"[Laxness is] a poet who writes to the edge of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot: He takes a Tolstoyan overview, he weaves in an Evelyn Waugh-like humor: it is not possible to be unimpressed."
– Daily Telegraph (London)
"[An author of] compassionate, scathing novels." -Annie Dillard,
The New York Times Book Review "[Laxness is] a poet who writes to the edge of the pages, a visionary who allows us a plot: He takes a Tolstoyan overview, he weaves in an Evelyn Waugh-like humor: it is not possible to be unimpressed."
– Daily Telegraph (London)
"Laxness is a brilliant writer."
–The Washington Post