Novel
Justice Undone
Grámosinn glóir
Thor Vilhjálmsson · 1986
Synopsis
In the nineteenth century, a young magistrate just back from his studies in Copenhagen must investigate, in a remote region of Iceland, the case of a half-brother and half-sister accused of incest and suspected of infanticide. While he grows used to his new life, he crosses on horseback landscapes that the narrative renders as poetry, faces taciturn defendants, and comes up against a world indifferent to the civilization he believes he represents, between guilt, responsibility and reality.
Context
The novel appeared in 1986 from Svart á hvítu, in Reykjavík, and is inspired by a real trial. It won its author the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1988; the jury praised a language that unites the Icelandic narrative tradition with new forms, and the journey of a magistrate through a magical landscape that reflects his inner struggles. Allusions to classical and Scandinavian myths abound in it. Régis Boyer translated it into French for Actes Sud in 1991, Bernard Scudder into English.
Who it is for
For a courtroom novel that turns into a meditation, carried by dense prose and Icelandic landscapes seen from horseback.
Prizes and reception
Crowned by the Nordic jury two years after its publication, it was translated into French and English within the following ten years.