The Stones Speak

Suðursveitarkróníkan #1

by Þórbergur Þórðarson

The Stones Speak is Thórbergur Thórdarson's elegiac portrayal of his childhood and youth on the farm of Hali in Suðursveit, an isolated rural area of southeastern Iceland, in the late 19th century. It reveals his reverence for the beauty of the Suðursveit countryside and his enduring love of his family and neighbours and their language, history, and culture. It is a sometimes witty and funny, sometimes wry and sad, sometimes contemplative and mystical, but always affectionate portrait of a time, a place and a people, all of which have long since passed away. The Stones Speak is not only an enchanting work of art, but also a vitally important witness to the way of life on an Icelandic turf farmstead in the 1890s.

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since no one else has made a review on this book, I might as well be the first. The Stones Speak is basically an autobiography about the author in his youth. I decided to buy it during my stay in Iceland for a Geology Field Trip, as Iceland is known for its storytelling. There's not really a plot, but rather the meanderings of his past. It can get a bit disturbing and sad at points, but in all honestly its what makes the book enjoyable. It has a very intimate feel to it, like your best friend telling you secrets that they'd dare not tell anyone else. You feel like you're there experiencing his life with him, no matter it be an up or down. In other words, I enjoyed it. You may too.

[Hrafnkell Úlfur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virkilega skondin bók um æsku Þórbergs á suð-austurlandi, þar sem hans helsta ósk er að eignast úr með sekúnduvísi og hans helsta áhyggjuefni er hvernig hann getur mælt vegalengdir á milli staða án þess að líta út eins og flón.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very odd book, almost nothing happens and yet you keep reading. Very Romantic but in an unusual way, almost surreal at certain points (where he's like, talking to stones).

[Anzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book in the museum dedicated to the author and the area where he grew up and that the book is about. The museum is really nice and the nature surrounding it is fantastic and plays a major part of the author's life when he was a little boy. The book starts before he is born and up till he is a boy and it is a combination of retelling exactly how everything looks and anecdotes about things happening around the farms that lays between the mountains and the sea. The boy's thoughts about the world, people, history and science are really interesting. He, as many children, has a way of magical thinking I like and he believes everything is filled with life. Hence that the stones can speak, or rather, he wishes they could tell of things past that haven't been written down.

[Numshah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book while visiting the Thorbergur Museum in Hali, Iceland. I was instantly brought back to the Sudursveit countryside upon reading this book years after that trip, albeit many decades in the future. Thordarson's writing reflects a charming Icelandic straightforwardness of thought and expression. However, he has also suffused his account of growing up in the Icelandic countryside with his own peculiarities. Thordarson was indeed an odd man, but I was still sympathetic to his synaesthetic descriptions of objects and people in Hali. The one account in the book that demonstrates his true weirdness is his account of determining the time at which a particular stone in a field stood out to him. Reading that drove me to tears of laughter at this strange, strange man.

[Lindsey G · Rating 5 out of 5]

In love. I scored this book from my local community library box and it is one of the most perfect finds. I love Icelandic culture, and old things, so reading a book about farm life in the south of Iceland around 1900 from an eccentric child could not go wrong for me. I loved this - the language and writing really took me there and I genuinely do feel as if the translator did a wonderful job capturing the author's voice and traditional Icelandic terms, etc. There was a helpful guide at the beginning about how the farmstead was laid out, how some measurements were taken, and a very understandable guide to how certain Icelandic letters in their alphabet are pronounced, which helped me read the names of places easily. I really feel like I learned something and gained a useful skill in linguistics!

[markéta procházková · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Čteno v českém překladu Heleny Kadečkové s názvem Kameny mluví (SNKLU, 1965).)

Život na islandském pobřeží v podání vypravěče vzpomínajícího na dětství. Tyto vzpomínky jako by mu navodily i nevinné a poťouchle zvědavé pozorování okolního prostředí. Všední momenty, například několika stránkové pozorování krav s obdivným zaujetím, jsou v dětských konstatováních bezděčně vtipné, zároveň ale přináší pohled na velice pokorný a vyrovnaný život chlapce, jenž měl "od nejútlejšího věku sklony k zeměměřičství" (s. 62-63), ve kterém lze stále objevovat a zachovávat tajemství (ať už jde o tulení žaludek visící od stropu domu nebo o měsícem ozářenou kadibudku).

[Guðmundur Gunnarsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

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