Reddit mentions of Independent People

A lot of the info in the album was stuff that I took note of while at the actual location; there was usually a sign that gave at least some information in English. If I wanted to know more I looked it up later. I did read these ahead of time though:

• Iceland: Land of Sagas - nonfiction - good primer to get a basic overview of the country with some really nice details here and there (some of the notes I took while reading made it into my plans later)
  
• Iceland: Second Edition (Classic Geology in Europe) - nonfiction - mostly used as a reference for really detailed geological stuff
  
• Njal's Saga - one of Iceland's sagas, you'll see sagas referenced an awful lot so I liked having a vague idea of how that is like
  
• Independent People - I didn't finish this by the time I went to Iceland, but it is a good story and perspective on the culture

If you're looking for something with really beautiful prose, try To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It is not the easiest, but it definitely isn't more difficult than Lolita. The second part of the book is definitely one of the greatest pieces of prose in the English language.

As for something like Hunger, have you read Growth of the Soil, Hamsun's magnum opus? It is a wonderful read and in a very different style. Also, if you like that book, I would also recommend Independent People by Halldor Laxness. Both are about peasant life and the change of lifestyle.