25.5.2009
An Eye For A Tooth
Cormack Bryson:
An Eye for a Tooth
SUMMARY
http://www.netsaga.is/media/files/Ep-IdM11-1.mp3
The story happens in Reykjavik in 1995; there it begins, and there it ends. The narration flashes back as far as 1943 and flows so that the circle closes, and the beginning and ending run together as one.
The main characters are the couple Violet and John. They live in one of the old and dignified houses on Tjarnargata, across from the Frikirkja Church. They have two children, Paul and Steina. Laura, an au pair, also lives in the house.
Violet is the daughter of the couple Gudrún Rose and Simon Sörenson who operate the company C&C (Caramels and Creams). When Simon was younger, he was the champion speed walker of Iceland and Europe which earned him the nickname Speedy Simon. The couple's elder daughter, Edith, has recently moved back to Iceland from Denmark. She and her husband, Cecil, live out in the country where he is a music teacher and organist.
A retarded girl, Slow Suzy, is an employee working at the company C&C. The story relates an incident that happened in 1962 when Speedy Simon was 27 and had become Speed Walking Champion of Europe. Slow Suzy was then 15, and Edith, Violet's sister, seven.
The story also relates an incident from 1943 when Speedy Simon was only eight and lived with his parents, Fridny and Simon Sör, a farmer and district council chairman. A 19-year-old retarded youth called Crazy Lou lives on the farm.
John, Violet's husband, is the son of Sigrid and Stein, the Director of the Reykjavik Iron Smithy.
John's and Violet's friends are important to the story. First, there are John's three former schoolmates who are the same age as he: Pauline Paulsdottir, who is usually called Reverend Pauline; Kalli Sandfeldt, an undersea engineer; and Sigurfljod Elisabeth Riis, who is called Bertha. Kalli Sandfeldt is married to Didi Stina who is a nurse in the Department of Surgery at the National Hospital. Then Solla, Violet's friend since childhood, is added to this circle of friends.
Other characters include Brandur Brandsson, a psychic healer; the couple Marilyn and Tom LaTendre and George Keeling, friends John met when he was studying in the United States; Pia Leifs, Kalli Sandfelt's assistant; Cod-biter, Didi Stina's childhood friend, Jailer Matt and Bjössi-the-nail, workers in the Reykjavik Iron Smithy; and Ebenezer, an old guy in the Vogar neighborhood who rents a garret to Solla for a while.
The beginning of the story introduces John and his schoolmates, Kalli Sandfeldt, Reverend Pauline, and Bertha. These characters will continue to be important after John returns home from his studies in the United States. Shortly after his homecoming, he meets Violet.
The middle of the story treats various social problems which these individuals must overcome. Violet turns to Brandur Brandsson, psychic healer for family counseling.
Attention is then directed to Violet's parents, Gudrun Rose and Speedy Simon, and to Edith, Violet's older sister. Later Violet's Grandfather and Grandmother, Fridny and Simon Sör come into the story.
The last part of the story focuses on Speedy Simon who is discovered to be a perpetrator of sexual offenses within the family. The conclusion tells how the family reacts to this problem.