Urban Volcano

Fiction by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson

Flash fiction

Point of view

Point of view — Illustration by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson
Illustration by Börkur Sigurbjörnsson

Elizabeth looked up from the book. She was annoyed. The author irritated her. She could not stand his selective statistics to prove a point that wasn’t that straightforward. Or his unsupported claims. Or his endless name-calling of his political opponents.

She would have stopped reading if it wasn’t for the fact that the book had a good premise. Many of the arguments were appealing, albeit presented in an ill-supported vulgar way. The author was rightfully angry but could have done well to contain his anger.

Before returning to the book, Elizabeth had an idea. Why couldn’t she just savor the book at its real value? She should simply enjoy the text as it was — a ranting-spree of an angry middle-aged man. She should write-off her expectation of an intellectual argumentation and enjoy the emotional roller coaster ride the author provided.

Elizabeth continued the reading, laughed out loud and enjoyed the book as never before.

Börkur is an avid storyteller with a keen eye for quirky characters, funny dialogs and vivid scenario descriptions. Much of his writing falls within the genre of realistic fiction and his stories are more often than not based on real events in the author’s life. Although the tales contain grains of truth, they are melded with fiction, making the reader curious to know the line between reality and fantasy.