Sjón

Victoria Cribb

Invited to sail on a Danish merchant ship in 1949, eccentric Icelander, Valdimar Haraldsson, discovers the second mate on the ship is none other than Caeneus, the hero of Greek mythology, who regales his fellow shipmates with tales of the Golden Fleece. 50,000 first printing.

A Novel

The Whispering Muse

Trevor Berrett

It’s all incredibly humorous, but when I’m reading a book like this, with such disparate threads, I am waiting for the moment they, in some way, come together, explain to me why they are part of the same book, add up to more than they are on their own. I didn’t get that here.

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The year is 1949 and Valdimar Haraldsson, an eccentric Icelander with elevated ideas about the influence of fish consumption on Nordic civilisation, has had the singular good fortune to be invited to join a Danish merchant ship on its way to the Black Sea. Among the crew is the mythical hero Caeneus, disguised as the second mate. Every evening after dinner he entrances his fellow travellers with the tale of how he sailed with the fabled vessel the Argo on the Argonauts' quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. A master storyteller, Sjón seamlessly blends seafaring yarns of the ancient world with the manners of the modern age.

John I. Clark

A bit tiresome. 

Not sure what to think of this book. Way too much storytelling by one of the characters, all loosely based on Jason & the Argonauts. Surprisingly racy, though in a very conservative fashion, if that makes sense. It doesn't put me in the mood to read more Sohn, that's for sure.

Lindsy Rice

"An extraordinary, powerful fable—a marvel."—Alberto Manguel The year is 1949 and Valdimar Haraldsson, an eccentric Icelander with elevated ideas about the influence of fish consumption on Nordic civilization, has had the singular good

Sang Le

"Sublime . . . A work of coy humor and shape-shifting magic ." --The Wall Street Journal Sjón's novels have been championed by a veritable pantheon of literary luminaries: Junot Díaz, David Mitchell, A. S. Byatt, Hari Kunzru, and Alberto Manguel, who calls The Whispering Muse "an extraordinary, powerful fable--a marvel." The Whispering Muse is Sjón's masterpiece so far. The year is 1949 and Valdimar Haraldsson, an eccentric Icelander with elevated ideas about the influence of fish consumption on Nordic civilization, has had the extraordinary good fortune to be invited to join a Danish merchant ship on its way to the Black Sea. Among the crew is the mythical hero Caeneus, disguised as the second mate. Every evening after dinner he entrances his fellow travelers with the tale of how he sailed with the fabled vessel the Argo on the Argonauts' quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. What unfolds is a slender, brilliant, always entertaining novel that evokes Borges and Calvino as it weaves together tales of myth and antiquity with the modern world in a literary voice so singular as to seem possessed.

The Whispering Muse A Novel

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