The Atom Station

U.S. Military base, Keflavík, ca. 1962

But the people did nothing. The people are children. They are taught that criminals live in Skólavörðustígur and not Austurvöllur. Their faith in this wavers a bit, perhaps, from time to time, but when politicians have sworn often enough and hurrahed for long enough, they begin to believe it again. People don’t have the imagination to understand politicians. People are too innocent.

Stephen’s take on Laxness’ Station:

Halldór Laxness’ post-WWII satire The Atom Station has many parallels to the 2008 Kreppa (crisis/pinching) in Iceland. As the story begins the country is in turmoil, there are demonstrations in the streets, and foreign powers threaten Iceland’s recently won independence. Ugla (literal translation: owl) is a young woman from the rural north, who finds employment as a housekeeper at the home of Búi Árland: Businessman, Doctor of Philosophy and Member of Parliament. In Ugla’s eyes, Búi’s wife and children are spoiled rotten, symptomatic of the degenerate modern life in the city. When asked as to why she is in Reykjavík, Ugla says that she has come ‘south’ to learn how to play the harmonium for church services back home. As the story progresses, however, she reveals that her real longing is:

...to become a person, to know something, to be able to do something for myself...

She takes ‘lessons’ from a strange organist and meets his circle of dubious acquaintances. These lessons are as much about the way the world works as they are about music. Ugla also encounters a cell of Communists, further raising her awareness. Meanwhile, Búi hosts U.S. military men and members of parliament during negotiations to “sell the country” for an “atom station”—an event which did, in reality, lead to the existence of a U.S. military base in Keflavík for nearly sixty years.

All this intertwined plot gives plenty of room for Laxness to explore the social issues of the day. Many of them, such as fraudulent deals by sham Icelandic businesses, read as if they were torn from today’s headlines. Ugla’s faith in the values of her rural upbringing is challenged, but she is ultimately true to it by her refusal to become Búi’s mistress. Her decision to start a family with the somewhat shady man who fathered her child, while possibly not the best choice (although he is a Northerner), is a life of her choosing.

This novel was a landmark in Icelandic fiction, being the first novel published in Iceland to sell its entire initial print run on the day of publication. While not on the epic scale of other works by Laxness, I found it to be an enjoyable, if challenging, read and much better after a re-reading and I had gotten a little more background on its setting and themes. It has a much faster pace than most of his other novels; the story unfolds in less than a year. Laxness again shows his sensitivity and insight in his treatment of a female protagonist. While Ugla is hardly the heroic figure portrayed in Salka Valka, her character has real depth. I've found myself quoting this book on more than one occasion. It might be a bit bewildering at times for the beginning Laxness reader, but it is a solid effort by a truly great novelist.

I'll leave you with these thoughts from the ‘simple’ farm girl Ugla as she prepares to leave home:

When the peace of Autumn has become poetic instead of being taken for granted... the last day of the plover become a matter of personal regret... the horse become associated with the history of art and mythology... the evening ice-film on the farm stream become reminiscent of crystal... and the smoke from the chimney become a message to us from those who discovered fire—then the time has come to say goodbye. The world-bacterium has overcome you, the countryside has turned into literature, poetry and art; and you no longer belong there.

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Robert’s historical references in The Atom Station:

Ugla is a country girl from Iceland’s rural north and has come to Reykjavik to work as a housekeeper for a Member of Parliament and learn to play the organ. The ways of the city are a far cry from the life she has known in a place where the folklore and historic sagas of Iceland are more gospel than the gospel itself. The family she serves certainly have some strange ways, but it is at her weekly organ lessons where Ugla discovers the truly peculiar side of Reykjavik. Her organist is a free thinker (perhaps a hippy before his time) who burns money, lives with his mother and keeps company more bizarre than himself. It is here that Ugla learns, from gods, poets, and prostitutes, about the evils of Capitalism and the political turmoil that is sweeping urban Iceland. The people are up in arms because the Figures-Faking-Federation has plans to “sell the country,” build an atomic station in Keflavik and repatriate the remains of the Nation’s Darling. What’s a naive country girl to do?

If you are thinking that the story sounds a bit strange, that’s because it is. This is my second Laxness novel and it bears little resemblance to Independent People other than for its beautiful prose. Am I allowed to contribute the quality of the prose to the author or must I credit it to the translator? I’m a little confused on that point.

Quite apart from how debased Nature becomes in a picture, nothing seems to me to express so much contempt for Nature as a painting of Nature… Certainly Nature is in front of us, and behind us; Nature is under and over us, yes, and in us; but most particularly it exists in time, always changing and always passing, never the same; and never in a rectangular frame.

While the prose in this story was equally as magnificent as it was in Independent People, it wasn't really what captured my attention in this work; what I appreciated the most was the history lesson. Those of you who are regular followers of Pink Sheep Cafe will know that I am a huge fan of Timothy Findley. I love the way he blends historical fact with an often satirical fiction. In this way, I found The Atom Station very reminiscent of Findley… well, Laxness came first, so I suppose it’s the other way around, but, either way, I love trying to pick out the fact and the fiction in these tongue-in-cheek, historical reads.

The part of this story that concerns the building of the atom station in Iceland is very much true; in 1946 the Government of Iceland granted the United States a 99-year lease on a piece of land at Keflavik where they constructed a military base. The exhumation and repatriation of the remains of Jonas Hallgrimsson, Iceland’s most revered poet (affectionately known as The Nation’s Darling) also has a foundation in fact. The retelling and slight contortion of these historical details are all done with a spirit of pert impertinence. This is best demonstrated in the story by the government’s “selling of the country” that Laxness uses to insinuate the perceived loss of sovereignty that would accompany the Americans’ presence.

Those who enjoy peculiar historical fiction that is reasonably plot-centric will enjoy this book. If you are going to delve into The Atom Station, however, you will need to be prepared for not just its quirkiness, but for its equally heavy doses of philosophy and politics. Without question, this was one of the most overtly Communist books I’ve read.

“But no one doubts that Communism will win, or at least I know of no one who doubts it – I can confide this to you because the hour is twelve midnight, and a man becomes loose-tongued then, if not downright frivolous. You, on the other hand, are not conditioned against Communism and you have no occasion to be afraid of it; so for that reason you can be a Communist if you like, it’s quite becoming for a healthy country girl from the north to be a Communist – more so, at least, than being a lady.”

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Darien’s Review:

I didn’t save The Atom Station for last because I thought it would be my favorite Laxness. But I enjoyed reading it very much and liked it more than I had expected. For one thing, the title put me off (with apologies to my nuclear scientist friend, Reed). I thought that the novel might be more about communism, or socialism, than about human nature, or love. What was I thinking? Laxness always writes about human nature, and love!

The story is narrated by Ugla, a young woman from a very rural area in the north. She is unschooled and unrefined, and she has come to Reykjavík to work as a maid in the home of The Member of Parliament, Dr. Búi Árland. The family is wealthy, the wife feels her social significance deeply, and they, like most government officials, are vociferously anti-communist. Ugla finds herself immersed in the class struggle, and falls in with a bunch of artsy, musician types who are very strange.

The plot is fairly straightforward. Ugla comes to the city with a peasant-like, non-judgmental view of the world. She is exposed to new people, new ideas and prejudices, and finds that life can be much more complex and confusing than she is used to. In the course of the story she discovers her potential:

Whether I was kissed or not kissed, a person’s mouth was a kiss, or at least half a kiss.

The novel is named for an “atom station” that world powers wish to situate in Iceland, raising the question of whether the country is about to be “sold.” Ugla’s allegiances are tested, as the political situation affects the people she works for, and the country as a whole. The atom station represents the power of self-destruction, while Ugla is drawn toward creation, creativity, humanity. She seems to embody a heroic ideal of the eternal mother. She is a physically large young woman, and is portrayed in a way that reminds me of monumental art. While the country may be sold, Ugla would sacrifice herself rather than sell herself.

The selling of Iceland resonates today, over fifty years following the publication of this book. The collapse of the banking system and the controversial aluminum smelter in eastern Iceland highlight themes that are not new. The conflicts that concern Ugla are universal. Here are words of Ugla’s that we could live by today:

I was taught never to believe a single word that is written in the papers, and nothing except what is written in the Icelandic Sagas ...

Ugla also speaks words that clearly come straight from Halldór Laxness himself:

That is why I am not going to say how it happened or what it was, I can only tell you the external causes until it ceases to be a story.

The Atom Station was written after Laxness had already firmly established himself as a formidable author, with Salka Valka, Independent People, and World Light already completed, among other major works. The Happy Warriors and The Fish Can Sing were to follow this work. The Atom Station seems unique to me, somewhat of an anomaly, or perhaps experimental. Some have described this novel as “absurdist” and it does border on that. Laxness fans will recognize much in the book and yet find it differently flavored as well. You won’t want to miss it!

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Michael’s review in the Guardian…

Damian's impressions…

Helen's take on The Atom Station…

Giuliano's paper on Atomstation on Project Muse…

Kimbofo’s review in Literary Hub…

M. A. looks at TAS in The Complete Review…

Jack explores human relationships in AS…

Christinna compares The Atom Station with Heinesen’s The Black Cauldron vis-á-vis Nationalism and Captialism…

Wikipedia article…

Extended thread…

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Publishing history:

Atómsötðin

Helgafell, Reykjavík, 1948

Translated by Magnus Magnusson:

The Atom Station
Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, 1961
Second Chance Press, Sag Harbor, N.Y., 1982
Harvill Press, London, 2003
Penguin paperback 2022, eBook 2011