Review of ANIMAL LIFE by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (New Release)

3.5 Stars

Dýja is a midwife living in Reykjavík.  She inherited the apartment from her grandaunt Fífa who was also a midwife.  In the dark days of December leading up to Christmas, when she is not at work, Dýja spends time pouring over letters and manuscripts written by her grandaunt which consist primarily of reflections on birth, death, and aspects of human nature.

This is not a traditionally structured novel.  There is little linear plot; instead, the book is more of a collection of philosophical musings.  This lack of structure is intentional; it mimics the chaos of the manuscripts.  Reading the book is like Dýja’s trying to find connections in her grandaunt’s writings.  Towards the end, Dýja concludes:  “what I had previously experienced as chaos and disjointedness was precisely what constituted the idea behind the work, its goal and purpose . . . the structure of the work, with its peculiar collage of fragmented elements, is consistent with our grandaunt’s ideas about the nature of humanity and their unpredictable behaviour.” 

I found that I enjoyed the book if I stopped stressing about trying to find “logical continuity in the writing” and just focused on the grandaunt’s thoughts.  She was a woman ahead of her time in her thinking about man’s relationship with the environment; she comments on “the melting of the world’s largest water reservoir, the Arctic ice and glaciers” and “the depletion of forests” and “the emission of toxins and pollution in the seas of the world,” concluding that “the animals of the earth needed to be protected from the most dangerous animal of them all – the human beast.”

The comparisons between humans and animals I found especially interesting.  After comparing humans to various other species, Fífa concludes that “the one who calls himself the master of all creatures is in fact the most vulnerable of all animals, the most fragile species, more fragile than a porcelain vase, than a bird’s egg, the most fragile of the fragile on the planet.” 

Despite some rather negative comments about humans, the novel is hopeful:  “in the middle of darkness, the heart of darkness, there is light.”  Though  a human, “the most sensitive creature on earth never actually recovers from being born” and “all men are damaged by life” and “It’s difficult to understand another person . . . [and] even more difficult to understand . . . one’s self,” Fífa believes it is important to be courageous and “’to rejoice . . . in our good fortune at having been born.’” 

The book will not appeal to everyone, particularly those who prefer a plot-driven narrative.  Personally, though I can’t say that I enjoyed all parts, I did find myself reflecting on some of Fífa’s reflections, the most important of which may be that “ultimately everything is connected.”

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.