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🇮🇸 Iceland /Culture & Society

Smoking a Cigar in His Grandfather’s Study

From Morgunblaðið · () Icelandic

Translated from Icelandic and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Icelandic comedian and writer Halldór Laxness Halldórsson has completed filming a documentary series about his grandfather, Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness.
  • The series, titled The White Castle, explores the author’s life and family at Gljúfrasteinn, where Halldórsson recreated parts of his grandfather’s world.
  • The project comes amid discussion in Iceland about declining interest in Laxness among secondary-school students.

Halldór Laxness Halldórsson says filming a new documentary series about his grandfather gave him the chance to make pancakes, smoke a cigar in the author’s study at Gljúfrasteinn and drive his Jaguar.

He also held the Nobel Prize. “It is very heavy,” said Halldórsson, a comedian and writer better known as Dóri DNA.

Halldórsson has just finished filming The White Castle with director Ísak Hinriksson. The documentary series focuses on Nobel laureate Halldór Laxness, his life and his family at Gljúfrasteinn.

The series arrives as Iceland debates the writer’s place in modern life. Morgunblaðið reported last October that fewer than one-third of secondary-school students now read one of Laxness’s novels as part of their compulsory Icelandic studies.

It has been fantastic. I made pancakes, smoked a cigar in the study at Gljúfrasteinn and drove the Jaguar. Then I got to hold the Nobel Prize. It is very heavy.

· Halldór Laxness HalldórssonThe comedian and writer described his experience filming the documentary series about his grandfather.
About this summary

Originally published by Morgunblaðið in Icelandic. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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