Islandia

By: Terry Cornell

I picked up a tattered paperback copy of Islandia years ago at a secondhand bookstore. I don’t remember why I purchased it, not knowing anything about it. Perhaps it was the title, seeming to promise adventures in some far-off exotic locale. Nevertheless, a month ago, it beckoned to me from its dusty niche on the bookshelf.

At first, the 900+ yellowed pages of small print intimidated me. It started a bit slow but captured my interest within the first 100 pages. Austin Tappan Wright’s amazing work about a mythical, utopian society has become one of my most beloved novels of all time. I will never forget it.

Islandia opens in 1905 with American John Lang meeting an Islandian fellow-student named Dorn at Harvard. As classmates, they strike up a friendship, as each man learns about the other’s culture. Upon graduation, through his new knowledge of the Islandian language and some assistance from an uncle, Lang is posted to Islandia as a United States consul.

The story that follows is more complex than what it initially seems. The basic plot chronicles Lang’s adventures while discovering the beauty of Islandia and its people, as he matures from a young man and discovers his true self. During his journey, Lang experiences romance, political intrigue, and many philosophical conversations ranging from the concept of love, family, and male/female equality to the environment and each person’s station in life.

Lang has escaped the hustle of industrial America and must adjust to the much slower-paced Islandia. In general, Islandia is an agrarian society. Electricity does not exist, land transportation is via horseback or wagon and, with exception of the steam-powered Islandian Navy, water transport is by sail.

Much like pre-1854 Japan, Islandia is closed to trade with other nations. A large portion of the book is devoted to the political maneuvering of Islandians wanting to open their country to trade and modern conveniences, and those who want to maintain their country and culture status quo. The pro-trade group is loosely aligned with American and European business interests which not only want to sell products to Islandians but want to take advantage of their resource-rich country. Lang, as U.S. Consul, must represent the pro-trade group, even though Islandian friends and perhaps his own heart feel otherwise. Lang and the reader share his dilemmas about relationships and where to spend the rest of his life – in the U.S. or Islandia, if given the chance.

The author himself graduated from Harvard in 1905, then attended Harvard Law School. Unlike Lang, he became a renowned legal scholar, teaching at some of the finest law schools in the country, including Stanford and USC. At the time of his 1931 death in a car accident, he only had one short story published, which appeared in The Atlantic Monthly.

Development of the utopian country of Islandia started as Wright’s childhood hobby. When he died, he left thousands of pages detailing its history, culture, and geography. Included with his papers was a 2,300-page manuscript that eventually became the published novel. His wife and then his daughter typed and edited the manuscript into its posthumously published form.

Although Islandia was first published in 1942, many of its concepts are just as applicable today. Besides being an enjoyable read, this book is thought-provoking. If you’re looking for a fast-paced, action-packed, fast-food kind of read, this isn’t for you. Islandia is a seven-course meal you will remember the rest of your life.