Codex 1962: A Trilogy

Author:   Sjon ,  Victoria Cribb
Publisher:   MCD
ISBN:  

9780374125639


Pages:   528
Publication Date:   11 September 2018
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
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Codex 1962: A Trilogy


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Overview

Spanning eras, continents, and genres, CoDex 1962--twenty years in the making--is Sjon's epic three-part masterpiece Over the course of four dazzling novels translated into dozens of languages, Sjon has earned a global reputation as one of the world's most interesting writers. But what the world has never been able to read is his great trilogy of novels, known collectively as CoDex 1962--now finally complete. Josef Loewe, the narrator, was born in 1962--the same year, the same moment even, as Sjon. Josef's story, however, stretches back decades in the form of Leo Loewe--a Jewish fugitive during World War II who has an affair with a maid in a German inn; together, they form a baby from a piece of clay. If the first volume is a love story, the second is a crime story: Loewe arrives in Iceland with the clay-baby inside a hatbox, only to be embroiled in a murder mystery--but by the end of the volume, his clay son has come to life. And in the final volume, set in present-day Reykjavik, Josef's story becomes science fiction as he crosses paths with the outlandish CEO of a biotech company (based closely on reality) who brings the story of genetics and genesis full circle. But the future, according to Sjon, is not so dark as it seems. In CoDex 1962, Sjon has woven ancient and modern material and folklore and cosmic myths into a singular masterpiece--encompassing genre fiction, theology, expressionist film, comic strips, fortean studies, genetics, and, of course, the rich tradition of Icelandic storytelling.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sjon ,  Victoria Cribb
Publisher:   MCD
Imprint:   MCD
Dimensions:   Width: 14.70cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 21.30cm
Weight:   0.635kg
ISBN:  

9780374125639


ISBN 10:   0374125635
Pages:   528
Publication Date:   11 September 2018
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

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Reviews

[A] challenging and cacophonous epic by the talented Sj n . . . An amalgam of creation myth, surrealist absurdity, ancient saga, and contemporary satire. --Booklist Sj n is more than a novelist; he is a storyteller in the ancient tradition, and this work may be remembered as his masterpiece. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) In this beguiling, surpassingly eccentric triptych, Icelandic novelist Sj n takes on, in turn, romance (classic, not Gothic), mystery, and science fiction to examine how people parse themselves into little camps and try to make their way through this harsh world . . . Sj n's work is unlike anything else in contemporary fiction. Strange--but stunning. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) CoDex 1962 . . . wonders at the many complicated ways that it, as a lengthy novel, has of making time pass; it wonders at how its skilled narrator can give shape and color to that passage. --The Daily Telegraph (UK) A work of virtuoso narrative . . . an Icelandic 1001 Nights. Phil Baker, The Sunday Times (UK) [Sj n's] stories compound the dreamscapes of Surrealism, the marvels of Icelandic folklore and a pop-culture sensibility into free-form fables. Call it magical realism under Nordic lights . . . Their style skips gleefully among a dozen genres, 'visionary poems' to 'futuristic films, ' 'folk tales' to 'gossip columns' (all name checked by Josef). --The Economist (UK) No one can escape Sj n's wild originality. --Informat on (Denmark) Sj n delivers a complex story in which violence and desire, voices and actions, are beautifully woven together. --Politiken (Denmark) It's as if Hans Christian Andersen is telling a story by Kafka, or vice versa. --Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) Sj n's book gives us hope for the novel as an art form. --Sydsvenska Dagbladet (Sweden)


Sjon is a prodigal storyteller in all senses of the phrase . . . He is a master of atmosphere, a fine observer of the cross-hatchings of human motivation, and a vivid noticer of detail. --Garth Risk Hallberg, The New York Times Book Review The Icelandic literary maverick and Oscar-nominated songwriter Sjon writes with a poet's ear and a musician's natural sense of rhythm. [In] this extraordinary performance . . . the effect is hypnotic. The reader becomes a gleeful collaborator in an extravaganza in which Bosch meets Chagall, with touches of Tarantino. --Eileen Battersby, The Guardian A work of virtuoso narrative . . . An Icelandic 1001 Nights. --The Sunday Times [A] challenging and cacophonous epic by the talented Sjon . . . An amalgam of creation myth, surrealist absurdity, ancient saga, and contemporary satire. --Booklist Sjon is more than a novelist; he is a storyteller in the ancient tradition, and this work may be remembered as his masterpiece. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) In this beguiling, surpassingly eccentric triptych, Icelandic novelist Sjon takes on, in turn, romance (classic, not Gothic), mystery, and science fiction to examine how people parse themselves into little camps and try to make their way through this harsh world . . . Sjon's work is unlike anything else in contemporary fiction. Strange--but stunning. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Sjon can flick from angelic frolics to seedy violence as if each tale were a smooth refraction of the last. He has a knack for high comedy, too . . . Victoria Cribb deserves equal praise for bringing all this zest into English so well. --Cal Revely-Calder, The Daily Telegraph (UK) A work of virtuoso narrative . . . an Icelandic 1001 Nights. --Phil Baker, The Sunday Times (UK) A master of Icelandic fiction . . . Sjon's stories compound the dreamscapes of surrealism, the marvels of Icelandic folklore and a pop-culture sensibility into free-form fables. --The Economist (UK) No one can escape Sjon's wild originality. --Information (Denmark) Sjon delivers a complex story in which violence and desire, voices and actions, are beautifully woven together. --Politiken (Denmark) It's as if Hans Christian Andersen is telling a story by Kafka, or vice versa. --Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) Sjon's book gives us hope for the novel as an art form. --Sydsvenska Dagbladet (Sweden)


[Sj n's] wild, subversive imagination is among his great strengths, not only in CoDex 1962 but throughout his work. --The Guardian [A] challenging and cacophonous epic by the talented Sj n . . . An amalgam of creation myth, surrealist absurdity, ancient saga, and contemporary satire. --Booklist Sj n is more than a novelist; he is a storyteller in the ancient tradition, and this work may be remembered as his masterpiece. --Publishers Weekly (starred review) In this beguiling, surpassingly eccentric triptych, Icelandic novelist Sj n takes on, in turn, romance (classic, not Gothic), mystery, and science fiction to examine how people parse themselves into little camps and try to make their way through this harsh world . . . Sj n's work is unlike anything else in contemporary fiction. Strange--but stunning. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) CoDex 1962 . . . wonders at the many complicated ways that it, as a lengthy novel, has of making time pass; it wonders at how its skilled narrator can give shape and color to that passage. --The Daily Telegraph (UK) A work of virtuoso narrative . . . an Icelandic 1001 Nights. --Phil Baker, The Sunday Times (UK) [Sj n's] stories compound the dreamscapes of Surrealism, the marvels of Icelandic folklore and a pop-culture sensibility into free-form fables. Call it magical realism under Nordic lights . . . Their style skips gleefully among a dozen genres, 'visionary poems' to 'futuristic films, ' 'folk tales' to 'gossip columns' (all name checked by Josef). --The Economist (UK) No one can escape Sj n's wild originality. --Informat on (Denmark) Sj n delivers a complex story in which violence and desire, voices and actions, are beautifully woven together. --Politiken (Denmark) It's as if Hans Christian Andersen is telling a story by Kafka, or vice versa. --Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) Sj n's book gives us hope for the novel as an art form. --Sydsvenska Dagbladet (Sweden)


Author Information

Born in Reykjavik in 1962, Sjon is a celebrated Icelandic author whose novels have been published in over thirty-five languages. He won the Nordic Council's Literary Prize for his novel The Blue Fox(the Nordic countries' equivalent of the Man Booker Prize) and the novel From The Mouth Of The Whale was shortlisted for both the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The novel Moonstone - The Boy Who Never Was received every literary prize in Iceland, including the coveted Icelandic Literary Prize. CoDex 1962, a novel in three books written over 25 years, was published in Iceland in 2016 to great acclaim. As a poet, librettist, and lyricist, Sjon has published more than a half dozen poetry collections, written four opera libretti, and lyrics for various artists. In 2001 he was nominated for an Oscar for his lyrics in the film Dancer In The Dark. Sjon is the president of PEN International's Icelandic Centre and lives in Reykjavik with his wife and two children. Victoria Cribb has spent the last twenty-five years immersed in Iceland's language and literature. After reading Old Icelandic at Cambridge, she took an MA in Scandinavian Studies at University College London and a BPhil in Icelandic at the University of Iceland, before working in Iceland for a number of years as a publisher, journalist, and translator. Since 2002 she has lived in London, working as a freelance translator, and currently also teaches Icelandic at University College London and in Cambridge. Her translations include Sjon's The Blue Fox, From the Mouth of the Whale, The Whispering Muse, and Moonstone, and three novels in collaboration with Olaf Olafsson, as well as countless other works of fiction and nonfiction, published in books, anthologies, and magazines.

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