Keaton Patterson buys books for a living at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Texas. Follow him on Twitter .

by Ófeigur Sigurdsson, translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith (Iceland, Deep Vellum)

Why should Ófeigur Sigurðsson’s Ö��æ�ھ�: The Wasteland win the 2019 Best Translated Book Award for fiction? To start, it’ll be easier to go over all the reasons it shouldn’t win. It’s too absurd. Too funny. Too outlandish. Too wrapped up in the mythology of its own making. There’s too much about Viking sagas, penis amputation, Icelandic goats, natural disasters, and most importantly it goes on and on about the virtues of death metal. All of this is couched in a complex, densely nested narrative structure that removes the reader from the truth by no fewer than three degrees. But all these reasons are actually beside the point. Ö��æ�ھ� should win the 2019 BTBA, because it really just doesn’t give a fuck whether it wins or not. It is a novel that exists solely by its own volition. It is a fictional force of nature that claimed every single literary award Iceland—quite possibly the most literary country per capita on the planet—has to offer. ORAEFI plays by its own rules, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Sigurdsson didn’t so much as write it as divine it out of the cold northern ether. Quite simply, Ö��æ�ھ� is.

But let’s break it down to the nitty-gritty. At its core, Ö��æ�ھ� is about the power of story—how stories embed themselves into our lives and the very world around us. This is most conspicuously portrayed by the Austrian protagonist, Bernhardt Fingerberg (a completely unveiled nod to the misanthropic rants of another famous Austrian), who has come to a desolate and remote region of Iceland for his research into toponymy—the study of place names. Never has there been a more aloof and idiosyncratic hero in contemporary literature. He is a highly educated fool totally at the mercy of his own obsession. And while he faces harsh elements and unspecified dangers at every turn of his quixotic quest, it is in essence the stories behind the places he goes that threaten to envelope him completely. Sound weird? It is. That is Ö��æ�ھ�.

Moreover, Ö��æ�ھ� is also about the imperfect art of translation. The narrative is recounted by a bedridden Bernhardt—who speaks no Icelandic—to an eccentric veterinarian who only half understands what her charge is saying and does not hesitate to embellish the tale at every turn, and has written it all down in a letter to another unnamed narrator—maybe Sigurðsson himself— who has no idea why this strange story has been sent to him. This makes Ö��æ�ھ� a flashpoint of miscommunication that nevertheless somehow manages to epitomize our need as a species to make sense of the world and its happenings. Even when that sense is founded on misunderstanding. Translation—the necessity of deciphering that which inevitably remains closed off from our own immediate experiences, but somehow still brings us toward unearthing a hidden kernel of humanity. Ö��æ�ھ�, like translation, is an insurmountable distance bringing us ever closer to a truth of our own making.

Now, you may be reading this and thinking—WTF!? And that is fine. In fact, that is the point. Ö��æ�ھ� wants you to be confused, to give yourself over to that confusion, to lose yourself in it, and ultimately to see that perhaps that is all there is. This makes it as ballsy a book as I have ever read. A swaggering, sui generis titan of a novel that strides across the imaginary landscape like a Viking marauder laying waste to all the lesser narratives it encounters. It beheads undeserving texts like its cousin, CoDex 1962, and holds the dripping bloody remains aloft as warning and enticement to readers everywhere. Behold, here is Ö��æ�ھ�. Look upon it and tremble…or laugh. Both are equally warranted responses, and all the proof needed that Ö��æ�ھ�: The Wasteland—the product of Sigurðsson’s infinite imagination and Lytton Smith’s undeniable talent as a translator—is without a doubt the best translated book of 2019. Now, cue the death metal.

by Guðbergur Bergsson, translated from Icelandic by Lytton Smith (Iceland, Open Letter Books)

Writing why Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller should win the Best Translated Book Award is like trying to describe a bizarre, exhausting dream that felt important but wound up buried too deep in your subconscious for words to make sense of now that you’re awake. As I was reading this beautiful mess by Iceland’s Guðbergur Bergsson I kept thinking to myself, how is this even a book? And how did translator Lytton Smith not descend into madness bringing it into English? This isn’t hyperbole, the book is that much. It’s a monumental piece of work in a meta sort of way, and that’s why it should win the BTBA.

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is ostensibly a collection of fictitious notebooks written by a cranky old man with a mind full of literary brilliance and egotistical bitterness, a man with a lot of opinions who is generally ticked off about everything. Even though the book is printed in a standard typeface, it reads like journaling. It’s full of errors, has a haphazard page layout, and its elderly ramblings are often barely penetrable as they weave in and out of the fragmented Iceland stories and intellectual manifestoes. Sometimes the narrative switches recklessly from one topic to another without warning—I swear it switched mid-sentence at one point, but now I can’t find that part to tell you about it. As I was looking for this passage I did, however, find a page on which Tómas is complaining about the cat and right in the middle of his anecdote for some reason is written, “(something is wrong with the text here).” I also found another funny section where he’s unhappy about the kitchen habits of his tenants and says, “This is ugh and yeuch, Bubbi.” A big part of reading this book is noticing these foibles, laughing and baffling over them, and usually not finding a clear explanation for them. Instead, you just accept their absurdity and recognize that they are weirdly wonderful. Your own personal collection of these odd buried treasures is, I’d say, what you can look forward to taking away from your reading of this strange book.

I’m sure fictional character Tómas Jónsson, who is very much concerned with his literary image (the title tries to claim itself a “bestseller” after all), would not have wanted these notebooks published in the state of shambles they’re in. And that’s part of the book’s wild charm: it’s one of Iceland’s twentieth-century literary masterpieces, and yet it captures the exact opposite of, say, a poised and polished tale of Vikings or fairies (as an English-language reader might try to expect out of Iceland). Iceland is sloppy, frustrating, and grotesquely authentic in this book. It’s the literary equivalent of sneaking away from the tour guide taking you past all the tidy and respectable historical monuments in Reykjavik and instead venturing into an apartment building on a side street and peeking through a keyhole into the gritty, authentic domestic life going on in there, with its chamber pots, chipped dishes, laundry messes, and smells of soup. But that metaphor doesn’t go far enough—you’re looking not just inside an apartment, but deep into the mind of the man who owns it, which becomes a rare glimpse into the psyche of Iceland itself.

In trying to describe Bergsson’s book, I feel I’ve written an inevitable word salad, perhaps not dissimilar to the salads of Tómas Jónsson himself. I don’t think I’ve really gotten to the crux of why this book should win the BTBA, which aims to award both the book and the translation. So on that point: imagine what a labyrinth of rabbit holes and mayhem this book was for a translator to contend with. How did he even know what was happening from one sentence to the next!? How does one faithfully translate a text that borders on impenetrable into something that can be even be read? Lytton Smith not only got the job done, he did it with humor, nuance, and beauty. He let the crazy stuff be opaque and difficult, but also depicted those scattered moments of poetic beauty and philosophical wisdom with the artful language necessary for a reader to discover them amid the textual chaos. He also made sure the silly parts about cats, chickens, and chamber pots came through with the punchy cadence they deserved. So the translation is a feat in and of itself, and the book finally finding its way into English is a triumph of Iceland’s literary community, which has kept Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller, originally published in 1966, from slipping off the radar and into obscurity all this time (as you might expect such a loose baggy monster in a relatively obscure language to do).

I’ve not read all of the finalists, but I’m confident no other translation vying for the Best Translated Book Award in 2018 simply is what it is with as much vigorous impossibility as Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller. Not even Fever Dream. Even if this paragraph amounts to more word salad, let that vigorous impossibility be the reason this book should win.

As previously noted, the next season of the Two Month Review will feature two books by Mercè Rodoreda: and Click here to get the full schedule, and use the 2MONTH code at to get 20% off. (That discount code also works for “Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller”: and “The Invented Part.”: And if you’d rather support your local bookstore, do it! They should have all of these titles. If not, shame them. Preferably in a very public way. Kidding, totally kidding. Obviously every store carries all of our books.)

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Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official

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You can read an excerpt from Kári’s latest novel (translated by Larissa Kyzer) at and can find his archived Grapevine articles

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The music for this season of Two Month Review is by The Anchoress.

This week, Tom Flynn of returns to the Two Month Review to talk about three of the more difficult bits of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller: one section that’s a dream, one about mediums and resurrection, and one that’s a poem for going to bed and for death. Thanks to Tom’s perceptive insights and Lytton’s genius, they’re able to puzzle out all three sections and provide some solid guidance for everyone reading along.

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The music for this season of Two Month Review is by The Anchoress.

Reminder! On September 30th, we will be recording the final episode of this season of the Two Month Review at in Brooklyn as part of The First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, will kick things off at 2pm with a lecture and reading, then at 3pm, Lytton and Chad will discuss the final section of Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller (and take audience questions), followed by a recpetion at 4pm. It’s free to attend, so come on out and see us do this live!

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The music for this season of Two Month Review is by The Anchoress.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow and for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

And you can find all the Two Month Review posts by clicking here. Please rate us on iTunes and/or leave a review!

The music for this season of Two Month Review is by The Anchoress.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow and for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. Also, you can support Idra Novey by and buying her novel, which is available now.

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The music for this season of Two Month Review is by The Anchoress.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

Follow and for more thoughts and information about upcoming guests. You can also follow on Twitter, and Jacob on

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The music for this season of Two Month Review is by The Anchoress.

Also discussed in this episode is for Conversational Reading.

Feel free to comment on this episode—or on the book in general—either on this post, or at the official

Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller is available at better bookstores everywhere, and you can also order it directly from where you can get 20% off by entering 2MONTH in the discount field at checkout.

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You can follow Scott Esposito on and or at And you can get his latest book, The Doubles, from

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The music for this season of Two Month Review is by The Anchoress.