Iceland Books

For the outrageous price one gets a very succint introduction into the habits of the Icelanders, not entirely updated.

It is very good for a two hours fun read for someone who does not really plan to visit the country. The amount of information given is more easily gathered through a TV documentary though, and anyone wishing real help should address oneself elsewhere.

To keep matters very light but do it more usefully, about 40 more pages would have sufficed, together with a more rational partition of topics.

I would have appreciated more attention to the intercourse between foreigners and natives, not excluding the more friendly or even intimate point of view.

The author exploits the customary habit of British essayist of making fun of every detail. He does it very well and I found myself laughing silly at times, but puns in the end tend to get in the way of information instead of helping one to memorise it.

This humorous "guide" gives insight to the character and behavior of the Icelanders. Everything from knitting to politics is covered. Some of the information given in this book is now outdated, such as the restrictions on the importation of dairy products. These tend to be minor details and do not take away from the quality of the book. No pictures.

What a delightful surprise I had in store when I purchase this book for a friend that will be traveling to Iceland for the first time. I couldn't put it down once I opened it. Filled with humor and hopefully some truth it is delightful from start to finish. Now I wish I were the one traveling to Iceland!

This book is fantastic. I'm Icelandic myself and everything this book states is completely correct and a greatly humorous view of the nation. Apart from a few misspelling Icelandic names and concepts this book is wonderful

Apart from Antarctica, this is the most obscure place covered by LP. Half of the book (about 165pp) is specifically about Greenland in the customary LP format, and the remainder is about other Arctic regions. (One tidbit: It is impossible to fly to Nuuk, the capitol, without changing planes in another Greenlandic town.)

This guide covers a casserole of places that cannot conceivably be visited on a single itinerary, because so few Arctic air routes cross national borders. For example, charter flights between Canada (Iqaluit) and Greenland were terminated after the book went to press, so now it's impossible to fly from North America to Greenland without going through Europe.

Alaskan coverage is only Fairbanks and points north; Yukon is Dawson and north. The Inuvik region and nearly all of Nunavut are covered. Places like Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Anchorage are too far south to be covered in this volume, which is unfortunate because it's impossible to reach northern Alaska without passing through either Anchorage or Whitehorse.

Also covered are Arctic Russia, northern Norway (town of Mo and north), and northern Finland (Rovaniemi and north). The end result is a book that's fun to read but of doubtful utility except for those few Greenland-bound travellers.

The second updated edition of Etain O'Carroll & Mark Elliott's Greenland & The Arctic is out, and is an indispensable guide for any heading North sans travel group. From overviews of regional history and culture to local sights, activities, and opportunities, Greenland & The Arctic highlights all kinds of opportunities, from transportation options between small towns and remote regions to rare shopping opportunities and plenty of nature. A take-along 'must' for any destination-bound traveler; especially since relatively few other titles cover the region in depth.

For those who want a good read and a good guide to fascinating Greenland, then this book will do it (though I think the previous edition of LP's guide to Greenland had a bit more coverage - especially the more off-the-beaten-track settlements). But anything beyond Greenland, LP seems to really lose interests in the rest of the Arctic world. It seems as if they just threw in a few sections just to say that they've covered it... It should really be titled "Greenland and an Introduction to the rest of the Arctic". All they give you are some sloppy details of a few selected regions under their "suggested itineraries" sections for other Arctic regions.

Living in Northern Canada myself (Yukon by the way...not Vancouver), I know that there are tons to offer for any Arctic fan. But this LP guide has missed out so much...to mention a few:

1) Yukon - there's more to this territory than just Dawson and Dempster Hwy...such as Old Crow, Vuntut & Ivvavik Parks, and simply the rest of Yukon itself. BTW, Whitehorse, which is the hub of the Yukon, sits at about the same latitude as Qaqortoq in Greenland. It's sub-Arctic...but close enough...

2) NWT - Yellowknife, the areas around Great Bear Lake such as Deline and Tulita, etc... same thing, its all sub-Arctic environments similar to Inuvik's...what's the problem?

3) Nunavut - there's a lot more places than just Baffin Island or Resolute...how about Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions? Every region of NU is worth a visit.

4) Nunavik (Northern Quebec) - how could they forget this beautiful Arctic region of Quebec? Colourful villages, beautiful landscapes, rich Inuit culture ...even the LP guides to Quebec/Canada mention very little on this region. Better do your planning online... though slightly southerly regarding its latitude and location, this place has nothing but Arctic landscapes and climate.

5) Northern Labrador - another beautiful Inuit region of Labrador completely forgotten on this so-called "Arctic" guide...

6) Scandinavia - Northern Norway is very beautiful, but this guide only gives you a vague idea of this fascinating region. Buy the individual guides instead (Norway, Sweden, Finland...but don't bother with the "Scandinavian Europe" unless you only plan to see only a few places from each country)

7) Arctic Russia - I know its a difficult place to go to, but there are fascinating untouched areas out there in Siberia. But this book covers very little of this vast region...especially the Far East - Chukotka. Even LP's "Russia" guide is next to useless to this region if you're really interested into visiting these areas. Once again, do your homework online...

8) Alaska - get the "Alaska" guide instead...

I was quite disappointed with this LP publication. I hope their next edition will be a heck of a lot better. Otherwise, its a waste of time and money. It's really just a Greenland guide ...but for the rest of the Arctic, don't count on it...

This book provides a great introduction to the Geology of Iceland. It covers all facets of the topic; it is a shame that it is out of print. I refer to it constantly when I lead field trips in Iceland.

It is a shame this book is out of print. It is the best introduction to the Geology of Iceland that I have found.

The setting was vividly imagined and realistic, but everything seemed too slow or too fast. If you particularly like this period of history, then you may enjoy this book, but the pacing -- first too fast, then too slow, then too fast -- made it hard for me to get through despite my initial enthusiastic interest in its premise.

This book is an extremely well written, moving portrait of a young girl who is growing up in a harsh Viking environment. Against adversity she survives, finds love, loses love and gains wisdom. Highly recommended!

Assuming this is the 1971 reprint of Hermann Palsson's translation, the book contains Hrafnkel's Saga, Thorstein the Staff-Struck, Ale-Hood, Hreidar the Fool, Halldor Snorrason, Audun's Story, and Ivar's Story. All are wonderful stories.

This IS the reprinted edition. If you're looking for a particularly good read, "Thorstein the Staff-Struck" and "Hreidar the Fool" are the clear winners for pure enjoyment (both with exquisite comic turns of plot and amusing, yet subtle characterization). "Hrafnkel's Saga" and "Ale-hood" also read well. The remainder of the sagas drag along somewhat slowly from time to time, but are also interesting and read smoothly nonetheless. If you're looking for a glimpse of Icelandic culture (a glimpse of a budding democracy centuries before America was colonized), then this is your best bet. The twenty-one pages of Palsson's introduction, along with his dozen or so footnotes throughout, prepare the reader for the social implications---political and religious---of these many jewels of medieval Iceland. Two maps of Iceland and a list of personal names are also included.

I agree with the other reviewer that this book is dry, tough reading but worth it. Spiritualists will find the testing of the key medium extensive and authentic. Sociologists of religion will find good use in their dichotomy of churches that focus on group action vs. churches that focus on individual pilgrimages. (A much more helpful distinction that mainline vs. evangelical or Protestant v. Catholic). The conflict addressed by Haladur's spiritualism is STILL with us: how to deal with translations of holy things that do not mistake a translation as being literal but still considers it holy: Haladur saw the literalists as not credible and the figuratives as not encouraging faith.

Academic tome offers some interesting insights into 19th and 20th century Spiritualism in Iceland given Iceland's unique religious history. A bit dry but worth the effort for anyone with this special interest.- Roberta Olsen Kyle, Eye on Iceland

I am currently reading all things norse/viking I can get my hands on and saw this title refered to often in the Icelandic area of those studies. Landnamabok ("Book of Settlements") tells short tales of "who did what to whom" during the early settlement of Iceland in viking times. If this account is reasonably true, it becomes an interesting expansion to the simple idea that these "crazed norsemen", who considered it a good idea to sail across the uncharted Atlantic in open row boats to escape what was bothering them, had the same difficulties getting along with each other as humans are still having today. };>{>

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICELAND, published by Mal Og Menning of Reykjavik in 2000, was written by the history professor Gunnar Karlsson and subsequently translated into English by Anna Yates. It aims to present the whole of this nation's history in 64 pages, excepting photo credits and the index.

The book consists of 31 two-page sections dealing with some particular era or facet of Icelandic history, such as "Settlement" (870-930), "Dark Ages" (1600-1785), and "Liberated Women" (1970-2000). I found the balance refreshing, for example description of World War II and the Cold War most interesting, as the US presence in Keflavik is said to have benefitted the economy enormously, though it is claimed the Americans stayed on after WWII against their promise to withdraw. In each section there are a few colour photos, and the production of this trade paperback on good-quality paper is satisfying.

While all such brief history books leave out details that many would find important, Gunnar Karlsson's A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICELAND is well worth a read if you want to discover this country for the first time.

I highly recommend this book for someone who wishes to have a greater understanding of social history and economy in medieval Iceland. Written by an anthropologist it uses a good combination of historical record, written literature (sagas) and anthropological technique to describe the economic conditions of Iceland during this period.

It is a very short book but is nice to have for the collection:

Chapters include: Production Chiefly Consumption Politics Exchange Kinship, Church, and King Ideology

In the conclusion it has a nice justification for the use of the saga as source for social information.

This is it, it is very illustrous book with a lot of detais, facts, names, relations and so on. Highly recommended to anyone who likes Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, Vikings and middle ages.