Heaven and Hell Trilogy Series by Jón Kalman Stefánsson

In a remote part of Iceland, a boy and his friend Barethur join a boat to fish for cod. A winter storm surprises them out at sea and Barethur who has forgotten his waterproof as he was too absorbed in Paradise Lost, succumbs to the ferocious cold and dies. Appalled by the death and by the fishermen's callous ability to set about gutting the fatal catch, the boy leaves the village, intending to return the book to its owner... moreIn a remote part of Iceland, a boy and his friend Barethur join a boat to fish for cod. A winter storm surprises them out at sea and Barethur who has forgotten his waterproof as he was too absorbed in Paradise Lost, succumbs to the ferocious cold and dies. Appalled by the death and by the fishermen's callous ability to set about gutting the fatal catch, the boy leaves the village, intending to return the book to its owner. The extreme hardship and danger of the journey is of little consequence to him he has already resolved to join his friend in death. But once in the town he immerses himself in the stories and lives of its inhabitants, and decides that he cannot be with his friend just yet. Set at the turn of the twentieth century, Heaven and Hell is a perfectly formed, vivid and timeless story, lyrical in style, and as intense a reading experience as the forces of the Icelandic landscape themselves. An outstandingly moving novel. less

The Sorrow of Angels is the second novel in an epic and elemental trilogy by the winner of the Icelandic Prize for Literature Jón Kalman Stefánsson, and the follow up to Heaven and Hell (publishing in paperback 3/11/15.) The Sorrow of Angels continues to follow "the boy" who, after suffering a terrible loss at sea, stops at a small Icelandic village that will become his adopted home and his redemption... moreThe Sorrow of Angels is the second novel in an epic and elemental trilogy by the winner of the Icelandic Prize for Literature Jón Kalman Stefánsson, and the follow up to Heaven and Hell (publishing in paperback 3/11/15.) The Sorrow of Angels continues to follow "the boy" who, after suffering a terrible loss at sea, stops at a small Icelandic village that will become his adopted home and his redemption. The book is a part of a trilogy, but as Susan Swarbrick wrote in The Herald Scotland, "If you haven't read Heaven And Hell, the first in Reykjavik-born author Jon Kalman Stefansson's captivating trilogy, that needn't be a deterrent from falling head over heels in love with The Sorrow Of Angels."It is three weeks since the boy came to town, carrying a book of poetry to return to the old sea captain-the poetry Bár?ur died for. Three weeks, but already Bár?ur's ghost has faded. Snow falls so heavily that it binds heaven and earth together.As the villagers gather in the inn to drink schnapps and coffee while the boy reads to them from Hamlet, Jens the postman stumbles in half-dead, having almost frozen to his horse. On his next journey to the fjords Jens is accompanied by the boy, and both must risk their lives for each other, and for an unusual item of mail.The Sorrow of Angels is a timeless and powerful story that evokes the struggle of man against the ferocious majesty of nature. Asked by The Independent what inspired him to write these three novels, Stefánsson named his first visit to the landscape of Iceland's West Fjords. "It was like a punch in the solar plexus . . . The mountains seemed to be saying, 'Why aren't you writing about us?" (Independent, 2013). less