THE GOOD SHEPHERD by Gunnar Gunnarssohn

Translated by Kenneth C. Kaufman

On a recent episode of the excellent Beyond The Zero podcast, Jón Kalman Stefánsson came out with one of the best tidbits of novella trivia I’ve heard in recent times: Hemingway’s inspiration for The Old Man and the Sea was a little known Icelandic book that has all but disappeared from the literary consciousness. Naturally, I had to track it down which proved quite the challenge. But, like a certain fisherman, I didn’t give up.

Published in English in 1940, The Good Shepherd is, much like Hemingway’s book, a story of man versus nature. It tells of Benedikt, a kindly shepherd who, on Advent each year, sets out with his dog Leo and a castrated ram called Gnarly, to round up lost sheep. It starts off slowly. Benedikt goes from house to house. Some welcome him with kindness. Some take advantage of him. I was left… well… cold. However, when Benedikt hits the Icelandic wilderness, the book really comes into its own.

Look, there’s a reason this isn’t held in the same esteem as Hemingway, but for lovers of literary curios who prefer their masculinity without Ol’ Beardy’s chest thumping, it’s a pretty decent way to pass some time.

The Good Shepherd by Gunnar Gunnarssohn (Tr. Kenneth C. Kaufman)
The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1940
84 pages