Cover Image: Red Milk

Red Milk

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Excellent exploration of the life and social/societal gestation of a Nazi sympathizer. The Afterword is definitely a must-read, as well.

Was this review helpful?

Real Rating: 4.75* of five

There is so much that goes into making a person's life. So many moments of seeming ordinariness, so many times unremembered but never forgotten.

Author Sjón absolutely understands this, relies on it, makes me aware of how unaware I am in my life. Living it day-to-day it's unremarkable. After it's over, as it's ending...those are the times reflection becomes available to the average person. Author Sjón takes that truth and makes it the structure of the novel.

We're reading the life of Gunnar after it's over, after it's been picked apart and examined...this book reads like an evidence box would, pick up this letter, what did this key open...and that lets us contextualize the story as the tragedy it really is.

I was gobsmacked to learn this is a based-in-fact story, this was a real person, the ending is factual. How Gunnar came to hold beliefs so horrible to me was all in the oblique and the sidewise and the interstitial parts of the text. Lest that sound Arty and pretentious, I hasten to say that there is no better way I evoke an honest emotional response than this. Author Sjón trusts you to Get It. He allows you not to know.

I'll take that sense of being allowed to find the truth in the fiction over being spoonfed any day.

What I hope you'll enjoy, resonate with, in this read is that quality of discovering the meat of the life Gunnar led, and placing the pieces in order for yourself. While you're never left in doubt about your position in time, you're not going to get everything there is simply by that means.

I think it was a real, living person that I found in this novel. Would I have "liked" him? I don't think so. But I wouldn't have known him the way I do because Author Sjón showed him to me in this simple, elegant piece-by-piece fashion. I like novel-Gunnar a little bit. He was so very empty. He found something to fill what a human can't live without having full. AND it was something awful. Something vile, foul...but it filled the void.

I understand the souls whose quest to be Whole leads them in dark, ugly, despicable places that one fraction better.

Thank you, Author Sjón. I can get better at being a good version of me after this read.

Was this review helpful?

In Red Milk, Sjon’s newest work to be translated into English by Victoria Cribb, Sjon tells the fictionalized biography of the founder of the Icelandic pro-Nazi Nationalist party. Gunnar Kampen, the founder of the anti-Semetic party, is found dead on a train. As the story unfolds, going back from his childhood and his father listening to the radio during the Nazi invasion to the time right before he steps on the train, the mystery of his death unfolds.

The style Sjon uses is a straight, reporting style, and this is done on purpose. He does not want to delve too deep into the mind of Kampen. There is no inner dialogue, no long passages on why he feels the way he feels about Jews, and the only real moments that show Kampen’s firm beliefs is in some of his letters written to famous nationalists from around the world. Sjon purposefully does not let us get too close to this character, making sure that we are always a step away from the thought process of Kampen and his associates. This is off-putting for readers who are used to getting involved with characters. I do not think that he does this to protect the reader as much as to protect himself. The thought of writing long passages of racism and delving into the Nationalist movement too much would turn the story into one he did not want to tell. Instead we get the story at arms length, where we are being told the story but not being immersed in it. This is very purposeful.

Sjon’s telling of the story of Gunnar Kampen has an underlying theme. Gunnar Kampen is a person trying to find relevance as a anti-Semetic leader, a founder of a neo-Nazi group, and someone of importance in the European movement of the time. But Kampen also lives in Iceland. From World War II to the time of Kampen’s death, the population of the entire country of Iceland grew from 132,000 to 170,000 people. Anyone who immigrated to Iceland had to take on an Icelandic name, and at one point in the book, Kampen is given a list of all of the Jews in Reykjavik, the capital, a list of 36 names. Kampen has staked his entire identity on being antt-semetic and pro-nationalist, an entire identity built on hating an insignificant number of the immigrant population. His desire to be important outweighs his importance. He knows the European nationalist movement does not need him, but he tries his best to insert himself into the conversation. He yearns to be a major part of the movement, even up until his death. The way that Sjon writes him, his significance is not really found.

This is a book that can be read comfortably in one sitting, and there are many things about Sjon’s work that I really find interesting. The way that he structures and tells stories makes for fun reading, even if there are times when the subject might not be the most enticing. I know I’m not too interested in the history of the neo-Nazi movement in Iceland, but I still enjoyed this novel. I will continue to read whatever Sjon releases.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

It was interesting to see the way in which this man became who he was but I definitely think this book would have been better served as a full length novel. I would have really like to have dived deeper into how the character became who he was instead of through letters in his adulthood and short passages on his childhood. It was a quick read and really engaging but I definitely ended the book wanting more.

Was this review helpful?

This is sad and somewhat frightening story of a young man who slowly became entranced by right wing neo-Nazism in 1950s and 1960e Iceland. The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Gunnar Kampen who died at 24, on a train in the UK after exploring all varieties of hate. It's mercifully short but also dense. The writing is good but frankly he never came alive for me. Unfortunately, the ideology was (is) wearing and it doesn't make for pleasant reading. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Farrar, Strauss and Giroux for an advanced copy of this fictional biography.

A young man is found dead in a train compartment in England, a map with a swastika marked as his destination is found . So starts Red Milk by Icelandic author Sjón, a mystery and fictional biography of young man, also from Iceland, who became a fervent little nazi. What happened, what changed him from growing up in a anti-fascist home into a evangelical for a depraved little hate group.

Many real characters appear in this fiction, sadly not fictionalized enough, with real thoughts, actions and feelings appearing on the page. The book is written in a style that is almost reportorial, with writing that gives no clear clues what changed him, no "Oh I get it" moment, just the slow descent of the lead into a malaise of hate.

This is the first thing that I have read by Sjón, and I found it interesting, even if the story matter wasn't really for me. However this is a book that is both prescient and prevalent as we see more lost boys trying to find something to believe in. Many people seem to be like the main character in this book; all wanting to be somebody but leaving only sadness, failure and disgust behind. Very thoughtful reading.

Was this review helpful?

Red Milk is a fictional biography of Gunnar Kampen, a young Icelandic man whose death opens the book but whose life opens wide the world of post-war fascism in Europe and beyond for readers. We follow Gunnar’s life from his childhood in Reykjavik, in a home with his parents, sister and brother. A normal childhood except for the war and the early presence of German troops. As he grows, we see influences on his life: his discovery of a swastika at the cycle shop he loves, rumors about his uncle in Norway, choices in his reading and friends.

From this normalcy emerges an evangelist for neo-nazism. He reads, writes, communicates, ultimately connects with other like-minded people and groups around the world. He is what is needed in the early 1960s, a true believer who is capable of organizing. But in the end, he is human and ill.

Sjon has written an interesting and compelling historical fiction based on actual events in the 1950s and 1960s in Iceland reflecting the re-emergence of Nazi ideology in Iceland, Europe and the world. And he has shown it in perhaps its scariest face, its normalcy as it begins.

Recommended for anyone interested in history and the re-emergence of fascism post WWII. The author’s afterword is very thoughtful.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. This slim book, written in short chapters, tells the life of Gunnar Kampen, who died in England in 1962 and was the founder of a Neo-Nazi party in Iceland. The book, told in letters and imagined scenes, shows Gunnar as an innocent young boy, through his radicalization, until the day of his death. The book avoids any huge realization scenes or confrontations. It becomes chilling as we follow this growing fascist as he’s with his family and dealing with everyday concerns, including his failing health, as he spews hate so causally.

Was this review helpful?

This short but compelling novel opens with a dead man being discovered on a train at Cheltenham Spa station in 1962. (The fact that it’s at Cheltenham isn’t particularly relevant but it’s where I live and I couldn’t help wanting to mention it!) He has an Icelandic passport with a small scrap of paper with a swastika on it. So we know right from the start how it’s going to end, but how we get there is told from a variety of different perspectives. The story is based on the life of one of the leaders of a small neo-Nazi group in Iceland in the 1950s. Not much is known about this group but they had links with other far-right movements in Europe and the US. Gunnar Kampen, the ill-fated protagonist of this story, is an ordinary man, who grew up in an anti-fascist household but finds himself drawn to Fascism and far-right ideas. What shapes such a man is explored throughout the novel but no conclusions are drawn and the reader is left to form their own about how this happens. The writing is measured and unemotional and as a result quite chilling. It’s not an attempt to understand Gunnar Kampen but to examine the sociological forces that acted upon him. An intriguing and original read, which I very much enjoyed.

Was this review helpful?

Not sure why they didn't translate the original title literally (Korngult hár, grá augu means 'Corn-gold Hair, Grey Eyes'), but I guess Red Milk is more evocative. Anyway, this glimpse into the life of Gunnar Kampen, founder of Iceland's New-Nazi movement, is a study in the banality of evil. It's a quick and evocative read, showing how ordinary individuals can be sucked into nationalistic movements quite easily.

Was this review helpful?

4.5/5

A fictional biography of the founder of the neo-Nazi movement in Iceland, from his childhood during World War II through his political evolution the 1950s until his death in 1962. Sjon's terse prose and alternation between 'objective,' almost camera-like, focus on the surrounding circumstances, family members, and friends (first and third part) with his character's inner thoughts as revealed in his letters (the epistolary 2nd part) most effectively serve to get into the mindset of someone who embraced monstrous political views despite the normality of life in a postwar country such as Iceland. The novel is mercifully short as it is difficult to keep company with a character who unquestionably follows the dictum of hatred and intolerance, and witnessing his gradual development into a neo-Nazi advocate (I suspect it must have been difficult for a writer as well). Yet, it's important to read it, especially in the times of the recent rise and open display of similar political convictions in a number of places around the world. As portrayed in the main character in Sjon's novel, there is nothing special or unique about such an individual, he is quite ordinary and average... someone who can be our neighbor or next in line at the supermarket register... and that is what makes it most chilling. It's a compelling semi-fictional portrayal of what Hannah Arendt famously called "the banality of evil."

My thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an ARC via NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

Red Milk is based on the life of one of the leaders of a small neo-Nazi group that was formed in Iceland in the 1950s. The book divides the main character’s life into three sections: Gunnar’s childhood, his young adulthood as he becomes enthralled with the tenets of Fascism and founds his own anti-Semitic political group in Reykjavik and the final section as Gunnar sets out on one last clandestine activity.

Gunnar grows up in an average middle-class family home surrounded by adults who have participated in and reacted to WWII and its aftermath in various ways. His relationships with his siblings are not out of the ordinary (and his relationship with his cognitively disabled brother is loving and supportive), nor is his schooling. As the author says in his afterword: “…in order to begin to understand what makes it possible for people to heed the call of Nazism in all its guises, old and new…….we must start with what we have in common with such people…..we can at least show them that we see them for what they are, that we know they come from childhoods fundamentally similar to our own…that they could have so easily have become something else.”

Naively I had hoped Sjon might have an answer, but I was left with the question I had before I read this novel: What is it about fascism that has made it so attractive to so many people for so many generations? Nevertheless I recommend this short, intense, well-written novel.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to review the ARC via Netgalley.

Was this review helpful?

A dead Nazi is easier to deal with than a living one - this was Sjón's thought process when he decided to let his protaginist die right at the beginning of his new novel: Readers should be open to dive into the socialisation and mind of an Icelandic Nazi, knowing that he will fail. Cancer-stricken Gunnar Pálsson Kampen dies in a train compartment at 24 years old, while trying to travel to the first meeting of an international Nazi network. When the police arrives to record the incident, "silence reigns in his chest - but his brain is still working." His story is thus told chronologically in narrative flashbacks and letters, chronicling how the young man who grew up in Reykjavik during WW II came into contact with fascist ideas and became one of the leaders of the Icelandic Nazi organisation in the late 50's and 60's.

Sjón refers to many actual events and features real historic figures like author Savitri Devi (if you look at the reviews for her books here on GR, you will be shocked by the amount of praise this outright Hitler-fan receives on this platform), founder of the American Nazi Party George Lincoln Rockwell, infamous British Neo-Nazi Colin Jordan, and Swedish Neo-Nazi Göran Assar Oredsson. Iceland joining the NATO and the discussion concerning an American military base in the country also play a vital role, as in The Atom Station by Icelandic Nobel Prize winner Halldór Laxness.

But Sjón also brings in his family history: The author's grandfather had lived in Germany and, back in Iceland, was convicted for treason; in the book, it's Gunnar's Norwegian uncle who goes to jail for this (and another) crime. There are also theories, Sjón says, that his great-grandfather was part of a Nazi group in the Westman Islands, a region that features in "Red Milk". As in CoDex 1962: A Trilogy, Sjón shows that the repercussions of Nazism are still there and affect regular Icelanders like himself and many others. Gunnar, his protagonist, is intentionally crafted as a very average guy, "to the point of banality", as the author states (thus referring to Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil). This is also why in this novel, Sjón does not employ Icelandic mythology or surrealist elements (which he usually does): As fascist ideology relies on the perversion of mythologies, Sjón takes any non-realist storytelling away.

As a result, this is a very unusual book for Sjón when you look at the storytelling, but it's also a logical step in his artistic progress when you consider how he dealt with the topic in CoDex 1962: A Trilogy and The Whispering Muse. I can't wait to read his next book.

You can listen to me chat with Sjón about "CoDex" and (a little) about "Red Milk" here.

Was this review helpful?

This is a very short story of an Icelandic Neo-Nazi in 1960s. Through excerpts and mails, we look into the mind of this sick guy and he managed convinced himself that he was the doing the most important thing in the world. being based on a true story, this bite size biography gives me chills.

It starts when he was found dead on a train in England with a destination in mind and marked on a map with a swastika. Then we peer into his childhood. Growing up in a house where everyone was against Nazism, it was surprising to see how this guy ended up who he was.

Was this review helpful?

It seems that all of the Icelandic fiction I’ve read up till now was genre variety, from mystery thrillers to ghost stories, featuring primarily contemporary settings (outside of flashbacks). It was time for proper literature, a work of historical fiction no less. And so…Red Milk. Infinitely more ominous than all other milks out there. The most nourishing of substances tinged with blood.
This novel, despite its slender size, is a sledgehammer albeit a cleverly subtle one. It speaks more to the banality of evil than its grandiosity. At a very basic level it’s a portrait of a young man as a neo nazi. Set during and in the decades following WWII, it’s a story of a young man of Icelandic and Norwegian descent growing up and coming to age admiring fascism more and more and then getting directly involved with it, setting up a local neo nazi party. The narrative comprises biographical sketches, epistolary entries of various correspondences and more until slowly the grand design of a person emerges. It’s a really ingenious approach to something that might have been easily done in a much cruder fashion with much broader brushstrokes. The author was inspired by a real life person and real life events in creating this book and thus brought to it all the complexity of real life and every effort to understand how a person like that might come to be. Is it a seemingly innocuous conglomeration of random occurrences, such as a quisling for an uncle or a neighbor’s language club or it is more than that? What does it take for someone to develop such a dangerous and horrible system of beliefs? What a resonant question to contemplate in this day and age of the ever increasing radical ideologies.
At any rate, from both psychological and pure readership perspective, this made for a fascinating read. All the more so because Iceland is a country just far enough off the sidelines to have been only distantly affected by WWII, comparable to the rest of Europe, but apparently it hasn’t emerged completely unscathed either, for an event of such grand evil it’s only fitting to ripple so far and so wide and so malevolently. So a historical perspective…also covered.
All in all, a great find and an excellent introduction to a new author for me. I’d certainly read more of his work, given a chance. Very good read indeed. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Was this review helpful?