What We’re Reading: The Blue Fox
The Blue Fox by Sjón (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; first American edition, 2013)
With polar vortex sneaking up on much of Minnesota lately, I found myself connecting to the harsh winter Icelandic setting and sparse writing in this slim little poetic novel (originally published in Icelandic in 2004).
With inklings of the Icelandic tradition of poetry, The Blue Fox carries itself like a long poem. Björk, for whom the author Sjón has written lyrics for, has described Sjón’s writing as “epic and lyric.” Many have described the novel as a parable, and all of these words fit the piece well: lyrically gorgeous, a contemporary take on an epic, with the self-awareness of a parable.
The novel opens with the contemplative and slow shared journey of a rare blue fox and her determined hunter. Blank page space is used to emphasize the passing hours and the silence found in their solitary journey. Yet it’s not actually solitary. Both hunter and fox are given equal footing in the tale, and they mirror each other’s movements in a dance through the unforgiving Icelandic landscape.
The plot moves on to another time, and other characters. It can be a little confusing at first, until you get your footing. Time does not pass in chronological order, and in a stilted, patient way, we are given the full picture. The same characters begin to resurface and transform before our eyes in the linked passages, and with the characters as our guide, we are able to link stories together. There’s Fridrik, who is determined to give his recently passed young charge Abba, a funeral worthy of her. There’s the cruel Reverend Baldur who shut Abba out of the community due to the fact that she had Down syndrome. And then there’s that blue fox and her hunter. Time passes back and forth to Fridrik rescuing Abba from a dismal fate and taking her on as his charge, to their life together, back to the funeral at hand. The non-chronological order of this story lends it an especially mythical air.
Sjón takes his time, and carefully unwinds his tale with mindful prose that is at different times heart-achingly beautiful, funny, or stark. Our patience is rewarded with a masterfully crafted journey. While The Blue Fox can indeed read like a parable, it doesn’t shy away from harsh facts. Through the story of Abba, we see the prejudice harbored against her in the small community. The Reverend’s calculating, unkind, and prejudiced nature is made obvious by his actions, both towards Abba, other residents of the community, and also the blue fox (as we find out he is the hunter from the beginning). We see the brutality of nature, especially that of Icelandic winters. But we also see Abba’s strength, and pure joy with life through her fascination with birds, and we experience the unique, loyal relationship of Abba and Fridrik.
Through the harsh and beautiful reality of life, juxtaposed with the mythological fable influences, we experience a transformation, as much as the characters within this story.
What other contemporary novels are successful poetic fables? What other authors are slow and methodical in their unveiling of their story?
