Independent People by Halldor Laxness

ONE has grown weary of one's house before it has finished building; strange that mankind should need to live in a house, instead of remaining content with the house of wishes. What news now of that much discussed concrete building in which Bjartur of Summerhouses proposed to take up his residence? As related above, there had been earthquakes in Korea, but what of that? -there were windows in the house now, and panes in the windows, and the house had a roof, with a chimney sticking out of it, and in the kitchen there was a range with three grates, bought at a bargain price. And to improve matters still further, they even went and built a concrete stairway up to the front door so that people could get into the house, five steps high. Then came the entrance hall, for naturally there was an entrance hall. The intention was to flit into the house at some time during the autumn. The largest room on the ground floor had been panelled inside; one person suggested that the panelling should be painted, another that picture pages cut from foreign newspapers should be pasted on it, to smarten it up as they did in the towns, but Bjartur didn't want anything smartened up, he didn't want any trash in his house. So far so good. But early in the autumn heavy gales sprang up, with day after day of storm-driven rain and sleet, and then it came to light that it was just as windy inside the house as out. Why was this? It was because they had forgotten to put doors on the house. No one had had the forethought to order them in time, and it was too late now, for it takes a good while to make a door, and the joiners in Fjord were all far too busy with jobs that people needed doing before the winter set in.

"Oh, just knock a few old boards together," said Bjartur.