News
France falls for Jón Kalmann
It seems the French have fallen completely for Jón Kalmann and his novel Himnaríki og helvíti, published in France in the middle of February by the Gallimard Publishing House in a translation by Eric Boury. The novel has sold so well that its print run has been doubled only ten days after the original release date, which means that around 7000 copies have been circulated to French book stores. Some shops, for example the bookstore Millepages in the Vincennes suburb of Paris, have cleared their windows to give the book an exclusive display. Critical reaction has also been extremely positive. The Livre Hebdo literary critic is surprised that Jón Kalmann has not been translated before, judging him to be one of Iceland's foremost writers of our times and the work to be a real eye-opener for French lovers of literature. “The writer has managed, without even once over-embroidering or being sentimental, to draw a vivid picture of the seamen of previous times, their intolerable conditions and simple pleasures [...] From the very first lines, Death hovers over and around us, as if the book was written from beyond [...]. At one point the boy says he feels as if he's living in a novel. He certainly does and in a particularly beautiful novel at that.”
When it took the decision to publish Himnaríki og helvíti, Gallimard declared its intention of making Jón Kalmann one of the biggest names in European modern literature [link to news item from Bjartur]. Gallimard is one of France's most respected publishing houses, priding itself on having published the greatest giants of world literature; it was also the first to publish a French translation of an Icelandic novel, the first part of Halldór Laxness' Salka Valka. Laxness, the first modern Icelandic writer to be published in France, said at the time that it was a great victory for Icelandic culture for the book to be circulating amongst “the most discriminating readers in the world”. Jón Kalman's achievement is just as impressive as only 2% of books currently translated in France come from the Nordic countries.
Bjartur's director of publication Guðrún Vilmundardóttir is naturally delighted with the book's success in France. “This is a big step, to have it published there in the first place, and then to get this reaction to the book, showing that Jón Kalmann has really taken off in France.” Asked why the book has gone down so well there, Vilmundardóttir says that the interest is fuelled by general curiosity: “This is a world which the French know little about.” Vilmundardóttir says there is huge anticipation for the next book, the last one in the trilogy: “We get emails nearly every day asking when the next one will be published.” It is hoped to bring it out next Christmas.