Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was

"Well, I got to know Sjón through his literature first. Or at least I thought so. But then it turned out that he was a member of a band that I listened to quite a lot when I was a teenager, The Sugarcubes. It didn’t make him less interesting, I agree! But I did fall for Sjón’s talent through his written art more than anything—and I’d haven’t listened to his music for decades, since I turned 22. He is rooted in an Icelandic tradition where magical realism is strong, but he’s also a minimalist and a poet. He’s quite enigmatic, strange and playful and very musical, of course. There’s a strong sense of timing in his writing. I feel he’s breaking literary ground every time he writes something and I enjoy reading his literature very much. It takes place in Reykjavik during the Spanish flu. The pandemic swipes through the Icelandic capital and we follow a young call boy, Mani, who’s drifting in and out of sexual encounters, and who’s balancing on a feverishly thin line between life and death. The narrative felt fluid to me, and yet graphic. It was like it was written in black chalk, dusty, transparent, and very graphic. It’s like an artwork while also being a really good story about sexuality, ecstasy, illness—and death. He’s very much an outsider, and like Ramquist’s character left on his own fighting for survival under difficult circumstances. I agree that in their loneliness and the way they’re dealing with a life in the shadows, in the back alleys and in the underbelly of the city, they resemble each other. “I feel Sjón is breaking literary ground every time he writes something” Sjón is just less of a realist than Ramquist. He takes his writing to the surreal instead. It’s the Icelandic tradition, I guess. Things are dwelling in volcanoes, in glaciers, in the tundra, under the stones. You’ll have to read it for yourself. He takes the narrative to a completely surprising place, and he does it with such coolness and precision. You should not try to write such and ending at home. You will injure yourself. Just don’t do it. But, please, read Sjón."