Í havsins hjarta
Shortly before the turn of the past century, a newly ordained priest, 24 years of age, arrived in the country, right around the same time as new and different winds were blowing. The priest was the author’s great grandfather. This is where the story of the 20th century begins.
Í havsins hjarta (In the Heart of the Ocean) is a novel about the time following the Christmas Meeting, all the way through the National Movement, World War, the referendum, the Cold War, and the economic crash, up until the people’s meeting on Slættaratindur. A story of a hundred years of hope and setbacks, seen through the eyes of a person, who is at home and away at the same time; observer, dreamer, and participant all at once.
As per usual, Gunnar Hoydal’s texts are based on own experiences; they are diverse and rapidly shifting between fiction and reality, anecdotes and free imagination; in this book, composed by 39 chapters, constituting a wide-ranging novel about the world, the country, and the times.
Reviews of the novels by Gunnar Hoydal:
Undir suðurstjørnum (Under Southern stars) is a most extraordinary novel: countries and times are woven together, the personal and the social blended into one…a major work of literature – magic, reality, humour, and beauty, all in rich abundance.
Fay Weldon
“Dalurin fagri” (The beautiful valley) is a novel with many layers and many virtues, stylistic as well as psychological, emotional, and humorous in its social criticism as well as its perception of reality ... especially its expressionistic psychoanalysis represents a big step in Faroese literature.
Anne-Kari Skarðhamar
Í havsins hjarta (In the Heart of the Ocean): The framework a family saga, on the other side, a time capsule. Magnificent and touching – and a political commentary with unlived and, at least, unwritten continuation. A masterpiece, to say the least.
Heðin M. Klein