Lighting for the World

Halldor Laxness, the acclaimed Icelandic Nobel Prize winner, presents a beautifully compassionate novel in which Olaf Karason, an unloved foster child on a rural farm in Iceland, finds solace in his belief that he will one day become a great poet. Despite facing indifference and contempt from those around him, Olaf remains steadfast in his conviction, knowing all too well that poets in Iceland are often scorned rather than revered.

As the years pass, Olaf's life unfolds as a reflection of the quintessential poet: marked by poverty, loneliness, disastrous love affairs, and scandal. Yet, despite his relentless pursuit of greatness, Olaf never quite achieves the recognition he seeks. In Halldor Laxness's remarkable novel, this seemingly cruel and comical journey takes on a deep sense of pathos and genuine elevation.

World Light delves into Olaf's trajectory as his ambition propels him towards encounters with a spiritualist teetering on the edge of instability, a dubious entrepreneur, and several vulnerable women. Through Olaf's story, the novel explores how the creative spirit can endure even in the harshest of circumstances and within the most unlikely of vessels.

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