Buried Treasure
Terry Jones on Halldor Laxness's 'Independent People' and 'World Light'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Here are two wonderful treasures from the black sandy shores of Iceland: Independent People (Harvill, £7.99) and World Light (Vintage, £12.99) by the Nobel prize-winning author, Halldor Laxness. Laxness writes about people living at the very edge of existence. It is a bleak world in which people who possess nothing very often do terrible things to each other. And yet both of the books are filled with humour and compassion. The first time that I read Independent People, the tragedy of the events in the book overwhelmed me. It was only when my Icelandic friend said, "But it's so funny" that I went back and read it a second time - and it was like a different book. Magical stuff.
Terry Jones's 'Who Murdered Chaucer?' is published this week by Methuen
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments