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The Flatey Enigma
Ketilsey Island, 1960.
Near this deserted island off the western coast of Iceland, the dawning of spring brings with it new life for the local wildlife. But for the decaying body discovered by three seal hunters, winter is a matter of permanence. After it is found to be a Danish cryptographer missing for months, the ensuing investigation uncovers a mysterious link between him and a medieval manuscript known as the Book of Flatey.
Before long another body is found on Flatey, another tiny island off the western coast. This time, in the ancient Viking tradition, the victim’s back has been mutilated with the so-called blood eagle. Kjartan, the district magistrate’s representative sent to investigate the crime, soon finds himself descending into the dark, dangerous world of ancient legends, symbology, and secret societies to find the killer.
Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson’s Glass Key–nominated Nordic mystery captures the era with visceral authenticity and the austere quiet of a world far off the beaten track. Full of surprising humor, complex clues, and brooding intensity, The Flatey Enigma is so captivating you won’t be able to put the book down until Kjartan has cracked the code.
Near this deserted island off the western coast of Iceland, the dawning of spring brings with it new life for the local wildlife. But for the decaying body discovered by three seal hunters, winter is a matter of permanence. After it is found to be a Danish cryptographer missing for months, the ensuing investigation uncovers a mysterious link between him and a medieval manuscript known as the Book of Flatey.
Before long another body is found on Flatey, another tiny island off the western coast. This time, in the ancient Viking tradition, the victim’s back has been mutilated with the so-called blood eagle. Kjartan, the district magistrate’s representative sent to investigate the crime, soon finds himself descending into the dark, dangerous world of ancient legends, symbology, and secret societies to find the killer.
Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson’s Glass Key–nominated Nordic mystery captures the era with visceral authenticity and the austere quiet of a world far off the beaten track. Full of surprising humor, complex clues, and brooding intensity, The Flatey Enigma is so captivating you won’t be able to put the book down until Kjartan has cracked the code.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
296 people are currently reading
1049 people want to read
About the author
Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson
17 books84 followersViktor Arnar graduated with B.Sc in Civil Engineering from the Icelandic College of Engineering and Technology in 1983. In 1990 and 1995 he studied Communications, Publishing and Computer Graphics at the George Washington University in Washington DC. He started working for the Public Roads Administration in 1969, and has worked there full time since 1983. Since 1985 he has supervised all the institution's publications.
His first novel, Dauðasök (Capital Offence), was published in 1978. Since then he has published more crime novels. His third novel, Engin spor (No Trace), was nominated for the Glass Key award for Scandinavian crime writing, as was his fourth, Flateyjargáta (The Riddle of Flatey).
His first novel, Dauðasök (Capital Offence), was published in 1978. Since then he has published more crime novels. His third novel, Engin spor (No Trace), was nominated for the Glass Key award for Scandinavian crime writing, as was his fourth, Flateyjargáta (The Riddle of Flatey).
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December 24, 2013
Book review
Iceland with a population of 321,857 is considered the most sparsely populated country in Europe and given that at most 1 or 2 murders annually are reported in the entire country it is not the first place readers might venture to discover new crime fiction authors. And for most of the twentieth century publishers agreed.
Flatey Island
The Flatey Enigma is one of the first books noticed by publishers as originating from Iceland (at least those in translation) - some two years before Arnaldur's successful Jar City made it's way into crime fiction headlines. It is a peculiar story reminiscent of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code but stripped of all sensationalism and the glamour Brown favors. Imagine Brown's story where we chase down clues in old manuscripts while - within the confines of an island and its simple inhabitants - being thrown under an ice cold shower and presented with prose authored in typical Scandinavian bleakness and hyper realism and you'll come close to a description of Viktor's novel.
Reader's are exposed to a deep and violent Norse history belying what in all other respects appears to be a peaceful Icelandic society. Two murders on or near Flatey island take place within a few months (astonishing, given Iceland's negligible murder rate). The first is a dead man found on a nearby uninhabited island. The second, some months later, is a mutilated corpse prostrated across a grave on Flatey island, executed in a viking's blood eagle manner (a knife is thrust into the back of the victim, the rib cage opened up and spread out in the manner of an eagle's wings, and the lungs extracted).
The Bloodeagle
Patient readers will enjoy this book more than impatient readers addicted to the more American variety of crime-fiction ...which is more sensationalized (and who will undoubtably lower the rating due to the slow progress). Personally, I found the descriptions of life on Flatey fascinating (it takes place in the '60s): realistic portrayals of the islander's diet, their small cottages, dress, their ethics and religious beliefs (a mixture of traditional church infused with magic), the fishing industry aimed at seal pups, authority figures and magistrates, the realistic characterization throughout, and the total absence of technology (one telephone on Flatey island). Couple this with a somewhat demure investigation into the norse saga manuscript housed on the island, the contents of which drive the entire novel through Viktor's typical method of flashing back and forth between Norse stories and present day investigative activities on the island.
The "real" Flatey Island library
All in all, I'm rating this 3.5 stars. Primarily because I did not find the resolution to the mystery around the Flatey book to be as astounding as I was led to believe. I am, after all, a mystery reader first (but a note of caution here: this might be my American habit of expecting a bit more sensationalism).
About the author:
Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson
Ingólfsson, author of The Flatey Enigma was born in the north of Iceland in 1955. A Civil Engineer by profession, a trade he continues to practice today in the service of the Icelandic Road Administration, he began writing after taking a script writing course run by the Icelandic Film Producers and the University of Iceland.
Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson (This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; he is properly referred to by the given name Viktor) has five novels, two of which have been nominated for the Glass Key award which is awarded by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia.
What few people know is that prior to his success with his 3 latest novels which can properly be described as belonging to the mystery genre Viktor wrote two novels and short stories which are best described as thrillers. He wrote them some two decades before his recent popularity. This is peculiar as Ingólfsson authored them in years where few authors attempted to introduce icelandic crime-fiction, let alone thrillers that dealt with global issues such as terrorism, drugs, and crime. These novels and short stories are infused with a certain glamour and sensationalism better ascribed to British and American writers, also highly unusual for a Scandinavian author. Though these novels and stories are short and expose a young writer working at his craft while working as a civil engineer and even though no one noticed them (in Iceland this type of story is considered to belong to women's fiction) the seed was firmly planted.
Twenty years later...
In 1986 a short story [Slossmæjer] by Viktor appeared in a collection published after a short story competition run by the Reykjavik Art Festival. It was a sort of thriller and was the only time that Viktor's name surfaced in the writing world. He kept quiet for 16 years until 1998 when he became the surprising discovery with his book Engin Spor. Since publishers weren't interested (at the time, publishers had zero faith in the marketablity of Icelandic crime fiction), Ingólfsson published the book himself. Even then, no one in the publishing world was interested until it was the readers who elevated the book to the year's best mystery novel - a title that continued for two years until Arnaldurs Jar City took the Scandinavian world by storm.
It is with Engin Spor that Viktor dropped his previous sensationalization and placed his novels within Iceland, adopting the famous northern bleakness found in much of Scandinavian crime-writing. And the rest is history.
Iceland with a population of 321,857 is considered the most sparsely populated country in Europe and given that at most 1 or 2 murders annually are reported in the entire country it is not the first place readers might venture to discover new crime fiction authors. And for most of the twentieth century publishers agreed.
Flatey Island
The Flatey Enigma is one of the first books noticed by publishers as originating from Iceland (at least those in translation) - some two years before Arnaldur's successful Jar City made it's way into crime fiction headlines. It is a peculiar story reminiscent of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code but stripped of all sensationalism and the glamour Brown favors. Imagine Brown's story where we chase down clues in old manuscripts while - within the confines of an island and its simple inhabitants - being thrown under an ice cold shower and presented with prose authored in typical Scandinavian bleakness and hyper realism and you'll come close to a description of Viktor's novel.
Reader's are exposed to a deep and violent Norse history belying what in all other respects appears to be a peaceful Icelandic society. Two murders on or near Flatey island take place within a few months (astonishing, given Iceland's negligible murder rate). The first is a dead man found on a nearby uninhabited island. The second, some months later, is a mutilated corpse prostrated across a grave on Flatey island, executed in a viking's blood eagle manner (a knife is thrust into the back of the victim, the rib cage opened up and spread out in the manner of an eagle's wings, and the lungs extracted).
The Bloodeagle
Patient readers will enjoy this book more than impatient readers addicted to the more American variety of crime-fiction ...which is more sensationalized (and who will undoubtably lower the rating due to the slow progress). Personally, I found the descriptions of life on Flatey fascinating (it takes place in the '60s): realistic portrayals of the islander's diet, their small cottages, dress, their ethics and religious beliefs (a mixture of traditional church infused with magic), the fishing industry aimed at seal pups, authority figures and magistrates, the realistic characterization throughout, and the total absence of technology (one telephone on Flatey island). Couple this with a somewhat demure investigation into the norse saga manuscript housed on the island, the contents of which drive the entire novel through Viktor's typical method of flashing back and forth between Norse stories and present day investigative activities on the island.
The "real" Flatey Island library
All in all, I'm rating this 3.5 stars. Primarily because I did not find the resolution to the mystery around the Flatey book to be as astounding as I was led to believe. I am, after all, a mystery reader first (but a note of caution here: this might be my American habit of expecting a bit more sensationalism).
About the author:
Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson
Ingólfsson, author of The Flatey Enigma was born in the north of Iceland in 1955. A Civil Engineer by profession, a trade he continues to practice today in the service of the Icelandic Road Administration, he began writing after taking a script writing course run by the Icelandic Film Producers and the University of Iceland.
Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson (This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; he is properly referred to by the given name Viktor) has five novels, two of which have been nominated for the Glass Key award which is awarded by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia.
What few people know is that prior to his success with his 3 latest novels which can properly be described as belonging to the mystery genre Viktor wrote two novels and short stories which are best described as thrillers. He wrote them some two decades before his recent popularity. This is peculiar as Ingólfsson authored them in years where few authors attempted to introduce icelandic crime-fiction, let alone thrillers that dealt with global issues such as terrorism, drugs, and crime. These novels and short stories are infused with a certain glamour and sensationalism better ascribed to British and American writers, also highly unusual for a Scandinavian author. Though these novels and stories are short and expose a young writer working at his craft while working as a civil engineer and even though no one noticed them (in Iceland this type of story is considered to belong to women's fiction) the seed was firmly planted.
Twenty years later...
In 1986 a short story [Slossmæjer] by Viktor appeared in a collection published after a short story competition run by the Reykjavik Art Festival. It was a sort of thriller and was the only time that Viktor's name surfaced in the writing world. He kept quiet for 16 years until 1998 when he became the surprising discovery with his book Engin Spor. Since publishers weren't interested (at the time, publishers had zero faith in the marketablity of Icelandic crime fiction), Ingólfsson published the book himself. Even then, no one in the publishing world was interested until it was the readers who elevated the book to the year's best mystery novel - a title that continued for two years until Arnaldurs Jar City took the Scandinavian world by storm.
It is with Engin Spor that Viktor dropped his previous sensationalization and placed his novels within Iceland, adopting the famous northern bleakness found in much of Scandinavian crime-writing. And the rest is history.
November 2, 2015
لغز جزيرة فلايتي .
جثة ولغز وكتاب قديم وجزر آيسلندية صغيرة .
في العام 1960 يعثر على جثة مجهولة الهوية في جزيرة صغيرة تابعة لجزيرة فلايتي.
يتبين بعد قليل أن الرجل كان باحثاً دنماركياً ومتخصصاً في التاريخ القديم ومن أشد الممانعين لعودة كتاب فلايتي لــ آيسلندا .
الكتاب / هو كتاب قديم يعرف بكتاب فلايتي صمم وكتب في آيسلندا قبل عدة مئات من السنوات .
يحتوي الكتاب على قصص تاريخية ، ويتحدث عن ملوك ومعارك وقصائد شعرية ويؤرخ لحقب من التاريخ في كل البلدان الإسكندنافية .
الكتاب وصل في وقت ما إلى يدي ملك النرويج والذي كانت أغلب الدول الاسكندنافية تابعة له وقتها .
ومنذ ذلك الحين وآيسلندا تطالب باسترجاعه ، ويذكر أن الكتاب تحتفظ به الدنمارك الآن .
اللغز / لغز قديم/ ووضع في وقت لاحق / يرتبط بالكتاب والقصص والأساطير الموجودة فيه ، يحاول الكثيرون حله ولا يتوصلون لذلك .
فيكتور آرنر إينغولفسون جمع خيوط القضايا بمشاركة سكان جزيرة فلايتي وغرباء يصلون إليها لاحقاً للمشاركة في التحقيق .
وتكتشف أسرار وماضي يربط بين بعض الشخصيات بطريقة مريبة .
هنا آيسلندا بداية الستينات حيث يقل الإتصال بالعالم الخارجي أو ينعدم ،ويعيش الجميع حياة بسيطة وجميلة وإن كانت صعبة .
العادات والأغذية والملابس كلها تمر عليّ للمرة الأولى ، لا شيء مألوف هنا.
رواية بولسية مختلفة ، استمتعت بتتبع اللغز وأجوبته وفك تعقيدات القضية وقراءة كل تلكَ القصص والأساطير الإسكندنافية القديمة .
حل من قتل من ؟ ولماذا ؟كان سهلاً وبديهياً ولكن كل المتعة أتت من اللغز وحله وارتباطه بالكتاب.
أرشحها للجميع ، لمحبي الأدب الإسكندنافي والأدب البوليسي المعاصر ، ولكل من يريد أن يستمتع بـ قراءة رواية مختلفة .
جثة ولغز وكتاب قديم وجزر آيسلندية صغيرة .
في العام 1960 يعثر على جثة مجهولة الهوية في جزيرة صغيرة تابعة لجزيرة فلايتي.
يتبين بعد قليل أن الرجل كان باحثاً دنماركياً ومتخصصاً في التاريخ القديم ومن أشد الممانعين لعودة كتاب فلايتي لــ آيسلندا .
الكتاب / هو كتاب قديم يعرف بكتاب فلايتي صمم وكتب في آيسلندا قبل عدة مئات من السنوات .
يحتوي الكتاب على قصص تاريخية ، ويتحدث عن ملوك ومعارك وقصائد شعرية ويؤرخ لحقب من التاريخ في كل البلدان الإسكندنافية .
الكتاب وصل في وقت ما إلى يدي ملك النرويج والذي كانت أغلب الدول الاسكندنافية تابعة له وقتها .
ومنذ ذلك الحين وآيسلندا تطالب باسترجاعه ، ويذكر أن الكتاب تحتفظ به الدنمارك الآن .
اللغز / لغز قديم/ ووضع في وقت لاحق / يرتبط بالكتاب والقصص والأساطير الموجودة فيه ، يحاول الكثيرون حله ولا يتوصلون لذلك .
فيكتور آرنر إينغولفسون جمع خيوط القضايا بمشاركة سكان جزيرة فلايتي وغرباء يصلون إليها لاحقاً للمشاركة في التحقيق .
وتكتشف أسرار وماضي يربط بين بعض الشخصيات بطريقة مريبة .
هنا آيسلندا بداية الستينات حيث يقل الإتصال بالعالم الخارجي أو ينعدم ،ويعيش الجميع حياة بسيطة وجميلة وإن كانت صعبة .
العادات والأغذية والملابس كلها تمر عليّ للمرة الأولى ، لا شيء مألوف هنا.
رواية بولسية مختلفة ، استمتعت بتتبع اللغز وأجوبته وفك تعقيدات القضية وقراءة كل تلكَ القصص والأساطير الإسكندنافية القديمة .
حل من قتل من ؟ ولماذا ؟كان سهلاً وبديهياً ولكن كل المتعة أتت من اللغز وحله وارتباطه بالكتاب.
أرشحها للجميع ، لمحبي الأدب الإسكندنافي والأدب البوليسي المعاصر ، ولكل من يريد أن يستمتع بـ قراءة رواية مختلفة .
March 9, 2015
This is a mystery with different meanings, with a couple of mysteries threading through out the whole story and the dead bodies are almost incidental to the true story which is a snapshot of small Icelandic island life during the 1960's. If you're a fan of modern formula driven mysteries, or hard and fast action, this book will bore you to tears.
I enjoyed the book because I am an armchair anthropologist and I loved the hints of many different mysteries within the mystery, of the occult and of the ancient mythology.
This is a story of a book of ancient sagas called The Flatey Book, that happened to be written on the small island of Flatey which is, in the 1960's of fading glory and population, and which was noted in the book maybe misnamed as it just happened to be written on the island, and should have been named after the fantastic poets and illustrators who made the book.
It is also a story of despair, professional greed and national pride, all centered around the Flatey Book. When your roots, even as a poor farmer, go back to the powerful times of the Vikings, how far will you go for this book that keeps this history alive? How much meaning does this ancient book have in their lives? The author painstakingly allows you to find out how each and every islander feels his or her connection to The Book, it's one of the pluses of this story, things unfold, you aren't just TOLD how people feel. You are told how the islanders feed themselves and stay alive, but you are allowed to get to know them and decide for yourself how they feel about The Book.
It's difficult to write more as it would be easy to give it all away and that would ruin the mystery part of the book, though dead people are almost incidental to THE BOOK. The only problem that I have with the book is that it is a little slow and I had to keep reminding myself that it's on a very small island in the 60's, that the slowness just mirrors the style of life in a place where getting to the mail boat on time was the most exciting thing that happened in years. But all in all, I've already recommended it to friends who might like it. It's worth the read and I hope to read more from this author.
I enjoyed the book because I am an armchair anthropologist and I loved the hints of many different mysteries within the mystery, of the occult and of the ancient mythology.
This is a story of a book of ancient sagas called The Flatey Book, that happened to be written on the small island of Flatey which is, in the 1960's of fading glory and population, and which was noted in the book maybe misnamed as it just happened to be written on the island, and should have been named after the fantastic poets and illustrators who made the book.
It is also a story of despair, professional greed and national pride, all centered around the Flatey Book. When your roots, even as a poor farmer, go back to the powerful times of the Vikings, how far will you go for this book that keeps this history alive? How much meaning does this ancient book have in their lives? The author painstakingly allows you to find out how each and every islander feels his or her connection to The Book, it's one of the pluses of this story, things unfold, you aren't just TOLD how people feel. You are told how the islanders feed themselves and stay alive, but you are allowed to get to know them and decide for yourself how they feel about The Book.
It's difficult to write more as it would be easy to give it all away and that would ruin the mystery part of the book, though dead people are almost incidental to THE BOOK. The only problem that I have with the book is that it is a little slow and I had to keep reminding myself that it's on a very small island in the 60's, that the slowness just mirrors the style of life in a place where getting to the mail boat on time was the most exciting thing that happened in years. But all in all, I've already recommended it to friends who might like it. It's worth the read and I hope to read more from this author.
May 21, 2013
A slightly expanded version of this review can be found on Crime Fiction Lover
The year is 1960. Kjartan, a rather green functionary from the local magistrate’s office, reluctantly steps off the boat on the tiny Icelandic island of Ketilsey to file a report about a dead body found by local seal hunters. Not used to field work, he hopes to endure the local food and the somewhat odd but helpful inhabitants until the authorities can claim the body.
Things get complicated when Kjartan finds a mysterious message near the body. Before dying of exposure, the unidentified man used stones to spell out ‘lucky’ in the sand. Kjartan also discovers a cryptic note in the man’s pocket which he soon learns relates to a notorious medieval manuscript called the Flatey Book, which contains a riddle known to inflict a curse on anyone who attempts to solve its mysteries.
Readers become familiar with this manuscript early on, as it is introduced and each of its 40 riddles is treated in chapters that alternate with those describing the investigation. These asides are accompanied by text from the Flatey Book’s ancient stories of the violent exploits of the Norse Kings. But Ingolfsson adds yet another layer of mystery: these tales are pondered by two as yet unknown readers who seek in them the key to the famous riddle.
When the body is identified as Gaston Lund, a noted Danish scholar of Icelandic antiquities known to be obsessed with the Flatey enigma, the investigation suddenly expands. An investigator from the Reykjavik police and a charismatic reporter launch parallel investigations and political pressures from Denmark also come into play on the tiny island.
Now in it for the long haul, Kjartan is aided by a colourful cast of characters including Grimur the district officer/seal hunter, the local priest Thormodur Krakur, and the alluring doctor Johanna, who acts as coroner. While he waits for backup, he tries to make sense of the murder, the book, and the local culture of the island, all of which seem to be very strongly linked.
Although The Flatey Enigma at first seems to be a traditional whodunit, another brutal killing two-thirds into the book steers it firmly into noir territory, while keeping us guessing until the end. One of the main characters is killed and mutilated according to a horrific Viking tradition called the ‘blood eagle’ – straight out of the Flatey Book’s pages. Google ‘blood eagle’ and you’ll see – it’s not safe for lunch.
When the big-gun investigators are finally brought in from Reykjavik to grill every inhabitant of the island, possible motives begin to emerge, as do the true identities of the characters involved, and Kjartan himself becomes one of the prime suspects. While the locals are all found to have enduring connections to the book, we learn that the outsiders too have links from the past, and all of these factors have a bearing on the mystery of the deaths and the destiny of the manuscript. The complex narrative weaves in interesting elements of national identity and political intrigue.
The charm of the Flatey Enigma lies in its patient exposition of characters, clever plot construction, and the surprising solution to the entire set of mysteries. But special mention goes to the authentic atmosphere that imbues the narrative, informed by the author’s own experiences there as a child. The mystery’s slow unfolding reflects the peaceful and methodical existence of the Icelandic coastal folk, whom Ingolfsson vividly renders. As with certain other Icelandic examples of Nordic Noir, you must at times suspend your disbelief in curses, elves, and Norse superstitions that are remnants from the time of the Sagas. Fans of murder mysteries, ancient incunabula, Scandinavian history, not to mention anthropological bonuses like regional cuisine and survival techniques, will savour the novel’s languid style, local colour, and even some mystical moments.
The year is 1960. Kjartan, a rather green functionary from the local magistrate’s office, reluctantly steps off the boat on the tiny Icelandic island of Ketilsey to file a report about a dead body found by local seal hunters. Not used to field work, he hopes to endure the local food and the somewhat odd but helpful inhabitants until the authorities can claim the body.
Things get complicated when Kjartan finds a mysterious message near the body. Before dying of exposure, the unidentified man used stones to spell out ‘lucky’ in the sand. Kjartan also discovers a cryptic note in the man’s pocket which he soon learns relates to a notorious medieval manuscript called the Flatey Book, which contains a riddle known to inflict a curse on anyone who attempts to solve its mysteries.
Readers become familiar with this manuscript early on, as it is introduced and each of its 40 riddles is treated in chapters that alternate with those describing the investigation. These asides are accompanied by text from the Flatey Book’s ancient stories of the violent exploits of the Norse Kings. But Ingolfsson adds yet another layer of mystery: these tales are pondered by two as yet unknown readers who seek in them the key to the famous riddle.
When the body is identified as Gaston Lund, a noted Danish scholar of Icelandic antiquities known to be obsessed with the Flatey enigma, the investigation suddenly expands. An investigator from the Reykjavik police and a charismatic reporter launch parallel investigations and political pressures from Denmark also come into play on the tiny island.
Now in it for the long haul, Kjartan is aided by a colourful cast of characters including Grimur the district officer/seal hunter, the local priest Thormodur Krakur, and the alluring doctor Johanna, who acts as coroner. While he waits for backup, he tries to make sense of the murder, the book, and the local culture of the island, all of which seem to be very strongly linked.
Although The Flatey Enigma at first seems to be a traditional whodunit, another brutal killing two-thirds into the book steers it firmly into noir territory, while keeping us guessing until the end. One of the main characters is killed and mutilated according to a horrific Viking tradition called the ‘blood eagle’ – straight out of the Flatey Book’s pages. Google ‘blood eagle’ and you’ll see – it’s not safe for lunch.
When the big-gun investigators are finally brought in from Reykjavik to grill every inhabitant of the island, possible motives begin to emerge, as do the true identities of the characters involved, and Kjartan himself becomes one of the prime suspects. While the locals are all found to have enduring connections to the book, we learn that the outsiders too have links from the past, and all of these factors have a bearing on the mystery of the deaths and the destiny of the manuscript. The complex narrative weaves in interesting elements of national identity and political intrigue.
The charm of the Flatey Enigma lies in its patient exposition of characters, clever plot construction, and the surprising solution to the entire set of mysteries. But special mention goes to the authentic atmosphere that imbues the narrative, informed by the author’s own experiences there as a child. The mystery’s slow unfolding reflects the peaceful and methodical existence of the Icelandic coastal folk, whom Ingolfsson vividly renders. As with certain other Icelandic examples of Nordic Noir, you must at times suspend your disbelief in curses, elves, and Norse superstitions that are remnants from the time of the Sagas. Fans of murder mysteries, ancient incunabula, Scandinavian history, not to mention anthropological bonuses like regional cuisine and survival techniques, will savour the novel’s languid style, local colour, and even some mystical moments.
November 3, 2021
Vite che non sono la tua
I gialli islandesi di Iperborea mi piacciono anche perchè sono un'occasione per curiosare in vite che non sono la mia. L'Islanda è un luogo abbastanza speciale, geograficamente e storicamente. Trattandosi di una comunità abbastanza isolata, una ventina di anni fa si svolse in Islanda un grande studio genetico per la correlazione gene/malattia, facilitato dal fatto che la varietà genetica era modesta rispetto a un'area dalla quale sono passati tutti, per esempio la Sicilia; ma questo non ha niente a che vedere col libro, se non che l'isola di Flatey è una comunità piccolissima in una società già piccola. Le dimensioni dell'isola sono 2 km x 0,5 km e la popolazione si conosce piuttosto bene.
Inizialmente mi sembrava che l'ebook fosse impaginato male, perchè alla storia ambientata negli anni '60 si alternavano pagine del libro di Flatey, un antico manoscritto su pergamena che racconta saghe norrene, poi mi sono abituata, anche se trovo che si poteva fare meglio, per esempio alternando i capitoli.
L'autore si è impegnato a caratterizzare bene quasi tutti i personaggi e il ritratto della vita nell'isola è piacevolmente vivido, anche con tutti gli aspetti sgradevoli del caso, per esempio l'ammazzare a bastonate i cuccioli di foca, cosa orribilissima. Purtroppo la vita umana in paesi così inospitali ha reso accettabili cose che altrimenti non si farebbero. Anche ora alle isole FarOer si fanno delle belle mattanze di balene.
Comunque, la vita nella piccola comunità ha piacevoli forme di cortesia, come il premettere l'aggettivo caro anche fuori dal ristretto nucleo familiare e forme di supporto alle persone in difficoltà.
Un aspetto buffo è che tutti gli abitanti conoscono bene il libro di Flatey, un po' come conoscere nei minimi dettagli l'Iliade e pare loro impossibile che la gente che viene dalla capitale non ne abbia la stessa conoscenza perfetta: come se la loro isoletta 2 km x 0,5 km fosse il centro del mondo.
Una cosa insolita che mi è piaciuta è che la storia non si limita a un morto e un assassino da identificare, ma è una vicenda più complessa da ricomporre nel suo insieme e alla fine l'idea che resta è positiva, nel senso che, anche se tutti hanno qualcosa di non detto, non ci sono grandi tradimenti della fiducia reciproca.
I gialli islandesi di Iperborea mi piacciono anche perchè sono un'occasione per curiosare in vite che non sono la mia. L'Islanda è un luogo abbastanza speciale, geograficamente e storicamente. Trattandosi di una comunità abbastanza isolata, una ventina di anni fa si svolse in Islanda un grande studio genetico per la correlazione gene/malattia, facilitato dal fatto che la varietà genetica era modesta rispetto a un'area dalla quale sono passati tutti, per esempio la Sicilia; ma questo non ha niente a che vedere col libro, se non che l'isola di Flatey è una comunità piccolissima in una società già piccola. Le dimensioni dell'isola sono 2 km x 0,5 km e la popolazione si conosce piuttosto bene.
Inizialmente mi sembrava che l'ebook fosse impaginato male, perchè alla storia ambientata negli anni '60 si alternavano pagine del libro di Flatey, un antico manoscritto su pergamena che racconta saghe norrene, poi mi sono abituata, anche se trovo che si poteva fare meglio, per esempio alternando i capitoli.
L'autore si è impegnato a caratterizzare bene quasi tutti i personaggi e il ritratto della vita nell'isola è piacevolmente vivido, anche con tutti gli aspetti sgradevoli del caso, per esempio l'ammazzare a bastonate i cuccioli di foca, cosa orribilissima. Purtroppo la vita umana in paesi così inospitali ha reso accettabili cose che altrimenti non si farebbero. Anche ora alle isole FarOer si fanno delle belle mattanze di balene.
Comunque, la vita nella piccola comunità ha piacevoli forme di cortesia, come il premettere l'aggettivo caro anche fuori dal ristretto nucleo familiare e forme di supporto alle persone in difficoltà.
Un aspetto buffo è che tutti gli abitanti conoscono bene il libro di Flatey, un po' come conoscere nei minimi dettagli l'Iliade e pare loro impossibile che la gente che viene dalla capitale non ne abbia la stessa conoscenza perfetta: come se la loro isoletta 2 km x 0,5 km fosse il centro del mondo.
Una cosa insolita che mi è piaciuta è che la storia non si limita a un morto e un assassino da identificare, ma è una vicenda più complessa da ricomporre nel suo insieme e alla fine l'idea che resta è positiva, nel senso che, anche se tutti hanno qualcosa di non detto, non ci sono grandi tradimenti della fiducia reciproca.
October 7, 2012
There really is a series of Icelandic sagas called The Flatey Book. Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson has crafted an interesting mystery story about a couple of strange deaths around the Island of Flatey in Iceland's Westfjord country. For once, there is no super-smooth investigator, only several officials trying to put two and two together.
The motivating factor is a series of enigmas penned by a saga scholar in the 19th century. It seems that the victims were all connected in some way with these enigmas and their solution. I have not been able to discover whether the Flatey Book actually has any enigmas related to it.
In the end, this is a quirky tale with interesting characters who live on an isolated island which has seen better days.
The motivating factor is a series of enigmas penned by a saga scholar in the 19th century. It seems that the victims were all connected in some way with these enigmas and their solution. I have not been able to discover whether the Flatey Book actually has any enigmas related to it.
In the end, this is a quirky tale with interesting characters who live on an isolated island which has seen better days.
December 31, 2020
Interesting
Very interesting glimpse into another culture. I was born in 1960 so the timeframe wasn’t too hard to understand. Thoroughly enjoyed this delightful mystery!
Very interesting glimpse into another culture. I was born in 1960 so the timeframe wasn’t too hard to understand. Thoroughly enjoyed this delightful mystery!
November 7, 2015
جذبني عنوان الرواية، وبعد قراءة النبذة التي على الغلاف الخلفي، اقتنيتها؛ فأنا أحب الروايات ذات الألغاز والغموض. أمَا وقد اجتمع عنصر (التاريخ) مع عنصر (اللغز والغموض) فهذا حافز آخر لاقتناء الرواية!
على جزيرة (كتلسي) الأيسلندية، يعثر أحد البحّارة على جثةٍ رجلٍ شبه متحلِّلة، فتُنقل إلى جزيرة (فلايتي) لمعاينتها، بعد أن قام مأمور المقاطعة (غريمور) بإعلام المسؤولين في العاصمة بشأن الجثة. يرُسل أحد المحققين (جارتان) للتحقيق بشأنها ويتعيّن عليهم إرسال الجثة للمشرحة في العاصمة!
قبل قرونٍ مضت؛ كان لجزيرة (فلايتي) كتاب يحتوي على أحجية، (لغز)؛ هذا الكتاب موجودٌ لدى العاصمة الدنماركية (كوبنهاغن) في المكتبة الوطنية، وتوجد منه نسخة غير مكتملة في المكتبة الصغيرة على الجزيرة. لقد سعى أكثر من باحث لحل هذا اللغز، إلاّ أنهم لم يفلحوا في ذلك، وصار لدى أهل هذه الجزيرة (خرافة) بأنه كل من يسعى لحل هذا اللغز تصيبه لعنة قاتلة، وهذا ما حدث لصاحب هذه الجثة التي اتضح لهم فيما بعد بأنه باحث عن حلٍّ لهذا اللغز! كانت هذه خرافة عندهم!
إذا كان كذلك، ترى ما هو شأن الجثة الأخرى التي عُثِرَ عليها مشقوقة الظهر على شكل عُقاب موضوعةً فوق ضريح في مقبرة الجزيرة! وما هو الرابط بينها وبين الجثة الأولى! مما استدعى إرسال محقّقين آخرين للبتّ في هذه القضايا والوقوف على الفاعل!
في هذه الرواية؛ يمتزج الماضي بالحاضر، وفي نهاية كل فصل من فصولها، هناك سردٌ آخر، ونصٌ آخر، يمثّل الجزء التاريخي منها. صعوبة الأسماء في هذا النص أشعرتني بالسأم والضجر! إسم مؤلف هذه الرواية مثال واضح :)...
الترجمة مُتقنة جداً، والسرد جميل، والأحداث مشوِّقة تتخللها بعض الرتابة!
على جزيرة (كتلسي) الأيسلندية، يعثر أحد البحّارة على جثةٍ رجلٍ شبه متحلِّلة، فتُنقل إلى جزيرة (فلايتي) لمعاينتها، بعد أن قام مأمور المقاطعة (غريمور) بإعلام المسؤولين في العاصمة بشأن الجثة. يرُسل أحد المحققين (جارتان) للتحقيق بشأنها ويتعيّن عليهم إرسال الجثة للمشرحة في العاصمة!
قبل قرونٍ مضت؛ كان لجزيرة (فلايتي) كتاب يحتوي على أحجية، (لغز)؛ هذا الكتاب موجودٌ لدى العاصمة الدنماركية (كوبنهاغن) في المكتبة الوطنية، وتوجد منه نسخة غير مكتملة في المكتبة الصغيرة على الجزيرة. لقد سعى أكثر من باحث لحل هذا اللغز، إلاّ أنهم لم يفلحوا في ذلك، وصار لدى أهل هذه الجزيرة (خرافة) بأنه كل من يسعى لحل هذا اللغز تصيبه لعنة قاتلة، وهذا ما حدث لصاحب هذه الجثة التي اتضح لهم فيما بعد بأنه باحث عن حلٍّ لهذا اللغز! كانت هذه خرافة عندهم!
إذا كان كذلك، ترى ما هو شأن الجثة الأخرى التي عُثِرَ عليها مشقوقة الظهر على شكل عُقاب موضوعةً فوق ضريح في مقبرة الجزيرة! وما هو الرابط بينها وبين الجثة الأولى! مما استدعى إرسال محقّقين آخرين للبتّ في هذه القضايا والوقوف على الفاعل!
في هذه الرواية؛ يمتزج الماضي بالحاضر، وفي نهاية كل فصل من فصولها، هناك سردٌ آخر، ونصٌ آخر، يمثّل الجزء التاريخي منها. صعوبة الأسماء في هذا النص أشعرتني بالسأم والضجر! إسم مؤلف هذه الرواية مثال واضح :)...
الترجمة مُتقنة جداً، والسرد جميل، والأحداث مشوِّقة تتخللها بعض الرتابة!
August 16, 2012
This gently paced novel has several threads interwoven like a skein of different coloured wool.The first thread is an investigation into one death, then a second. But are either of these deaths murder? The second thread is an evocative insight into life as it was in this remote part of Iceland in 1960. Another is excerpts from the sagas, read by an as yet unidentified person.
Kjartan, the regional magistrate's assistant, is sent to the island of Flatey when a badly decomposed body is found on a remote islet. Who was he, and how did he get there? We gradually meet the locals - some helpful, some eccentric - and it is this insight into the daily life of these isolated people that for me was one of the highlights of this book. No one seems to have just one job: the teacher works as a sealer in the summer time, farmers fish part time, just to make ends meet. [This seems to be an Icelandic tradition to this day: even Viktor, the author of this book, has a day job as publications supervisor for the Icelandic Road Administration!]
The characters and their motivations are gradually revealed, and even though the reader cannot predict the ending, there are no surprises in the resolution. The characters act and speak for themselves in an authentic manner. Authentic too is the social and cultural setting, as it is in all good Icelandic writing that I am familiar with.
Kjartan, the regional magistrate's assistant, is sent to the island of Flatey when a badly decomposed body is found on a remote islet. Who was he, and how did he get there? We gradually meet the locals - some helpful, some eccentric - and it is this insight into the daily life of these isolated people that for me was one of the highlights of this book. No one seems to have just one job: the teacher works as a sealer in the summer time, farmers fish part time, just to make ends meet. [This seems to be an Icelandic tradition to this day: even Viktor, the author of this book, has a day job as publications supervisor for the Icelandic Road Administration!]
The characters and their motivations are gradually revealed, and even though the reader cannot predict the ending, there are no surprises in the resolution. The characters act and speak for themselves in an authentic manner. Authentic too is the social and cultural setting, as it is in all good Icelandic writing that I am familiar with.
August 10, 2019
Lo mejor la ambientación.
June 20, 2023
jebb jebb🙈 nú hef ég oft verið kölluð Flateyjargátan síðustu tvo daga hérna á Breiðarfirði........ jájájá
May 29, 2013
Non è l'ambientazione di uno dei gialli più imperdibili della storia. Quarta lettera.
Nell'ottica di un viaggio in Islanda in programma ho provato a leggere il prodotto di uno degli scrittori dell'isola; apparentemente un giallo (ci sono i morti ma tutto si risolve in un modo inconsistente che più non si può).
In un'isola vicina a Flatey si trova un uomo morto di stenti e iniziano le indagini per capire identità e causa della morte, nel mentre veniamo a conoscenza dell'enigma del libro di Flatey (trentanove domande che risolte aiuteranno alla soluzione della quarantesima e al completamento del libro), rimasto irrisolto (principalmente perchè è malasorte portare fuori dalla biblioteca la chiave per decrittare la soluzione).
Il libro si divide in due parti: la prima, di una noia mortale, in cui si fa conoscenza del villaggio e delle prime ipotesi sul morto e la seconda in cui strane coincidenze appaiono come funghi (ma sono coincidenze? Tragicamente sì); insomma i temi più interessanti erano quelli dei miti islandesi.
Risposa: Flatey, la quarta lettera è una T.
---
It’s not the setting of an engaging crime novel. Fourth letter.
Looking forward to a travel to Island I decided to try reading a book from an island writer; apparently a crime (yes, there are corpses but the solution is quite inconsistent).
In an island near Flatey a dead man is found and investigation to know his identity and death cause begin; in the meanwhile we are told about the Flatey book mistery (thirty-nine questions that, once solved, will bring the solution of the fortieth and last question and to the last verses of the book) unsolved until now (mainly because the cryptographic key cannot be taken away from the book because of bad luck).
The novel can be divided in two parts: the former, very boring, in which the village people are described and the first hypothesis about the dead man are formed and the latter in which there are lots of coincidences (but are they only coincidences? Tragically they are); overall the most interesting parts are the one about island myths.
Answer: Flatey, the fourth letter is a T.
Nell'ottica di un viaggio in Islanda in programma ho provato a leggere il prodotto di uno degli scrittori dell'isola; apparentemente un giallo (ci sono i morti ma tutto si risolve in un modo inconsistente che più non si può).
In un'isola vicina a Flatey si trova un uomo morto di stenti e iniziano le indagini per capire identità e causa della morte, nel mentre veniamo a conoscenza dell'enigma del libro di Flatey (trentanove domande che risolte aiuteranno alla soluzione della quarantesima e al completamento del libro), rimasto irrisolto (principalmente perchè è malasorte portare fuori dalla biblioteca la chiave per decrittare la soluzione).
Il libro si divide in due parti: la prima, di una noia mortale, in cui si fa conoscenza del villaggio e delle prime ipotesi sul morto e la seconda in cui strane coincidenze appaiono come funghi (ma sono coincidenze? Tragicamente sì); insomma i temi più interessanti erano quelli dei miti islandesi.
Risposa: Flatey, la quarta lettera è una T.
---
It’s not the setting of an engaging crime novel. Fourth letter.
Looking forward to a travel to Island I decided to try reading a book from an island writer; apparently a crime (yes, there are corpses but the solution is quite inconsistent).
In an island near Flatey a dead man is found and investigation to know his identity and death cause begin; in the meanwhile we are told about the Flatey book mistery (thirty-nine questions that, once solved, will bring the solution of the fortieth and last question and to the last verses of the book) unsolved until now (mainly because the cryptographic key cannot be taken away from the book because of bad luck).
The novel can be divided in two parts: the former, very boring, in which the village people are described and the first hypothesis about the dead man are formed and the latter in which there are lots of coincidences (but are they only coincidences? Tragically they are); overall the most interesting parts are the one about island myths.
Answer: Flatey, the fourth letter is a T.
June 13, 2020
I should have liked this entry but eventually just pooped out on it. I find, after many years of reading all types of literature, that I am most impatient with “Code” novels. Yes, including the DaVinci Code and all its successors. The folklore of Iceland and the legends that accompany the text were intriguing at first, but eventually the disemboweling of various losers in battles between Ivars and Ottos did me in and I stopped reading them. The story itself also lost momentum because of the exceedingly slow tempo of the narrative—the local customs, cute though they were, impeded the plot. A body is found on a skerry (a shoal or shelf in the sea) and the first mystery is who is it. Once that is determined, we find ourselves immersed in a discussion of the Flatey Enigma (now made into a TV series!) and all that it suggests. One of the problems with the novel is the plethora of Icelandic names that flood the pages: Kjartan, Stikkishólmur, Gudjón, Högni, etc. When they all get together, it takes some wading to get through the pile! As the tempo increases near the end of the book and another victim is discovered posed and maimed with an eagle cut into his back, background on the main characters emerges which might have been more helpful earlier. By the time this information is uncovered, it was too late for me. I just didn’t care anymore. Interestingly enough, the TV series which was made based on the novel was set in 1971 though he novel itself is set in 1960. There are enough moments of time-shock to please the fastidious 60s culturists but they can’t exert enough charm to make the novel readable, at least not to me. I’m afraid that the Flatey Enigma will remain unsolvable for this reader.
October 10, 2013
This book is actually a decent story and makes for a somewhat typical mystery. The Icelandic setting and reliance on a historical Icelandic / Norse manuscript as a center focus adds a somewhat unique twist, but in many ways, it doesn't move any further than being a Icelandic version of a Dan Brown novel a la The Davinci Code.
The story is entertaining and quick, however, so it isn't what I would call bad. The 3 star review reflects the entertainment value. The reason it is no higher is more of a reflection of a less than idea translation or a bit of a simplistic writing style. I suppose when you are going for the action, mystery, type genre, the writing style has to be simplistic, but I can't help but think that the real book isn't a bit better. Word choice is odd at times and references from the Norse book are difficult to read; likely, these are translation issues.
Last, the setting is something that may be a little difficult for readers. I feel fortunate to have recently visited Iceland and even traveled the mail boat route referred to often in the book. It really helps in placing one in the story. I can see this being more challenging if you don't know the setting. Some care is made in putting those without knowledge of the setting into it, but it could have been done better.
The story is entertaining and quick, however, so it isn't what I would call bad. The 3 star review reflects the entertainment value. The reason it is no higher is more of a reflection of a less than idea translation or a bit of a simplistic writing style. I suppose when you are going for the action, mystery, type genre, the writing style has to be simplistic, but I can't help but think that the real book isn't a bit better. Word choice is odd at times and references from the Norse book are difficult to read; likely, these are translation issues.
Last, the setting is something that may be a little difficult for readers. I feel fortunate to have recently visited Iceland and even traveled the mail boat route referred to often in the book. It really helps in placing one in the story. I can see this being more challenging if you don't know the setting. Some care is made in putting those without knowledge of the setting into it, but it could have been done better.
August 24, 2016
genre Policier lieu Islande temps années 60
lu pour la découverte de l'Islande et des Islandais ; pour les références historiques qui servent de fil conducteur plus que pour l'aspect enquête policière peu passionnante
le style froid les chapitres courts façon scénario de film ne m'ont pas facilité la lecture J'aurais aimé que l'auteur nous rendent les personnages plus vrais plus profonds plutôt que de rester centré sur des caractéristiques physiques, ou des actes (va à la messe, pousse la charrette, se fait couper les cheveux etc)
lu pour la découverte de l'Islande et des Islandais ; pour les références historiques qui servent de fil conducteur plus que pour l'aspect enquête policière peu passionnante
le style froid les chapitres courts façon scénario de film ne m'ont pas facilité la lecture J'aurais aimé que l'auteur nous rendent les personnages plus vrais plus profonds plutôt que de rester centré sur des caractéristiques physiques, ou des actes (va à la messe, pousse la charrette, se fait couper les cheveux etc)
February 13, 2018
No soy muy amante de la novela negra nórdica, he dejado mas de un texto de este género a la mitad, creo que por su timing, esa capacidad que tienen los escandinavos de estar cien paginas sin decir casi nada, dejando que el lector se vea envuelto por el clima y los paisajes, por el ambiente en general, a mi me estresan sobremanera. Este no ha sido el caso. La historia se deja leer bien, hay un ritmo cuidado, unos personajes neutros pero amables, y una historia, dos en realidad, muy bien hiladas. Le he quitado una estrella porque (cómo no) el final me ha dejado un poco frío.
September 21, 2024
I bought this after visiting Iceland recently and seeing it on sale there, and being intrigued by the book, and the country. Just brilliant, beautiful, evocative, you need to slow your pace to the pace of this narrative and immerse yourself. You get a sense of life on a tiny island in the 60s in the best of ways, the community, the way of life, and with the thread of a death being investigated and an ancient text and puzzle unfolding. I loved it!
May 31, 2019
Gelokt door de titel en de uitleg op de achterflap die verwijzen naar het Flateyjarbók, één van de belangrijkste middeleeuwse IJslandse manuscripten, heb ik dit flauwe verhaal uitgelezen. Ik voel me bekocht ;-) .
De tweede ster is voor de teksten die uit het manuscript zelf komen.
De tweede ster is voor de teksten die uit het manuscript zelf komen.
August 15, 2023
Una historia contada despacio, como la vida que llevan en los pueblos pesqueros, al principio pasan pocas cosas, luego se avanza un poco y el ritmo arranca. La historia es entretenida, se lee bien y, el enigma queda descubierto, también algunos asuntos de un pueblo donde todos se conocen.
October 18, 2020
me gustó mucho!!! me encantan los libros que combinan thriller y elementos históricos 🥰
December 19, 2020
Based on the description, I expected this to be something like Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose". It wasn't. Instead, it was dull people eating seal meat and puffins while an excruciatingly slow investigation was carried out into how a Danish academic ended up dying alone on a small island.
The chapters are short, as each one finishes with one of the clues and solutions for the titular enigma, and there are a lot to get through. Sadly the clues and their solutions and the enigma have no real bearing to the plot. The solutions often seem arbitrary, and never leave you under any illusion that you might be able to guess any of the answers yourself. A few of the ancient incidents do feature some of the most entertaining dialog in the entire novel, though.
After half a book of that, things finally picked up after a second body was found, and at last the characters' backstories were explored -- but sadly in the form of their being interviewed by police and offering to recite their backstories in large chunks of exposition. The threads of the mystery are rapidly tied together before you even get a chance to take a guess at what's coming. Just terrible, terrible pacing. I have to assume it's a far better book in the original language.
The chapters are short, as each one finishes with one of the clues and solutions for the titular enigma, and there are a lot to get through. Sadly the clues and their solutions and the enigma have no real bearing to the plot. The solutions often seem arbitrary, and never leave you under any illusion that you might be able to guess any of the answers yourself. A few of the ancient incidents do feature some of the most entertaining dialog in the entire novel, though.
After half a book of that, things finally picked up after a second body was found, and at last the characters' backstories were explored -- but sadly in the form of their being interviewed by police and offering to recite their backstories in large chunks of exposition. The threads of the mystery are rapidly tied together before you even get a chance to take a guess at what's coming. Just terrible, terrible pacing. I have to assume it's a far better book in the original language.
August 8, 2021
This interesting mystery is situated on Flatey, a tiny island (one by two kilometers) in the cluster of the western islands in Breiðafjörður (NW Iceland). As the name "Flatey" indicates, it is indeed very flat. In 1960, the year in which the story takes place, it has a church, a post office (with one telephone, the only one on the island), a doctor and two shops; the few score of inhabitants are sheep farmers and seal hunters. The island is visited by migratory birds, such as the puffin, which also occupies an important position on the island's menu (together with fermented shark and seal blubber). There is a regular ferry to ports on the Icelandic mainland.
On an uninhabited islet near Flatey seal hunters find a dead man, but no boat or remains of a shipwreck - and nobody is missing from the area. Kjartan, a representative of the district magistrate, is sent to Flatey to investigate the crime. He feels out of his element among the colorful inhabitants such as Grimur, the district officer/seal hunter, the local priest Thormodur Krakur, and the alluring doctor Johanna, who acts as coroner. Kjartan discovers a cryptic note in the dead man’s pocket which he relates to a famous medieval manuscript called the Flatey Book (Flateyjarbók or Codex Flateyensis), which contains a riddle believed to inflict a curse on anyone who attempts to solve its mysteries. At the end of every chapter Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson has incorporated a brief text from that manuscript, each about a violent deed of the Norse kings, and containing one of 40 riddles. Although the original manuscript is kept in Copenhagen (since 1971 in Reikjavik), the small library on Flatey (built in 1864 and the oldest library in Iceland) houses a copy.
The dead man then is identified as Gaston Lund, a noted Danish scholar of Icelandic antiquities known to be obsessed with the Flatey enigma, and now the investigation expands: an investigator from the Reykjavik police and a reporter launch their parallel research. This all leads to an unexpected and very original conclusion.
The novel is fascinating for the realistic descriptions of life on Flatey: the islander's diet, their small cottages, dress, their ethics and religious beliefs, and the fishing industry aimed at seal pups.
On an uninhabited islet near Flatey seal hunters find a dead man, but no boat or remains of a shipwreck - and nobody is missing from the area. Kjartan, a representative of the district magistrate, is sent to Flatey to investigate the crime. He feels out of his element among the colorful inhabitants such as Grimur, the district officer/seal hunter, the local priest Thormodur Krakur, and the alluring doctor Johanna, who acts as coroner. Kjartan discovers a cryptic note in the dead man’s pocket which he relates to a famous medieval manuscript called the Flatey Book (Flateyjarbók or Codex Flateyensis), which contains a riddle believed to inflict a curse on anyone who attempts to solve its mysteries. At the end of every chapter Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson has incorporated a brief text from that manuscript, each about a violent deed of the Norse kings, and containing one of 40 riddles. Although the original manuscript is kept in Copenhagen (since 1971 in Reikjavik), the small library on Flatey (built in 1864 and the oldest library in Iceland) houses a copy.
The dead man then is identified as Gaston Lund, a noted Danish scholar of Icelandic antiquities known to be obsessed with the Flatey enigma, and now the investigation expands: an investigator from the Reykjavik police and a reporter launch their parallel research. This all leads to an unexpected and very original conclusion.
The novel is fascinating for the realistic descriptions of life on Flatey: the islander's diet, their small cottages, dress, their ethics and religious beliefs, and the fishing industry aimed at seal pups.
May 7, 2015
Although the professionals from Reykjavik are finally sent for, it's the amateurs who really do the lion's share of the murder investigations in The Flatey Enigma, and I found following them around this remote area of western Iceland to be fascinating. As villagers are interviewed, as they help guide the magistrate's assistant from place to place, the reader learns a lot about the customs and food of Iceland in 1960. I have to admit that I tended to skim over the menus quickly because roast puffin breast and baby seal stew just don't appeal to me, but the food people eat says a lot about them, and it certainly does here.
I deduced the killer's identity early on, but I still enjoyed following the investigation because I was learning so much about Iceland. Each chapter in the book ends with information about the Flatey Book (which actually exists), ancient Icelandic legends that are contained within its vellum pages, and finally the forty enigma questions themselves. Sometimes inclusions like these interrupt the narrative and are annoying. They certainly weren't in this case.
Sometimes when I read a mystery, what I reap is so much more than solving a crime, and this is what happened when I read The Flatey Enigma. Yes, the mystery is interesting, but I feel as though I learned a great deal about the customs and the people of an area of Iceland far removed from its capital of Reykjavik.
I deduced the killer's identity early on, but I still enjoyed following the investigation because I was learning so much about Iceland. Each chapter in the book ends with information about the Flatey Book (which actually exists), ancient Icelandic legends that are contained within its vellum pages, and finally the forty enigma questions themselves. Sometimes inclusions like these interrupt the narrative and are annoying. They certainly weren't in this case.
Sometimes when I read a mystery, what I reap is so much more than solving a crime, and this is what happened when I read The Flatey Enigma. Yes, the mystery is interesting, but I feel as though I learned a great deal about the customs and the people of an area of Iceland far removed from its capital of Reykjavik.
March 30, 2012
This is an old-fashioned cozy. In fact, since it takes place in 1960, I thought it might be a reprint from a book published that year.
I like meandering stories with out-of-the-norm characters. And since it's set in Flatey, part of Iceland, I enjoyed learning about the culture and relations between Icelanders and other like countries.
A Danish professor studying the Flatey Enigma (an unsolved modern enigma about the Flatey Runes) is found dead on a tiny island by seal hunters. Later, a reporter is found in a Flatey cemetery, mutilated in the famous Viking Blood Eagle where lungs are ripped out to look like wings. The man sent to collect the first body is a novice. The second body makes him sick. Finally, he becomes one of the suspects himself.
Through all the stilted dialogue and meandering progressions, the stories about the Flatey Runes kept me enthralled.
And when I got to the end and found out the Runes were real! Made my day.
For those who like action and thrillers, this won't be for you. For people who enjoy watching events unfold and wondering how each piece fits into the whole picture...You'll probably like it.
I like meandering stories with out-of-the-norm characters. And since it's set in Flatey, part of Iceland, I enjoyed learning about the culture and relations between Icelanders and other like countries.
A Danish professor studying the Flatey Enigma (an unsolved modern enigma about the Flatey Runes) is found dead on a tiny island by seal hunters. Later, a reporter is found in a Flatey cemetery, mutilated in the famous Viking Blood Eagle where lungs are ripped out to look like wings. The man sent to collect the first body is a novice. The second body makes him sick. Finally, he becomes one of the suspects himself.
Through all the stilted dialogue and meandering progressions, the stories about the Flatey Runes kept me enthralled.
And when I got to the end and found out the Runes were real! Made my day.
For those who like action and thrillers, this won't be for you. For people who enjoy watching events unfold and wondering how each piece fits into the whole picture...You'll probably like it.
December 20, 2014
This one was really interesting. It´s a mystery-thriller taking place on a small island, in Icland, in the 60s. To be honest, if I wouldn´t have read about it being in the 60s, I wouldn´t have known, because the people were like I would expect them to be, living on a remote island. A dead man is found and soon everybody thinks the dead one is connected with an old book, the book of flatey, which exists in the real world. In the thriller, the book is connected to a riddle in 40 parts, concerning the saga told in the book of flatey. The story is interrupted with pieces of the saga and the riddle which corresponds to this part of the saga. Sounds complicated, but that´s my fault, I just don´t know how to describe it. But one learns quite a lot about this iclandic saga! The main character is a civil servant from Icland, who is sent there to report what´s happened. Then the story evolves, and in the end, everybody is connected and nothing is as expected.
The language fits the island: simple, short sentences. But nevertheless it was very good written.
The language fits the island: simple, short sentences. But nevertheless it was very good written.
March 29, 2012
I bought this book because it was the Kindle deal of day (meaning cheap), it had alright reviews, and it was set in iceland, a place I have never read much about. I did read in the Amazon reviews that the English translation is awful, which it is, and that the story can be slow, which it also is. But aside from this I enjoyed this book. Hopefully if you go in knowing it's main shortcomings it will make it easier to read and ignore, or at least try, the sometimes confusing syntax. The descriptions of the unfamiliar landscape and the friendly characters and their interactions were the high points of the story for me. I started reading the book as if I was reading a Dan Brown novel but soon noticed there were no big (or small) mysteries to try and decipher. It is a very passive read, and as soon as you stop reading it as you would other thrillers you start enjoying it a lot more. I was looking for a book that helped me relax and this one did the job.
November 23, 2012
I was first drawn to Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson’s FLATEY ENIGMA because the novel alludes constantly to the late fourteenth-century FLATEYARBÓK, a large compendium of Icelandic sagas and stories.
The action is set on Flatey, an island off the west coast of Iceland in Breidafjördur, and the mystery arises when a body is found on an uninhabited island nearby. The first half of each chapter relates the progress of the present-day (as of 1960) mystery, and the second half gives one of the forty questions making up the supposed “Flatey enigma” (purely an invention of the author).
The modern mystery and the allusions to FLATEYARBÓK are intertwined, and the themes of both revolve around human relations, violence, illusion and reality, and luck.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a cerebral mystery or in Iceland or its literature. This is not a book for anyone who only wants to read “action-packed” thrillers.
The action is set on Flatey, an island off the west coast of Iceland in Breidafjördur, and the mystery arises when a body is found on an uninhabited island nearby. The first half of each chapter relates the progress of the present-day (as of 1960) mystery, and the second half gives one of the forty questions making up the supposed “Flatey enigma” (purely an invention of the author).
The modern mystery and the allusions to FLATEYARBÓK are intertwined, and the themes of both revolve around human relations, violence, illusion and reality, and luck.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a cerebral mystery or in Iceland or its literature. This is not a book for anyone who only wants to read “action-packed” thrillers.
June 4, 2012
This book provides a beautifully written insight into the lives of Icelandic islanders in the 1960s. The characters who are assembled together at the start turn out to have unexpected connections, which are slowly unfolded. The puzzle of the body on the island, and the puzzle contained in the Flatey book, are intertwined and are both solved at the end.
I found it atmospheric and cleverly constructed, and I enjoyed reading about the islanders and seeing some of their world. Yes, I was shocked by the killing and eating of seal pups, and put off by the thought of puffin breast and kittiwake eggs, because I was seeing their world through the filter of my own culture's habits and prejudices.
I found it atmospheric and cleverly constructed, and I enjoyed reading about the islanders and seeing some of their world. Yes, I was shocked by the killing and eating of seal pups, and put off by the thought of puffin breast and kittiwake eggs, because I was seeing their world through the filter of my own culture's habits and prejudices.
March 15, 2012
Glacial pace, largely unengaging characters and the flow was interrupted by the excerpts from the Book of Flatey in a way that just made it feel choppy. Overall the combination of slow pace with a setting in a different time and very different place left me uninterested.
March 20, 2012
Unique and unusual. Combines 1960's and ancient history as in the Icelandic Sagas. I loved it.
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