Master students in Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland and a group of senior citizens meet once a week to discuss their opinions of novels. The book club is not part of the program but the students still find it useful for their studies.
“It broadens the horizon. These women take a particular interest in literature and it is more fun to discuss the novels with them than just with professors at the uni. They have a completely different perspective,” one of the students, Thorsteinn Árnason Surmeli, told Fréttabladid.
Surmeli said the discussions often revolve around current affairs and each novel is put into context with what is happening in society. “They are also knowledgeable about genealogy and can connect various things with the authors that we had no idea about.”
The book club mostly discusses Icelandic novels by authors such as Sjón, Einar Kárason and Jón Kalman. “Summerlight by Kalman is probably the only book that we all agreed about,” Surmeli said.
