Heiða - fjalldalabóndinn

by Steinunn Sigurðardóttir

Hvað rekur unga konu til að gerast sauðfjárbóndi úr alfaraleið í stað þess að verða fyrirsæta í New York? Keppa í rúningi og stunda fósturtalningar í kindum stað þess að drekka í sig stórborgarlífið og slá í gegn á síðum glanstímarita? Heiða er sannkallað náttúrubarn og er einyrki á Ljótárstöðum sem er efsti bær í Skaftártungu. Jafnframt því að sinna fimm hundruð frjá hefur hún barist fyrir tilveru sinni og sveitarinnar fyrir autan – varið landið – svo öllu verði ekki fórnað fyrir fáein megawött; gljúfri, besta beitarlandinu – þar sem fyrst grær á vorin. Í þessari stórmerkilegu bók dregur Steinunn Sigurðardóttir upp áhrifamikla mynd af sérstæðri kvenhetju. Hér njóta sín allir helstu kostir Steinunnar sem rithöfundar; ísmeygileg kímni, leiftrandi stílgáfa, djúpt innsæi – og ást á landinu.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Nature, Biography Memoir, Environment, Animals

319 pages, Hardcover

First published April 18, 2019

About the author

Steinunn Sigurðardóttir was born in Reykjavík in 1950. She finished her Matriculation Examination at the Reykjavík Higher Secondary Grammar School in 1968 and a BA in Psychology and Philosophy at the University College in Dublin in 1972.

She published her first book, the poetry collection Sífellur (Continuances), 19 years old and received immediate attention. In 1995 she received the Icelandic Literature Prize for the novel Hjartastaður (Heart Place). Her books have been translated into other languages and a French movie based on the novel Tímaþjófurinn (The Thief of Time) premiered in 1999.

Sigurðardóttir was a reporter at the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV) and a news correspondent with intervals from 1970-1982. She has also worked as a journalist and written programmes for radio and television.

Steinunn Sigurðardóttir has lived for long and short periods of time in various places in Europe, in the US and in Japan. She currently divides her time between France and Iceland. She has one grown-up daughter.

Reviews

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's one thing, perhaps, that drives me most strongly: my loathing for the attitudes of those who sit at their kitchen tables and criticize everything and everyone, who have the answers for everything, but aren't willing to step up and do something about it. p89


Suppose that someone recognized your unique talent and ravishing beauty and catapulted you to the international stage, granting you fame and fortune on the catwalk and the covers of the right kind of magazines. You'd have it made, right?

Not for Heida Asgeirsdottir, telling of her life to Steinnun Sigursdottir.

I've always been a bit embarrassed about my modeling stint- doing that instead of digging ditches or doing something useful. p27
If I go a few days without petting an animal, I start to feel like somethings missing. p69

So Heida turned her back on glamour to take up her calling as a steward for the land, and it's easy to imagine her, with her scrupulous sense of fairness, making sure to pat each one of her 500+ sheep before sending them up the mountain to graze and greeting them for the roundup in the fall. Her farm is in the highlands of Iceland where, after the death of her father, she took over the ancestral position of landlord. In this remote setting, community takes on a more distinct role and HA has always stepped up to the plate.

I don't own the land. The land owns me. There are heavy responsibilities that come by being owned by all this land...and it can be a struggle protecting it from the vultures.. p161

Next time you are tempted to think that you have too much to do, make some time to read this exhilarating book.

[فيصل السويدي · Rating 4 out of 5]

هايذا، امرأة ريفية تعيش في بقعة قصية من آيسلندا، تقود جرارا ضخما ويحيط بها المئات من الخراف، حافظت على العادات الآيسلندية المتوارثة وفي نفس الوقت تتواصل عبر تطبيقات التواصل الاجتماعي الحديثة، دافعت عن الأرض العذراء ضد جشع الشركات ورجال الأعمال بشكلٍ فردي أولًا ثم عن طريق منصب رسمي فهل انتصرت؟
يوميات، مصطلحات، مواقف وأشعار من آيسلندا هذه الدولة التي يبلغ عدد سكانها 300000 نسمة فقط أو ما ينيف قليلا
فعلا القراءة رحلة

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visit the locations in the memoir


I’m on a role at the moment with books about fascinating people and how they live and their passion and endurance in times of trouble. This lady is my new heroine.

I love books and TV shows about Iceland and have many Icelandic friends now through the book world which makes my urge to go there even stronger. How I would love to go and visit Heiða! I always think people who live in such remote locations have that sense of poetry about them and this lady does and more!

From the start I was curious as to why someone, especially a model from New York, want to return to iceland and live on a farm. Her story about her father is heartbreaking and her endurance and sense of duty admirable

Her passion for the farm and her way of life comes through loud and clear. She loves her land and her world, so when it’s threatened by power companies and corporate bullies, she stand for now nonsense and races forth into battle. Certain scenes wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of Game of Thrones for the battles of David and Goliath that ensue.

On a more day to day level, that’s when the story of this lady and the farm really shone for me. It’s a hard life and she makes no bones about it. The weather is an enemy, as is the soil. The very remoteness she loves is a problem when there’s no one else to help or rescue a situation. This is the beauty of the book though as you get to see, experience and feel the farm, the weather, the everyday routines that are so demanding yet rewarding at the same time.

Although written by the Icelandic novelist Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, it’s Heiða’s distinctive voice that comes through and it’s as if you’re talking to her in her kitchen, laughing at her humour, marvelling at her plainspeaking and warming to her inspirational touch.

If ever you’re down, or feel a challenge is too big, talk to Heiða. It’s a book about so much – conservation, yearning for a simpler life, and protecting what you love and fighting for what’s yours.

[Lauren]

• HEIÐA : A Shepherd at the Edge of the World, by Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, translated from the Icelandic by Philip Roughton, 2016/2019.

#ReadtheWorld21 📍Iceland

Heiða Guðný Ásgeirsdóttir is the owner of Ljótarstaðir, a large sheep farm in southern Iceland. Written in a seasonal diary format, we follow the everyday (hard) life of a shepherd with 500+ sheep - the work to produce hay, transporting the sheep to pastures in Iceland's interior, the pregnancy/birth cycles, and the shearing and wool production, etc.

Heiða is a solo farmer. The book is borne out of Heiða's local ecological activism when her farm is threatened by construction of a hydroelectric dam & power station. She becomes a local politician and carries on her sun-up-to-sun-down work of caring for her farm and flock.

This book can be a little dry - perhaps the translation? - and can read more like a report in some spaces, but there are also interspersed original "poetry slams" snippets that are entertaining, and while it lacked nuance and flair, I feel like I learned quite a bit about Icelandic sheep and got a glimpse of the daily rhythms of farm management and animal husbandry.
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[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book being set in Iceland a place where I would like to travel to, circumstances permitting. Crime authors have whetted my appetite, not necessary for the cuisine mind you and it seems a land of contrasts and challenges.
Back in the 1970s during my teenage years I toyed with the idea of being a hill farmer perhaps due to my love of Snowdonia and wild open spaces. A geography field trip to the Brecon Beacons reduced this desire when a sheep dog bit me on the calf. Anyone who knows me would testify this ambition was never a sensible one. As this book testifies I could not have managed a day’s work let alone a lifetime of sheep farming.
Heida is a remarkable woman who seems to learn on the job and despite the poetic genes seems wiser beyond her years. This is a honest account of her struggles losing told around the farming year. However, it is quite jumbled at times and flits around a lot. For me this added to the pleasure of the read. I felt it was an authentic voice and revealed a person who was fascinating to learn about in terms of her family, farming heritage and faith in democracy.
It has the brooding backdrop of active volcanoes and the threat of powerful business seeking to develop part of her valley. One is a constant threat the other had to be faced down and needed a shy and withdrawn farmer to attend public meetings, hold political office and overcome bullying and misinformation.
So it was a fascinating read which completely involves you in this amazing location but isolated farmstead.
Heida has a determination and single-mindedness that few aspire to but which are always vital qualities to live in such a rural environment. What is so interesting is that she isn’t just a sheltered human being who knows no different. She is very much a modern girl, loves to travel and has experiences beyond Iceland. It was good to catch a glimpse of her life and supplement this with photos on Facebook for she embraces technology and is a complete petrolhead.
At times I worried about how hard she worked and was concerned by her own mental well-being. It was encouraging to see from pictures she has posted that she has a positive self-image at peace with herself perhaps and trying to achieve that work life balance.
There is another story here which she alludes to. Progress and Capitalism. She doesn’t resist change, she has embraced much to improve her life and other neighbours, farming and land management. Yet she sees her place in time, a steward of the land not its master. She is a worthy guardian of traditional values and an advocate to do so much more like promoting Icelandic lamb over all competition and market it for better distribution and export.
This is not an account that is melodic and rhythmically paced. But it is a compelling story you are completely absorbed within. I warmly recommend it even if you never wanted to take to the hills. Read it for yourself you’d be “baamy” to miss out on it.

[Zaira · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got interested to read this book because of the description. After I started, I realised that description was very much misleading, and wasn’t anything like promised. I can’t understand why this is claimed to be a bestseller. Still, I did read it through, even though I have much better books to read, that I know aren’t going to waste my feeble hours.

[Geir Sigurðsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margt áhugavert í þessari bók og hún er skemmtileg.

[Marika Oksa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upea Heida! Eräät ne saavat elämässään paljon aikaan ja ylipäänsä tekevät tärkeitä asioita arjessaan. Aidon oloinen kirja.

[Catalina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The synopsis on which I based my request(on NetGalley) to read this(months before publication) was somewhat misleading. I thought I was going to read a book about nature, about the passage of seasons and how it impacts and changes nature, more poetry or more poetic language, if you like. But turns out I've read a memoir of sorts and while I did see the passage of seasons, it was centered on a single character and her life as a sheep farmer in Iceland. Poetry was scarce and for some reason, it wasn't even that poetic...
That being said, I did get some enjoyment from reading this: it was interesting to read about the ins and outs of sheep farming, even if I cannot say I am actually interested in the subject. Impressive how strong a character Heida was(is?). The amount of work she was willing to do was really inspirational. (even if did get annoyed with comments like: 'I can do this because no one told me I couldn't do it'. Well Heida darling no one told me I couldn't do sheep farming either yet I am not doing it, and I will say I cannot do it, but that's not because someone told me I couldn't and I am so weak as to believe anyone who tells me stuff, but because I know myself too well and I know I would never want such a job for myself(eye roll). But at the same time I liked that she wasn't apologetic about the fact she's single and she doesn't want to have children, as each women should be! Stand up for yourself and what you believe in! )
My rating reflects the fact that, despite the enjoyment, a lot of stuff went wrong. Firstly: the writing style was very simplistic and unsatisfactory. If I would keep a diary it will be pretty much written as this book, and I am no author!! Secondly I suspect the translation wasn't the best. It wasn't flowing and the so called poetry, while really scarce, was missing rhythm...The story line was a bit jumpy: snippets of different things without a particular pattern. But I guess the worst is that we had no in depth view of anything. Just general lines of her work as a farmer in different seasons, just bits of her fight against the power plant, and even less of "portrait of a remote life close to nature." as let's be honest here: she was totally enjoying the perks of modern life: machinery, cars, internet etc

[Rebecca]

I was offered a proof copy by the publisher on Twitter. I read the first 53 pages. I’d read three other sheep-herding memoirs in the past year and thought it would be interesting to hear from a female Icelandic shepherd who was a model before taking over her family farm and then reluctantly went into politics to try to block a hydroelectric power station on her land. Unfortunately, though, the book is scattered and barely competently written. It doesn’t help that the proof is error-strewn. [This mini-review has been corrected to reflect the fact that, unlike what is printed on the proof copy, the sole author is Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, who has written the book as if from Heiða Ásgeirsdóttir’s perspective.]

[Fern A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heida is a sheep farmer in rural Iceland. The book gives anecdotes of her life, work and surroundings and there really is a bit of everything in there. From growing up and attending boarding school, a brief modelling career, to all about sheep, lambing and spending hours in a tractor. Issues around politics, ecology and businesses buying up land and displacing farmers are also all addressed.

I really enjoyed reading this and learned a lot from the pages. Heida is an excellent role model- she knows what she wants and thinks and is definitely a go getter. In many ways this was a refreshing and wholesome read because it felt so genuine and honest. Reading it I almost forgot it was a book at all as it felt more like listening to a conversation. I particularly liked the sheep names! I suspect this is going to be a popular book.

Only thing that would have improved it would have been a pronunciation guide at the end. There are some brilliant words and place names which I have no idea how to say but would like to.

Thanks to Netgalley and John Murray Press for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
Although this was a fascinating insight into sheep farming out in the wilds of Iceland overall it was let down by the rest of the story away from the wilds.
It left me disappointed as a whole.

[Kaija · Rating 1 out of 5]

Voi ihmettä. Tämä olikin aivan erilainen kuin ajattelin. Sen verran luin, että kovaa työtä lammaspaimenen työ Islannissa on. Kirjoitustyylissä tökki jokin ja toisaalta itse Heidakaan ei ollut mielestäni kaikista sympaattisin. Lukuinnostus lopahti vähän alle maagisen 100 sivun ja löin kannet kiinni.

[Jenni]

Tämä jäi kesken, joten en viitsi tähdittää, mutta noin 2 tähteä antaisin.
Kiinnostava aihe ja päähenkilö, mutta mielestäni heikko ja kunnianhimoton kerronta, poukkoili ja kertoi epäolennaisuuksia. Tylsintä on juuri se, että asiat vain kerrotaan, ei kuvata käytännössä.

[Mai Laakso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Islantilaisen Steinunn Sigurdardottir´n teos Heida -Lammaspaimen maailman laidalta kertoo Heida Äsgeirsdottir´n elämäkerran. Heidasta tuli 23-vuotiaana sukutilan hoitaja, mutta oli tietysti tehnyt jo lapsesta asti töitä lammastilalla. Hän on periaatteessa monisatapäisen lammasfarmin omistaja ja ainoa työntekijä. Tietysti hän saa apua lähipiiriltä, suvulta ja naapureilta, mutta vastuu töistä on hänellä itsellään.

Heida on erittäin mielenkiintoinen teos islantilaisesta maanviljelijästä ja lammasfarmarista. Tulivuoren lähellä asuminen tuo lisäjännitystä elämään. Vuoristoinen tila ei ole helpoimmasta päästä tehdä maanviljelystyötä. Lisähaastetta Heidan elämään on tuonut voimalahanke, jota hän ryhtyi vastustamaan, sillä voimala olisi tehnyt paljon pahaa ympäristölle, luonnolle, ihmisille ja paikallisille maatiloille. Steinunn Sigurdardottir´n Heida on uskomaton kertomus vahvaluonteisesta naisesta, joka tekee sitä mitä haluaa ja osaa, ja jos ei osaa, opettelee.

[Rubí Santander · Rating 3 out of 5]

"No me gusta ni pizca que me digan lo guapa que soy. Estoy harta. Solo pienso… ¡ay, ya empiezan otra vez! Mi aspecto físico no es mérito mío, es pura genética. Mejor harías alabando algo que yo misma haya construido…, ¡porque entonces me derretiré como el chocolate al sol!"

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read, which immerses us in the lifestyle of an Icelandic sheep farmer. Several times through the memoir Heida tells us she did not see why she needed a husband in order to be a farmer. Well, she didn't, but life is exhausting and work unending, and she does need help for many tasks so she is lucky to have good friends or neighbours. Even to have someone to bottle feed lambs during lambing. I would suggest - as a self employed tree surgeon - that a husband is actually a very useful person to have around, and can help with paperwork and accounts or be a spare pair of hands, take phone calls and write mails so the tractor driving doesn't have to be done simultaneously, or cook great meals; and if they are also a sheep farmer, well the freed up time can allow for a second income stream. And then there's the moral support.

The farm is steeply sloped on the side of the volcano Katla, long overdue for its periodic eruption. Despite this a power generating firm tries to buy up the valley to construct a reservoir to generate power. I had thought Iceland ran on geothermal and had the cheapest power in the world, so I can't see how this would make them money in short or long term. (Maybe they were just in it for grant money?) We don't get a single mention of geothermal. Also, we are told several times of the environmental destruction the dam would create - but Heida never does nor asks for an ecological survey to discover exactly what species are on her land, and an ancient stand of woodland is almost unknown and barely mentioned. She mentions geese and the occasional bird she sees from her tractor; that is it for biodiversity. Her fight seems to be almost entirely about the beauty and usefulness of the heathland, good in themselves but not nearly enough to win. Especially as nobody but her ever gets to use her land. Community and tourist use would be an added value.

The effort of fighting the power firm and the barrage of letters, emails and notices is woven through the story; Heida attends meetings and discovers meetings are being held to which she is not invited. She stands for local election and makes presentations, to overhear that some think she will get married and stop farming in a few years. (Again, if she was married to a farmer it would look more stable.)

The book is well worth a read, though not for the squeamish, and it will make the reader aware of how sheep are raised (to a degree - Heida talks about pregnancy scanning but never mentions that sheep are given pregnancy hormone 'sponges' which is why they now have multiple births so often) and the intensive labour of livestock farming. The book is translated from the original, and I am guessing that und means and, because I spotted one und in the text. Short poems by Heida and others are included.
I borrowed this book from the RDS Library. This is an unbiased review.

[Sara Hlín · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heiða er greinilega stórkostleg manneskja og þessi bók gefur manni einstaka innsýn inn í líf hennar. Steinunn Sigurðar fer í þessari sögu langt út fyrir sinn venjulega ramma og segir frá Heiðu í fyrstu persónu í blöndu af dagbókar og samtalsformi. Í fyrstu fór stíllinn aðeins í taugarnar á mér en á endanum sá ég að líklega var þetta eina leiðin til að koma persónunni til skila á eðlilegan hátt. Heiða myndi eflaust ekki vilja að líf hennar hljómaði eins og ljóð. Púl, einhæfni og endurtekningar eru hluti af lífi bóndans. Mæli með þessari, ekki sem skáldverki heldur sem einstakri frásögn.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dithering between 3 and 4 stars. This reads like a series of interviews and it's a bit disjointed although it loosely follows the seasons as structure. Lots of fascinating insight into the life of an Icelandic sheep farmer, in this case a woman farming alone on a remote farm under threat from a power scheme (and under permanent threat from a volcano). Her personality shines through, and while it isn't exactly a memoir there is a lot of personal and family history. I would have liked a map, also illustrations although I presume that would have been too expensive. The cover is great.

[Katja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Olipas huonosti kirjoitettu kirja sinänsä kiinnostavasta aiheesta, lampaiden pitämisestä Islannin karuissa oloissa. Kirjassa kuitenkin tökki moni asia, eniten jankkaava kerronta ja naiivi kirjoitustyyli. Takakannen esittelyteksti ei myöskään pidä tippaakaan paikkansa; päähenkilö ei ole jättänyt mitään lupaavaa mallinuraa New Yorkissa, sillä hän ei ole koskaan sinne lähtenytkään.

[Froukje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik denk dat de Ijslandse taal niet goed te vertalen is naar een goed lopend Nederlands verhaal. Wat was het moeilijk om er doorheen te komen. Maar het had wel een mooie boodschap.

De Ijslandse Heida liet een modellencarrière in New York links liggen en koos voor haar roots. En dan niet het hippe, rumoerige Reykjavik, maar een afgelegen boerderij met 500 schapen aan de voet van de IJslandse Highlands. Daar heeft ze als buurvrouw Katla, IJslands beruchtste vulkaan. En juist in dit onwerkzaam gebied wordt Heida de vrouw die ze wil zijn.

Van een verlegen en onzeker meisje ontpopt ze zich tot een sterke vrouw die het in haar eentje opneemt tegen een energiebedrijf dat haar streek en schapen bedreigd. Tegen alle verwachtingen in blijft ze bewust single. Terwijl ze beter leert om te gaan met de ups en downs van het leven in de natuur, komt ze steeds dichterbij zichzelf.

[Leena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pakollinen kirja Islantifanille. Kiva kirja. Opin paljon uutta lampaista. Mm. sen, että niiden on kohtalokasta joutua selälleen. Ja tulivuorentuhka voi sokeuttaa lampaan. Ihmeellinen luonnonlapsi tämä Heiða, joka on ehtinyt toimia monissa ammateissa.

Mutta. Kirja olisi ollut paljon parempi, jos vähän olisi nähty vaivaa ja kustannustoimittaja tehnyt työnsä. Heiða on kirjoitellut tekstinpätkiä, jotka kirjoittajaksi merkitty S.S. on sijoitellut vuodenaikojen mukaan. Osin tämä toimii, enimmäkseen ei.

Kirjassa myös luetellaan kymmenittäin paikkoja, alueita, ihmisiä, nimiä ja kaikkea, mikä on lukijalle vierasta. Muutama kartta olisi auttanut asiaa, samoin jokunen valokuva olisi herättänyt kirjan eloon.
Osittain kirja on ilmeisesti tehty auttamaan ison voimalahankkeen vastaista kampanjointia.

[Aga Luberadzka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niewiele tego, czego spodziewałam się po przeczytaniu wstępu, ale opowieść Heidy bardzo mnie wciągnęła. Zastanawiam się jednak, czy wybór prowadzenia narracji w pierwszej osobie był trafiony i czy bardziej nie zaszkodził tej historii. Islandzka tytułowa wieś niezmiennie w top 3 marzeń podróżniczych!

[Aida · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vivencies d’ una dona islandesa, explica el seu dia a dia portant una granja d’ ovelles i la lluita perque en la seves terres no es construeixi un embassament per generar electricitat. M’ ha semblat interesant perque aniré a Islandia en breu.

[Laura Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in tiny tidbits now and then -- love how much of this world i now recognize, but also wondering what this book would be like for those who don't live in Iceland? interesting but didn't really hold my attention, although i liked it.

[Karoliina Timonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Diarmuid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a peculiar book. Enjoyed reading it, particularly the insights into all the challenges of running a farm in Iceland. But felt a little low on substance, of more reflection. Still worth a read.

[Ástþór Hermannsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ótrúlega skemmtileg bók um baráttu um að halda uppi búskap á sama tíma og verið er að reyna að eyðileggja landið með virkjun.

[Jemima Pett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating account of Heida's life in the Icelandic uplands, her dedication to her farm, her animals and her friends and their lifestyle. Pulled into politics against her will, she managed to lead the fight against a bully-boy power station development which would have ruined her very livelihood, as well as her home and the surrounding countryside.
I think this would be more difficult to read had I not visited Iceland last year, getting close to some of the places she describes, including the National Park where the power plant was planned. For someone without a basic feel for the language I think the names and place-names could be a distraction too far, since the story is presented in a rather disjointed and distracting fashion. I found some of the details and anecdotes repetitive, but that can add to the impact. The author wrote it on the basis of telephone interviews snatched at odd times in Heida's incredibly busy life.
It's a 3.5 stars from me, really.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wat een onuitstaanbare vrouw, die Heiða