The singer-songwriter Björk is, of course, the most famous contemporary Icelander. Not that this distinction is in itself very meaningful.
Iceland, which has produced some of the most important works of European letters, ancient and modern, from the epic poems called sagas to the novels of Halldor Laxness, has remained in more or less continuous literary obscurity even among the Northern European nations. (Compare, for example, Laxness's fame with that of Isak Dinesen and Knut Hamsun.) Given the fickleness of the English-speaking literary establishment, it is always possible that Iceland will enjoy its own vogue in the not-too-distant future, as "exotic" literatures often do. Until that day, however, the nation's boosters will have to content themselves with Björk, a goodwill messenger from Reykjavik's golden era as a party town, still touring the world.
How strange it is, then, to read The Ambassador, the most recent novel from Bragi Ólafsson, who wears many of his native country's literary laurels, and then to discover that this is the same Bragi Ólafsson who played bass for the Sugarcubes, the band in which Björk sang lead vocals. This coincidence binding Ólafsson to his (undeservedly) far more famous former bandmate would (if The Ambassador expresses its author's sensibilities reliably) probably amuse him. Precisely such strange and seemingly insignificant machinations of chance pervade the novel and animate the actions of its disreputable poet protagonist, Sturla Jon Jonsson.
The plot is sparse. Sturla travels around Reykjavik, preparing for a journey to Lithuania, where he will be participating in a book festival whose value he has serious doubts about. He buys an expensive overcoat, later stolen in a café in Vilnius, visits his father, only 16 years older than himself, and mother (ditto), and (through Olafsson's subtle artifice) opens his memories to us, of his children, his old schoolmates, his youth and burgeoning poetic ability.
Sturla has, in fact, just published a new book of poems, called free from freedom. This, we learn as the story progresses from Reykjavik to Vilnius and from there to the suburban town where the book festival is to take place, is largely plagiarised from the never-published work of his long-dead cousin Jonas, who committed suicide in his late teens. As the fact of this plagiarism begins to attract notice in Iceland (one of the dead boy's friends tells a newspaper about the unpublished manuscript), Sturla travels deeper into Lithuania, wearing a new overcoat which he himself has stolen, avoiding his festival responsibilities and launching the first volleys in a romance with a Belorussian poetess. All the while, Ólafsson carefully increases the tension, drawing both comedy, claustrophobic menace and genuine pathos from the most banal occasion – a poetry reading in semi-rural Lithuania.
Given its constituent parts, The Ambassador might have been just another satire of literary life, were it not for the bizarre, yet fully convincing, inner life of its hero. In his own country he is constantly being mistaken for another, better known, aged farmer-poet who happens to share his name. Sturla doesn't let this bother him greatly, any more than he does the various other indignities which are visited upon him: a reading ruined by a barista's use of a rattling espresso machine; his father's accusations that the trip to Lithuania is a cover for sex tourism; the mounting (and correct) suspicions on the part of the reading's organisers that Sturla is some kind of petty criminal.
Olafsson leaves the source of this serene detachment unclear. But whatever its origin, Sturla's placid and bemused acuity, punctuated by eruptions of appetite and desire, is precisely what fascinates us about him. Whether he is talking with his numerous children over the phone, watching a Lithuanian stripshow with two burly Russians, or meditating about his own art, his senses are sharp and his past is always at hand: "At that moment – as Sturla thinks about the information he has given his neighbour about his published books – he has the quite amazing realisation that the whole flock of books he's published under his name (if you can call seven a "whole flock") are in circulation: in libraries, on the shelves of literary-minded people, in bookstores. He has contributed something to that form, a form he has by now spent roughly a quarter-century devoting the bulk of his spare time and energy to – or is it a formlessness (which one could also say about time and energy)? How widely held, for example, is his father's opinion that if he really wants to continue with poetry, then he should ball up the poetry into one continuous text and hide it there, because this impatient world no longer has the appetite or attention span for regular linebreaks and for words that come in outfits that remind one of frayed rags (prose, on the other hand, wears a carefully cut, broad-shouldered suit) - in other words, for a dense, weighty book wrapped in a beautifully designed jacket which will protect the poet's work from dust, from the passage of time, and from use."
This meditation rises out of a conversation the poet has with a bachelor neighbour in a lift in their apartment building, where Sturla works, for the extra income, as superintendent. The job is just another minor humiliation to which he seems oblivious, surveying his own career without acrimony or overstatement. Instead he considers the question of his own value to the world; heady stuff for a hallway encounter.
So who is Sturla Jon Jonsson: a sensually-greedy building superintendent posing as an artist or a quietly suffering philosopher? He might be both. It is shortly after the hallway scene that we learn that Sturla is capable of plagiarising a dead relative (and of coming to regard the work as utterly his own) and stealing an overcoat from a Vilnius café to replace his own. Is this acting out of character? At first glance, perhaps. Instead wallowing in guilt over stealing from the dead (as we might well expect from such a contemplator), he persists in the cold-eyed daring that allowed him to appropriate the work in the first place. Instead of meekly assenting to the random theft of his new, much-valued overcoat (the novel's first scene is a lengthy, hilarious account of its purchase and Sturla's instant besottedness with it), he strikes back and swipes a stranger's.
These acts, in the moment of their commission, surprise us: their deep psychological consistency isn't immediately apparent. Certainly, Sturla's makes nothing of the connection between his two thefts. But this isn't so remarkable: who doesn't live in ignorance of his own character? Who hasn't given in to dark, absurd impulses? Who doesn't ponder, at the most unexpected times, his own existential worth? But Ólafsson lets us see Sturla acting and speaking in both these registers, the acutely meditative and the brazenly loutish, and this doubleness places his protagonist in the company of other great modern petit-bourgeois freaks, from Sándor Márai's quartet of rebels to Halldor Laxness's criminals, churchmen, and subsistence farmers, a lineage stretching back to Flaubert's Bouvard and Pécuchet, Dostoevsky's raw youth Arkady Dolgoruky, and the enigmatic interlopers who appear out of the mists, so to speak, in Knut Hamsun's novels.
Sturla avoids real punishment for his crimes. And in spite of ourselves, we applaud. Literary theft from the dead is a means rendered valid by long tradition; the world did (in a karmic sense) owe him a coat. He reaps significant benefits from them, too, entering into a promising new liaison with the Belorussian poetess and learning the truth about his cousin's suicide.
Ólafsson doesn't herald this development with any sort of trumpet blast. It comes quietly from the lips of the now-repentant suburban lawyer who first accused Sturla of plagiarism. What's more, there isn't the slightest hint that Sturla will change in the aftermath of his fortuitous victories. That quiet intransigence makes The Ambassador far more than a corrosive joke aimed at literary pretension or a send-up of middle-aged mediocrity. Rather, it's an elusive, almost fabulistic study of the endlessly interesting question of character and of the representativeness of our deeds. Happy is the regional literature with such persuasive envoys.
Sam Munson is a regular contributor to The Review. His first novel, The November Criminals, is published by Doubleday.
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELong-range%20dual%20motor%20with%20400V%20battery%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E360kW%20%2F%20483bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E840Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20628km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.7sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh360%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIXTURES
Thursday
Dibba v Al Dhafra, Fujairah Stadium (5pm)
Al Wahda v Hatta, Al Nahyan Stadium (8pm)
Friday
Al Nasr v Ajman, Zabeel Stadium (5pm)
Al Jazria v Al Wasl, Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium (8pm)
Saturday
Emirates v Al Ain, Emirates Club Stadium (5pm)
Sharjah v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Sharjah Stadium (8pm)
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENomad%20Homes%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2020%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHelen%20Chen%2C%20Damien%20Drap%2C%20and%20Dan%20Piehler%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20and%20Europe%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20PropTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2444m%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Acrew%20Capital%2C%2001%20Advisors%2C%20HighSage%20Ventures%2C%20Abstract%20Ventures%2C%20Partech%2C%20Precursor%20Ventures%2C%20Potluck%20Ventures%2C%20Knollwood%20and%20several%20undisclosed%20hedge%20funds%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The 12
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures
Tuesday, October 29
Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE
Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman
Wednesday, October 30
Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one
Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two
Thursday, October 31
Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four
Friday, November 1
Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one
Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two
Saturday, November 2
Third-place playoff, 2.10pm
Final, 7.30pm
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
DUNE%3A%20PART%20TWO
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Denis%20Villeneuve%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Timothee%20Chamalet%2C%20Zendaya%2C%20Austin%20Butler%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results:
CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off
1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Fighter profiles
Gabrieli Pessanha (Brazil)
Reigning Abu Dhabi World Pro champion in the 95kg division, virtually unbeatable in her weight class. Known for her pressure game but also dangerous with her back on the mat.
Nathiely de Jesus, 23, (Brazil)
Two-time World Pro champion renowned for her aggressive game. She is tall and most feared by her opponents for both her triangles and arm-bar attacks.
Thamara Ferreira, 24, (Brazil)
Since her brown belt days, Ferreira has been dominating the 70kg, in both the World Pro and the Grand Slams. With a very aggressive game.
Samantha Cook, 32, (Britain)
One of the biggest talents coming out of Europe in recent times. She is known for a highly technical game and bringing her A game to the table as always.
Kendall Reusing, 22, (USA)
Another young gun ready to explode in the big leagues. The Californian resident is a powerhouse in the -95kg division. Her duels with Pessanha have been highlights in the Grand Slams.
Martina Gramenius, 32, (Sweden)
Already a two-time Grand Slam champion in the current season. Gramenius won golds in the 70kg, in both in Moscow and Tokyo, to earn a spot in the inaugural Queen of Mats.
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now