Dog Days is a story about people, Icelandic and foreign; about places, familiar and strange; about ideas, good and bad; about events, unimportant and momentous; about ambition, trouble, failure, and weakness; about men who reach for the stars and across the globe, too; about love and passion —about the threads that bind the ages together.
Drawing on source material about Jørgen Jørgensen, the so-called “Dog Days King” of Iceland, Reverend Jon Steingrimsson, the “Pastor of Fire” who experienced the Laki volcanic eruption firsthand, and others from bygone eras, this sparklingly entertaining novel travels far and wide through time and space. Historical facts have their place, but the creative muse is close at hand, as is the joyful spirit of storytelling that leads the reader on an adventure through the past.
• The Icelandic Literary Prize 2015
• 21st Century Best Foreign Novels 2016, China
• Zou Taofen Foreign Novel of the Year 2016, China
R E V I E W S
FIVE STARS
“Yet again Einar Mar Gudmundsson demonstrates his outstanding eloquence and joy in narration …
While there is grandeur in Gudmundsson’s style, humour always has a secure place too.”
DAGBLADENES BUREAU, DENMARK
FIVE STARS
“Gudmundsson is a born storyteller … a masterpiece!”
POLITIKEN, DENMARK
“… the narrator provides us with fantastically good entertainment; his skill with words and mode of thought seeming to spring directly out of his homeland’s majestic storytelling tradition.”
Henrik Sejerkilde, Midtjyske Medier, Denmark
“Einar Mar Gudmundsson’s novel is wonderful, frequently a hugely entertaining mixture of wonders and oddities, tall stories, witty digressions, and zany details.”
Jørgen Johansen, Berlingske Tidende, Denmark
“Yet again the Icelandic writer Einar Mar Gudmundsson displays his phenomenal art of storytelling … what a story! What adventures!”
Lars Handesten, Kristeligt Dagblad, Denmark
FIVE STARS
“Gudmundsson is a born storyteller … a masterpiece!”
Politiken
“… the story slots together into a coherent whole—a thoroughly refreshing, spicy and entertaining whole. Gudmundsson is in his element here … I have to say, actually, that this is his best book since he completed Englar Alheimsins (Angels of the Universe).”
Friðrika Benónýsdóttir, Fréttatíminn
FOUR STARS
“Here you find Gudmundsson on a great storytelling roll, and the payoff is extremely entertaining … a vivid, colourful and entertaining account of hugely interesting people.”
Einar Falur Ingólfsson, Morgunblaðið
“Jörundur steps off the page as a completely vivid and fantastical character … There are an incredible number of threads to this book. I don’t think I have ever come across such a powerful portrayal of Jörundur.”
Egill Helgason, Kiljan, National TV
“…. I’ve never before perceived as clearly as in this book by Gudmundsson what an incredible character [Jörundur the Dog-Days King] was … Gudmundsson communicates this material with immense joy in storytelling, travelling far and wide, and with highly entertaining digressions.”
Egill Helgason, Eyjan.is
“Remarkably well written and very entertaining. A joy to read. The characters are treated with notable warmth. Nearly every single sidekick could be a leading character in a book. Gudmundsson’s creativity is hugely enjoyable. He finds the most unexpected connections between different characters and times … you never know where he is heading … He manages to create interest in all these people …. This is Gudmundsson in full action!”
Kolbrun Bergthorsdottir, Kiljan, National TV
“Jörundur is Forrest Gump—he is everywhere where anything of note happens … Massively entertaining and eventful … Everything in this book is a delight – it’s like a box of chocolates.”
Thorgeir Tryggvason, Kiljan, National TV
“Enormous joy in storytelling.”
Egill Helgason, Kiljan, National TV
“Four and a half stars (out of five)
Deep joy of storytelling
Gudmundsson’s book is part history, part novel, and in that respect is procedurally similar to the Frenchman Laurent Binet’s book HHhH about Reinhardt Heydrich, which was published in an Icelandic version last year. Gudmundsson has correctly judged Jörgensen to be one of the few characters from Iceland’s history who is not only adequately documented but also enough of an enigma to be able to withstand such examination. In short, the methodology consists of combining the historian’s strict reliance on sources with the novelist’s joy of storytelling. And so deep is Gudmundsson’s joy of narration that before you know it the weekend is gone and the book finished. He uses Jörgensen’s story as an opportunity not only to examine world history of the period, from discoveries in the Pacific Ocean to the Napoleonic wars, but also to revitalise the history of Iceland. …
An incredible life story
… Wandering the world in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, Jörgensen gets a golden opportunity to capture happiness, but then loses everything again (perhaps he was a true Icelander after all). Time and again the characters bump into one another just as they do in the novels of the period, reminding us that while the world may have been a bigger place as far as distances go, there were far fewer people about and the opportunities for coincidence therefore greater …
Here we have a very entertaining History of Iceland. …
Valur Gunnarsson, DV
“It can’t be long before a blockbuster is made about the stormy life and fortunes of this complicated man. … in his artful way, Gudmundsson brings together the similarities between the past and the present, and demonstrates that nothing much changes where political power is concerned.”
Steinunn I. Ottarsdottir, Kvennabladid
“Gudmundsson’s Hundadagar is a brilliantly entertaining read. I’m confident that this is a book you will often dig out from the bookshelves when alone at home and there is nothing worth watching on the TV—if only to meet up with a few very interesting guys. Learn about ambitions and then, on the next page, troubles. People who are filthy rich one day and stony-broke the next, presented in all their weaknesses, and blinded by passion. Gudmundsson communicates all this material with a massive amount of narrative joy and humour.”
Gudmundur Gunnarsson, Herdubreid
“It’s safe to recommend this book in the strongest possible terms … deserves top marks …”
Jon Ragnar Rikhardsson, Spegill.is
