Jóhanna finally decides to read the epic saga that her estranged father wrote about the origin and history of their family. In the sweeping narratives that unfold on its pages, tales of broken dreams, magic and forbidden love are weaved together to expose a secret that has been kept in the shadows for a lifetime.
An epic novel that reaches far and wide in time and space: from Toscana at the start of the World War I – where swallowing copious amounts of olives saves young Enzo from military service, to the immigrant neighbourboods of Toronto – where a teen girl falls in love with a mysterious vagrant, then on to the beautiful Hörgárdalur valley in the north of Iceland – where the gigantic rooster Jupiter reigns supreme, and finally to Reykjavík in the not so distant future.
“Lungs is a sweeping family history of many generations from different corners of the world, which plays out in contemporary Iceland, but also stretches far into the future, culminating in a virtual reality where these generations mingle.
Here, a new tone is struck in Icelandic fiction writing with a magical narrative that effortlessly and smoothly moves between the deepest emotions and conflicts to adventurous moments of joy with a mythical twist – so that even the greatest tragedies benefit from the joy. Relationships between lovers and generations are broken and damaged, but stories and memories illuminate fateful moments in their lives, showing the reader the very spark of life, and capturing the essence of a long life.”
ICELANDIC LITERARY PRIZE, JURY REVIEW
FIVE STARS OUT OF FIVE POSSIBLE
“Lungs is an enchanting book that is unlike everything else in Icelandic literature. One can’t help being won over by its fascinating stories, and to admire the engaging storytelling. This deep desire to tell stories is evident in Pedro Gunnlaugur’s book.
… This is insanely good!”
Þ.H.S., STUNDIN WEEKLY
“… this tale with its international cast of characters is told with such effortless ease that it seems to have poured out of the author in one continuous stream. And the reader enjoys being carried in that stream, enjoys meeting the protagonists at various times in their lives and getting a sense of each of their private troubles …
Storytelling verve is the only way to describe the author’s style, evident perhaps most clearly in the fantastical accounts that appear in the stories of ordinary people.
Lungs by Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia is simply put amazing, complex and captivating, brimming with stories and thoughts on attachments, nature vs nurture, and how everyone and everything is connected.”
V.K., REYKJAVIK UNESCO CITY OF LITERATURE, THE LITERATURE WEB
“The comparison often cited by readers, One Hundred Years of Solitude, aptly captures the novel’s impact – to me it is a Two Hundred Years of Solitude for our times and a grand novel about family in all its happiness and all its swayings. And what makes it absolutely outstanding is its being “grounded” in the overwhelming experience of the universe. … Iridescent characters, colorful and amusing anecdotes, unique metaphors, and stories about just everything, love stories, separation stories, stories of failure, stories of other emotional struggles, funny stories, stories peppered with magical-realistic elements … – and great suspense throughout deriving from the family’s secret inner core.
In its absolute narrative liberty and the overwhelming joy in the storytelling itself, Lungu recalls extraordinary novels like Nino Haratischvili’s international bestseller The Eigth Life or Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s Prix Goncourt winning novel The Most Secret Memory of Men or else, looking at HoCa’s program, Ann-Helén Laestadius’ great Sami novel Stolen which was our beloved autumn bestseller last year.”
KATRIN AÉ, PUBLISHER AT HOFFMANN UND CAMPE, GERMANY
“Lungs, a novel by Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia, son of an Icelandic mother and a Portuguese father, excellent writer and translator; a meticulous novel about love and family. Recipient of the Icelandic Literary Prize. Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcia hails from two different cultures and inventively constructs links to connect them … often in subtle, hybrid ways that open up passages into hitherto closed spaces.”
Award-winning author GONCALO M. TAVARES, JL – JOURNAL DE LETRAS, PORTUGAL
“Lungs is an epic story that asks several questions, with considerable intensity. One such question could be, what are families for, do they serve a purpose when the relationships are as strained as they are in this story – a story that is in many ways realistic if we compare it to our own past and contemporary lives and possibly future.”
G. M., VIDSJA/ICELANDIC NATIONAL BROADCASTING SERVICE
“Here everything is ablaze with questions of multiculturalism, gender identity issues, tension between men and women, drug abuse, and technology. At it’s best, storytelling verve and originality abound everywhere and the reader never knows what will happen next.
In other Nordic countries there already exists a tradition of authors with experiences and stories from diverse cultural origins, who then write about life in a new country. In this case, Iceland – with a new and fresh perspective. This is exactly what Pedro’s story does. I believe that Icelandic books with foreign roots are even more vital for us Icelanders than for our neighbours. “Perceptive is the guest’s eye” says the proverb and even though Pedro is certainly Icelandic and no guest, he nevertheless brings this element to contemporary Icelandic Literature.
The verdict: a modern family epic, brimming with storytelling power and excitement. Magical realism appears as it always does in legends and the literature of old, making any borders irrelevant.”
K.J., FRETTABLADID DAILY
“I devoured Lungs in a single sitting, and immediately on the first pages I got a sense of a writer that possesses such happily flowing talent for storytelling that no lesser authors than Gabriel García Marquez or Gunter Grass come to mind.”
AUDUR JONSDOTTIR, HEIMILDIN WEEKLY
“[The author] possesses a stylistic gift and is a fine storyteller …
Readers wait with bated breath to see where the story will take them next.”
R.B., MORGUNBLADID DAILY
“Lungs is a family story, a generational story, that is not only humorous and compelling, but also beautiful, melancholic and heartbreaking. The story flows effortlessly, the prose is sharp and balanced, neither too overblown or minimalistic, and the author weaves together varied elements and characters gracefully.”
S.A., LESTRARKLEFINN, LITERARY WEBSITE
“I enjoyed this novel tremendously … It just swallows you whole.”
EGILL HELGASON, PRESENTER OF TV PROGRAM KILJAN/NATIONAL TV
“With a deep understanding of human nature, the fickleness of fate, and an entertaining touch of magic.”
ANDREA SELIGER, POLARKREISPORTAL, GERMANY
“A moving novel”
INSTAGRAM @anja._liest, GERMANY
“Cleverly done and very entertaining”
DOMINIKUS, LOVELY BOOKS, GERMANY
STARRED REVIEW
“Beautiful novel … Lungs is a delight. It received the Icelandic Literary Award, which demands real merit.”
RUI ZINK, CORREIO DA MANHA
(the newspaper with the broadest readership in Portugal)
