Angels of the Universe

First: ignore the title. This isn't woo-woo or jesusy: it's a haunting, almost sublime first-person tale of schizophrenia. There, that's out of the way.The imagery is vivid. Narration is graceful, weaving snappily through time and space and characters. I found myself frequently pausing to take a breath, slow down, and start again a few pages back; pacing myself, letting myself stop and absorb. The story is sad but not in the way you'd expect: the narrator's perspective is curiously distant even though it's first-person. The sadness I felt was for our institutions, our helplessness.This is probably a 5-star book. My rating reflects my own ignorance: I'm not Icelandic, and there is too much that simply flew past me. Too much culture, too much background that I'm not even aware of not knowing. I'm glad there's a translation, and am glad to have read it, but I think it may be enjoyed more by more seasoned Icelandophiles.UPDATE: June 2022. Reread as a sort of post-[b:Hidden Valley Road 50088631 Hidden Valley Road Inside the Mind of an American Family Robert Kolker https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569289026l/50088631.SX50_SY75.jpg 57757323] therapy... and by jove it worked. This reading felt darker than my first, but also more intimate. And, I'm bumping from four to five stars because I'm older and maybe a little more aware of the skill it must take to convey this perspective into a different reality, and to do so with such gentleness that it felt ethereal. I've kept thinking about this book since the first time I read it, and expect to continue doing so for more years.