Intermezzo
3.490 kr.Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties – successful, competent and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women – his enduring first love Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.
Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.
For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude – a period of desire, despair and possibility – a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.
The Wall
3.490 kr.A woman takes a holiday in the Austrian mountains, spending a few days with her cousin and his wife in their hunting lodge. When the couple fails to return from a walk, the woman sets off to look for them. But her journey reaches a sinister and inexplicable dead end. She discovers only a transparent wall behind which there seems to be no life. Trapped alone behind the mysterious wall she begins the arduous work of survival.
This is at once a simple account of potatoes and beans, of hoping for a calf, of counting matches, of forgetting the taste of sugar and the use of one’s name, and simultaneously a disturbing dissection of the place of human beings in the natural world.
Lamb to the Slaughter
2.490 kr.No author perfected the twist in the tale better than Roald Dahl. His stories – many of which were filmed as Tales of the Unexpected – take us into a world that is shocking, funny and always has a sinister edge. What if plants could feel pain? What kind of father would bet his daughter in a wager? And what is the secret behind that delicious lamb dinner…?
Family Happiness
2.490 kr.‘I’m not the sort of husband you dream of when you’re walking alone along the avenue in the evening, am I? And it would be a disaster, wouldn’t it?’ How does love die? This question lies at the heart of Tolstoy’s desperately sad novella. It tells the story of seventeen-year-old Masha who, despite their differences, falls passionately in love with an older man, and marries him. Soon, however, the gap between them becomes unbridgeable.
Stan the Killer
2.490 kr.‘Maigret moved slowly, edging his bulky frame through the throng in Rue Saint-Antoine, which burst into life every morning, the sunshine streaming down from a clear sky on to the little barrows piled high with fruit and vegetables.’ In these three tales of deception, set in and around Paris, Simenon’s celebrated detective uncovers chilling truths about the depths of the human instinct for self-preservation.
Beauty
2.490 kr.‘People should fall in love with their eyes closed. Just close your eyes. Don’t look.’From Warhol’s romantic relationships to his thoughts on interior design, these candid, highly entertaining musings – on love, sex, beauty, work and space – give an intimate glimpse into the mind of one of the most iconic figures in twentieth-century culture.
The Lady Bandit
2.490 kr.Priests with shotguns, scheming lovers and a necrophiliac gravedigger haunt the fables of Emilia Pardo Bazán, the formidable Spanish aristocrat, intellectual and feminist. These stories paint a rich and variegated image of Old Spain – sometimes tender, often provocative, always entertaining. But if you decide to visit, beware the Lady Bandit, whose strong, rough hands might grab your neck, and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze .
The House of Hunger
2.490 kr.‘No, I don’t hate being black. I’m just tired of saying it’s beautiful. No, I don’t hate myself.
I’m just tired of people bruising their knuckles on my jaw.’A novella with the force of a screaming trumpet flare, Dambudzo Marechera’s seminal literary debut explores a body and spirit exiled from the land and the self. An inimitable and internationally admired writer, his profound ambivalence and wry, existential sensibility was forged in this iconic book.
Lavaland
4.690 kr.Lavaland is a powerful tale of love and loss, of grief and surrender, and ultimately of great courage and resilience in the face of life’s cruel blows.
LínLín is a survivor who stands strong despite a series of tragic losses she has experienced in her life. However, when a volcanic eruption threatens to consume her beloved Sæluból, the summer cottage where she and her family and friends have spent so many magical moments, she is faced with a critical decision as she recalls the memories, secrets and sorrows that have shaped her.
Novelist and poet Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, renowned for her acute insight into the human condition, her keen wit and engaging style, has been at the forefront of Icelandic literature for decades and her published work numbers in the dozens. Her latest novel, Lavaland, with its skillfully crafted multi-layered narrative, resonates with emotional depth and humanity — qualities that earned her the Icelandic Literary Prize. An unforgettable story that leaves a lasting impression.
Translated by Lorenza Garcia.
The Emperor’s New Clothes
2.490 kr.Many years ago there lived an Emperor who was so terribly fond of beautiful new clothes that he spent all his money on dressing elegantly… Jewels in storytelling, these magical fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen were inspired by his own life as an outsider. From ‘The Little Mermaid’ to ‘The Red Shoes’, his fables show the ugliest of humanity – its power, greed, vanity – but also how suffering can lead to beauty.
The Umbrella
2.490 kr.‘Then she would feel exposed and cry, as if her life and happiness were ruined for all time, even though she could still hide it from those she only came in contact with by chance or infrequently.’
Longing shimmers from these spare but profoundly moving short stories by one of Denmark’s most fearless and sharp-eyed authors. In these tales of inarticulate desire and repression, Ditlevsen pulls to the surface our deepest interiorities in devastating, exacting prose.
Tristessa
2.490 kr.Tristessa is a strange fever-dream of morphine sickness and belly-deep sadness. Or, in the words of Allen Ginsberg: ‘a narrative meditation studying a hen, a rooster, a dove, a cat, a chihuahua dog, family meat, and a ravishing, ravished junky lady, first in their crowded bedroom, then out to drunken streets, taco stands, and pads at dawn in Mexico City slums’.
The Genius
2.490 kr.Known as Ireland’s Chekhov, Frank O’Connor was a master of the modern short story, with an eye for capturing the spaces between our selves and our surroundings. The Genius brings together some of his very best stories, often told from the perspective of young children and forming a revealing portrait of coming of age in postwar Ireland. Humorous and poignant in equal parts, these stories are a lesson in craft from a celebrated, prolific author.
The Prose Edda
2.490 kr.Composed in Iceland in the 13th Century, The Prose Edda is the most renowned of all works of Scandinavian literature, taking readers on a voyage through an enthralling world of gods, giants, dwarfs and monsters. From the beginning of the universe to the dreaded Twilight of the Gods, this is the most extensive source of Norse mythology surviving today.
Morð og messufall
4.690 kr.Sif hefur einföld markmið í lífinu. Hún vill bara halda foreldrum sínum á – eða að minnsta kosti nálægt – mottunni og hreppa prestsembætti svo hún geti tryggt syni sínum örugga framtíð. Fyrsta atvinnuviðtalið eftir útskriftina úr guðfræðinni endar þó með ósköpum þegar þau séra Reynir ganga fram á lík í altariströppunum. Í óðagotinu sem fylgir er Sif ráðin í tímabundið starf kirkjuvarðar og einsetur sér að sanna sig svo hún hljóti prestsvígslu í kjölfarið. En organistinn er hættur, bókhaldið í óreiðu og í ofan á lag virðist piltur úr ungmennastarfinu vera horfinn sporlaust. Hvað í ósköpunum var hinn látni, Kormákur Austfjörð, sérlegur aðstoðarmaður Reynis, að bralla á elliheimili hverfisins? Og hversu mörg boðorð er eiginlega hægt að brjóta í einni og sömu kirkjunni?
Morð og messufall er sprenghlægileg glæpasaga, full af eftirminnilegum persónum og óviðjafnanlegum uppákomum. Arndís Þórarinsdóttir og Hulda Sigrún Bjarnadóttir hafa getið sér gott orð sem barnabókahöfundar og hlotið fjölda viðurkenninga fyrir verk sín innanlands og utan en þetta er fyrsta bók þeirra fyrir fullorðna.
Dúkkuverksmiðjan
4.690 kr.Stína og Grímur láta drauminn rætast og opna veitingastað í afskekktum firði fyrir vestan. Brátt er Dúkkuverksmiðjan orðin hjarta Salteyrar og það eina sem skyggir á gleðina er barnleysið. Þegar dóttirin langþráða loksins birtist reynir hún mjög á ástríka foreldrana, enda er stúlkan eins og lítill hvirfilbylur; eirðarlaus, uppátækjasöm og þjökuð af martröðum.
Milla litla og Reynir besti vinur hennar vaxa úr grasi í öruggum faðmi þorpsins umkringd himinháum fjöllum og óblíðum náttúruöflum. Samband þeirra er afar náið en þegar þau stálpast kemst ástin í spilið og flækir málin svo um munar. En úr fjarlægð fylgist dularfullur maður með Millu og lúrir á leyndarmáli sem mun umturna öllu.
Júlía Margrét Einarsdóttir er sögumaður af guðs náð, í senn smellin og einstaklega næm á mannfólkið í öllum sínum breyskleika. Í þessari þriðju skáldsögu sinni færir hún okkur heilt þorp – segir sögu íbúanna á hlýlegan og nostalgískan hátt án þess að gefa nokkurn afslátt af stóru spurningunum um ástina, lífið og dauðann.
Marginalía
4.390 kr.Mörgum árum eftir að leiðir þeirra skildu hittast íslenskufræðingurinn Styrkár og blaðakonan Garún í Eddu, nýju heimili handritanna og húsi íslenskunnar.
Ljós flökta, hurðir opnast og lokast án sýnilegrar ástæðu og ógnandi nærvera gerir vart við sig. Skyndilega eru Styrkár og Garún læst inni og verða að vinna saman til að komast aftur út. Áður en hryllingurinn nær yfirhöndinni þurfa þau að horfast í augu við fortíðardraug sem þau töldu sig hafa kveðið niður fyrir fullt og allt.
Höfundar: Áslaug Ýr Hjartardóttir, Unnar Ingi Sæmundsson, Katrín Mixa og Vala Hauksdóttir.
Ritstjórar: Anna Margrét Bragadóttir, Elías Rúni Þorsteins og Fjóla K. Guðmundsdóttir
Bókin er samstarfsverkefni nemenda í ritlist Hagnýtri ritstjórn og útgáfu við Háskóla Íslands.
Við tölum ekki um þetta
4.390 kr.Gríðarlega áhrifarík, hugrökk, erfið og átakanleg saga andspænis hinu versta sem getur gerst.
Hér vefur Alejandro Palomas kyrrlátan og rafmagnaðan þráð svo úr verður saga sem rekur erfiðar bernskuminningar, einstakt samband hans við móður sína, skugga ósýnilegs föður og óheft ímyndunaraflið. Þetta er einlægur vitnisburður manns sem valdi að lifa – þökk sé ástríðu hans fyrir að skrifa sögur. Af blaðsíðunum stafar blíðu og kímni, trega og ást.
Skáldskapurinn gerði honum kleift að skapa ímyndaða veröld sem var betri en myrkrið sem umlukti hann og í gegnum árin hefur þessi skáldskapur hjálpað honum að finna orðin til að segja frá sannleikanum – öllum sannleikanum.
„Og sannleikurinn er sá að án allra þessara kvenna í lífi mínu hefði ég líklega ekki faðmað aftur.“
Algerlega mögnuð bók
Allt með kossi vekur
1.290 kr.Þegar Davíð fær send eftirlátin gögn Láka, sambýlismanns Elísabetar móður hans, vaknar hjá honum óslökkvandi löngun til þess að komast til botns í því sem gerðist haustið 2003. Hver var þáttur móður hans í örlögum vina hennar, Indi og Jóns? Hafði Elísabet eyðileggjandi áhrif á alla í kringum sig? Kallaði Kötlugosið fram illskuna í fólki? Bjó hinn eini sanni koss yfir óskilgreindum ógnarkrafti? Leit Davíðs að sannleikanum verður að ferðalagi inn í innstu sálarmyrkur og knýr hann að lokum til að takast á við erfiðar spurningar um tilvist sína.
Allt með kossi vekur er kraftmikil og hugmyndarík saga sem sver sig í ætt við fyrri bækur Guðrúnar Evu Mínervudóttur, þar sem frásögnin dansar á mörkum raunsæis og fantasíu. Guðrún Eva hlaut fyrir hana Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin árið 2011.
Teikningar í bókinni eru eftir Sunnu Sigurðardóttur.
