He was free but at what cost… I mean Bjartur sure did exercise the freedom to screw up his life at every possible turn! At least the man had his sheep and coffee. 

I thought the novel was going to be a lot more epic, considering the heavily folkloric exposition, but the rest of the book read more like a Russian realist novel. And since nothing can compare to Fathers and Sons, I had a tough time seeing it as its own work, especially considering it was such an arduous read. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the capitalism slander and the enslavement to fickle weather.