018 “Home in Exile” series alongside the very worthy Soviet Milk and Shadows on the Tundra.
The author's own explanation of the novel is worth reading (from http://www.islit.is/media/pdf/Fabulous-Books---Gudmundur-A.-Thorsson.pdf when the novel was being promoted for translation):
“I am an advocate of small literary forms, and the short story cycle is a particularly fascinating one.Set in the Icelandic fishing community (population 2000) of Valeyri, around 2010, the novel opens:
..
The idea is that each story should be able to stand on its own as a traditional short story, but can simultaneously be seen as part of the larger picture. The stories reference each other in various ways: One story gets a brand-new ending later in the book; a character makes a phone call, and in a later story we hear the particulars of the call. One story ends with a fly zipping out of a window, but another one starts with a fly coming in through a window. Taken as a whole, these stories are all part of one overarching narrative: the story of the village of Valeyri, of which the reader should be able to piece together a mental image.
A friend of mine gave me Sherwood Anderson's [b:Winesburg, Ohio|80176|Winesburg, Ohio|Sherwood Anderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391639013s/80176.jpg|191520] years ago, telling me I should translate it, it would be right up my alley. I was noncommittal at the time. But maybe The Waltz of Valeyri is that translation, after all!”
The mist. It comes off the sea and slides along the spit. Every summer's day. it creeps up the fjord as evening approaches, noses around the slopes and foothills and slips into the village, where it curls around the boats in the harbour and licks the corners of the houses, before lifting itself upwards just enough for me to be able to peep through people's windows.
I see the secrets, I see the people cooking, peeing, pottering or skulking about. Some weep, some listen, some stare. I see people silent, or screaming into their pillows. I see people throwing out rubbish and useless memories, and I do not look away. I never look away. I see all.
The identity of the narrator here (who isn't 'the wind' of the English title) is only made clear in the closing chapter.
The blurb on the back reads: 'Relaxing Nordic hygge in a novel: the entire story takes place in two minutes', neither clause of which is really accurate.
The organising principle of the stories that follow is indeed based around a two minute bike journey undertaken by Kata (known as 'Kata Choir - most of the characters have been bestowed with similar nicknames) to the village hall, where she will lead the local choir in a concert. And the different chapters take us through the stories of many of the villagers that she encounters on her ride, or are preparing for the concert, but the stories themselves roam into their different, and often troubled, pasts.
It is fascinating to see also how the different stories fit together as characters reappear, events from the past mentioned in one story are explained in another. As one of the residents whose family have lived their since the village was founded, in the late 19th century, ponders: You spend half your life trying to find out things about yourself that the village already knows about you when you are born.
As for 'relaxing Nordic hygge': to me the book only really gets into its stride when we move past the more bucolic descriptions of the village and some of the stories take a darker turn: for example we later learn, as a visitor queries Kata's identity, of the disturbing story of how she came, not by choice, from Eastern Europe to the village. And the post-financial crisis setting starts to become more relevant, as for example we get to stories of leveraged banking loans against the value of fishing quotas, and foreign currency mortgages, both of which spell disaster for both borrower and lender.
The blend of modern and traditional is beautifully done:
The village has its own history, its characters, its legends. The characters and legends have long since gone, and all that is left are people and events. Reverend Sæmunder sometimes says in his sermons that the village “is beyond the world and all the perils thereof”. Smyrill the poet on the other hand always says [...] that the village is the world in a nutshell. Neither is true. The world is blessed with a million nuances of human life that can not be found in Valeyri. And as attested to by the rooftop satellite dishes, the SUVs on the streets, the graffiti on the buildings, the young people's wanderlust, the Polish migrant workers and the Asian women in the fish factory who keep the local economy going, Valeyri is immeasurably far from being 'beyond the world' or not needing it at all. The world buys the fish that is caught by the ships registered here.
And even though the revenue from fishing doesn't all end up here- who knows, maybe only a tiny part of it does - Lára Lár, and latterly her son, Jói, have always taken great care to ensure that their crews include local seaman, and have kept fish processing going all year round.
This doesn't displace [a:Jón Kalman Stefánsson|2779048|Jón Kalman Stefánsson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1265649614p2/2779048.jpg]'s stunning [b:Himnaríki og helvíti|7710085|Himnaríki og helvíti|Jón Kalman Stefánsson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1326661971s/7710085.jpg|6513641] trilogy as my favourite Icelandic writing, but highly worthwhile.
Peirene had an incredible run of 6 consecutive longlist places for the Independent Foreign Fiction / Man Booker International Prize with 2016: [b:White Hunger|23697987|White Hunger|Aki Ollikainen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442356000s/23697987.jpg|19142490], 2015: [b:The Dead Lake|20308483|The Dead Lake|Hamid Ismailov|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388685676s/20308483.jpg|28143058], 2014: [b:The Mussel Feast|16138043|The Mussel Feast|Birgit Vanderbeke|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361473560s/16138043.jpg|192385], 2013: [b:The Murder of Halland|14624369|The Murder of Halland|Pia Juul|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1338144615s/14624369.jpg|20268345], 2012: [b:Next World Novella|10300307|Next World Novella|Matthias Politycki|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348095186s/10300307.jpg|15202273], 2011: [b:Beside the Sea|7516243|Beside the Sea|Véronique Olmi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479890960s/7516243.jpg|9725380], particularly impressive as they only published 3 such books each year. They missed out in 2017 and 2018, but I very much hope to see them back on the list in 2019.