A review by markhoh
House of Evidence, by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson
4.0
House of Evidence is actually a tragic saga where unrequited obsessions result in mental anguish, illness and ultimately devastating consequences. The novel is stand alone Nordic Noir, set in Iceland in the 1970s. It is written by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson, and centres around multiple generations of the Kieler family, in particular, Jacob Senior, engineer obsessed with bringing railroad travel to Iceland and his son Jacob Junior, obsessed with preserving his family’s memory by turning his childhood home, Birkihlíð, into a museum.
The tragedy of the story is the inability of each man to turn their obsession into reality, particularly after the relentless investment that each of them had poured into these lifelong ambitions. The resulting mental health impacts highlight the fragility of wellbeing in the light of severe frustration, an inability to have dreams supported and ongoing disappointment.
House of Evidence tells multiple stories. Not only is the notion of obsession and mental health highlighted, so too is the tension around an Icelandic railway, political tensions between Germany and Western Europe across two world wars and sexuality in an era where persecution for difference was the norm.
Intriguingly, the story of Iceland’s railway, although fictional in this instance, seems to be rooted in some reality. There were proposals for railway systems in both the 1900s and 1920s. Road transport was ultimately favoured and plans for a railway in Iceland were abandoned in 1931. Interestingly, plans seem to be afoot yet again for a railway, 49 km long, between the International airport in Keflavík and the capital, Reykjavík. Construction is proposed to begin in 2022. according to https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/
House of Evidence is told in a couple of different voices. Each chapter commences with the here and now (that is in 1973 which is the year the book is set) and concludes with diary entries from Jacob Senior from the early to mid 1900s that give a unique insight to the history of the events that have unfolded in the present.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story and look forward to reading further books by this author. 4 stars.
The tragedy of the story is the inability of each man to turn their obsession into reality, particularly after the relentless investment that each of them had poured into these lifelong ambitions. The resulting mental health impacts highlight the fragility of wellbeing in the light of severe frustration, an inability to have dreams supported and ongoing disappointment.
House of Evidence tells multiple stories. Not only is the notion of obsession and mental health highlighted, so too is the tension around an Icelandic railway, political tensions between Germany and Western Europe across two world wars and sexuality in an era where persecution for difference was the norm.
Intriguingly, the story of Iceland’s railway, although fictional in this instance, seems to be rooted in some reality. There were proposals for railway systems in both the 1900s and 1920s. Road transport was ultimately favoured and plans for a railway in Iceland were abandoned in 1931. Interestingly, plans seem to be afoot yet again for a railway, 49 km long, between the International airport in Keflavík and the capital, Reykjavík. Construction is proposed to begin in 2022. according to https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/
House of Evidence is told in a couple of different voices. Each chapter commences with the here and now (that is in 1973 which is the year the book is set) and concludes with diary entries from Jacob Senior from the early to mid 1900s that give a unique insight to the history of the events that have unfolded in the present.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story and look forward to reading further books by this author. 4 stars.