Susan Sontag’s introduction to the forthcoming Magnus Magnusson translation of “Under the Glacier” was published on the New York Times website this weekend. In a lengthy essay, Sontag praises this later work of Laxness as being a mix of the comic and philosophical style novels.
Before Sontag’s death last December, she was long a champion of European writers. Sontag claims that “Under the Glacier” is the best of Laxness’s works, perhaps because it withholds from political opinion—a noteworthy comment from a particularly political writer.
“Under the Glacier” will be released next month by Vintage Press International.
