101 Reykjavík: An Icelandic Anti-Postcard Recommendation

We were recently asked by Peter, editor of Travel + Leisure, the leading travel magazine in the United States, if Bókin could recommend a single book that might help first-time visitors understand Iceland a little better. After wandering through the shelves, 101 Reykjavík by Hallgrímur Helgason came to mind. 
It was one of the very first novels I read myself after moving to "101 Reykjavík", and it captured something I had back then not yet been able to put into words about the city (and especially its nightlife ;-))

The book choice felt slightly mischievous, and therefore exactly right, as Iceland is so often imagined solely through postcard scenery: waterfalls, volcanic landscapes, and puffins balanced on sea cliffs. But 101 Reykjavík turns its attention somewhere else entirely.
Originally published in 1996, the novel follows a drifting Reykjavík slacker named Hlynur; an unemployed 30+ loner still living with his mom, spending his time between watching TV and girls at the pub, hanging around midtown among oddballs, smoky cafés, and slightly crumbling apartments. His Reykjavík feels restless, funny, lonely, and very human; kind of a strange mix of intimacy and isolation.

As luck would have it, we also noticed that Baltasar Kormákur’s 2000 film adaptation of the novel was screening again at Sambíóin Kringlan (Trailer) just two weeks ago. Watching a film adaptation after loving a book always feels slightly risky and is usually not my favourite thing to do, but curiosity won out as I really wanted to see Reykjavík in moving pictures at the turn of the millennium.
And we were not disappointed but rather enjoyed the movie very much...or...to quote it in 101 Reykjavík terms: "Movie adaptation of the novel: kr. 4,800,000 (...jep, tops Pam Anderson.)"

The movie captures the exact atmosphere of the book: the dry humour, the awkward silences, the nightlife, the boredom, and the peculiar feeling of winter nights stretching endlessly forward. Watching it now almost felt like opening a time capsule from Reykjavík before Airbnb signs and souvenir shops, back when downtown still looked a little rough around the edges.

If you got curious about the novel or author: we have not only 101 Reykjavík in store but there many more of Hallgrímur’s books to be found at Bókin.

Link to the Travel + Leisure article