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The Atom Station

December 4, 2009
Book of the Day: The Atom Station, by Halldor Laxness
Grade: A
First published: 1948
1-word review: Absurd
6-word review: Iceland is one screwed up country.

Halldor Laxness is one of those great writers that few people have heard of, most likely because he wrote in an obscure language, Icelandic. I would recommend his Independent People as one of the great epic novels of the twentieth century.

The Atom Station is a great little absurdist satire. Ugla, a young woman from Iceland's rural north, becomes a maid to a Member of Parliament in Reykjavik at the same time that the government is planning on giving the United States the rights to build a military base in Iceland. Laxness effectively satirizes the greed of businessmen, the mischief-causing boredom of the rich, the ignorant complacency of the poor, the simple-mindedness of anarchists, the ineffectual idealism of the communists, the paranoia of the anti-communists, the follies of youth, etc., etc.

Here's Halldor.


Here's an older Halldor, with a Hitler moustache. He would fit in well in Idaho.


Here's a laughing Halldor, followed by Reese Witherspoon. Both are very attractive.



That is all. Be nice to your mommas.

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