BOOK #3 IN A TRILOGY
THE KNIGHTS OF THE SPIRAL STAIRS;
WINGBEAT ON THE ROOFTOPS;
EPILOGUE OF RAINDROPS
In 1986, Gudmundsson produced his third novel, Eftirmáli regndropanna, (Epilogue of Raindrops), in which present meets the folklore and folktales of the past, with its elves living in rocks designated for building parking lots, and its drowned crews of ships returning to haunt the town, set in a ceaseless raging storm.
Reviews:
“Narrative genius and imaginative world creation.” Thjodviljinn newspaper
“This Icelander is graced with an effervescent narrative ability, lively imagination and rare eloquence. If I were an Icelander I would be bursting with pride.” Information, Denmark
“Einar Már Gudmundsson is a rascal who plays with the reader´s imagination using a stimulating and captivating mode of expression.” Berlinske Tidende, Denmark
“… a picture is drawn of an insipid and dry world of grown-ups in the neighbourhood. The perspective in the novel is different from that of the two earlier ones. Jóhann Pétursson is nowhere near and we get to know life in the neighbourhood through some familiar characters of the older generation from the earlier novels. We follow them through the dreariness of the days. Very few things occur; the neighbourhood has lost the boys’ games. It is only the rain that beats on the inhabitants all through the book, their houses and asphalt.
Growing up is a hard reality. Like the collections of poetry these books can be seen as a critiqu on the late-capitalistic urban life. Here the spirit of life and the power of imagination in the child’s mind are posed against the numbness that characterises the alienated city (citizen’s) life.” Throstur Helgason, the web-site of Reykjavik City Library
(b.1954) is one of the most widely translated Icelandic authors born in the postwar period. Gudmundsson has received many awards and distinctions for his books, such as the Norwegian Bjørnson Prize, the Scharnberg Memorial Award in Denmark, The Karen Blixen More about the author