Christmas and books

I bought some books around Christmas time because I had decided to adopt the rather Icelandic Christmas tradition of giving books as presents to most everyone. I gave my niece a book written by a newly graduated student from the university I work at now (pretty impressive to be a published author in the US at 23) and my nephew a book about dangerous games boys can play. I gave my sister in law a book translated from Icelandic into English, one of those creepy Yrsa books, the sort of book I would never read but my sister in law enjoys. I bought two other books, both of which were written in Icelandic, Afdalabarn and Sidasti galdra meistarinn.  


Afdalabarn was an extraordinary book for its optimism, how much every single character in the book had so much heart and so much love. I told someone at work that it was like watching a Hallmark movie, because even the worst character turned out at the end to have a heart of gold. It was weird to read, in a way, lights years away from the gritty crime and darkness of so many modern Scandinavian novels.

I haven't gotten very far on the other book yet. I bought it mostly because I used to be friends with Ármann, when I lived in Iceland, and really enjoyed Vonarstræti. Plus I read somewhere he wrote it with his nephew in mind, and his nephew is the same age as my son. But since my son doesn't read Icelandic, I couldn't give it to him for Christmas.

Instead I gave my son a harmonica. And a globe.

Comments

Shoshanah Marohn said…
We should have that tradition in America. Books for everyone for Christmas. I like it. And if not books, harmonicas.
February 7, 2015 at 10:08 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dett í, ofan á, úr, út

I´m not sure if someone had dett í (gotten drunk), or if það bara dett ofan á (it just sort of happened), or if some dett úr (forgot), but at any rate, my household goods dett út (have disappeared). Let's review the chronology here. Early August packers from the shipping company arrive at the apartment in Moraga. They load my 4 large plastic containers and 8 cardboard boxes, plus one baby crib, into their truck. I watch my things depart. In September, I ask the friendly girl (Magie is her name) if she happens to know when I might expect my stuff. Late September she tells me. I am most impressed. Extremely so. Mid October rolls around, and I have not gotten a call. And it occurs to me that I am going to be traveling through November. Hmm. So I call again. Well, yes, she tells me, looks like your shipment should arrive on the 31st of October. Now here I admit that maybe I was a little lacks. I had a lot to do before my trip, and so when they did not call me, I did not follow ...
Read more

On Icelandic doctors

My friends and family here in Iceland were very enthusiastic about me going to the krabbameinsfélag for an exam. I was really impressed how easy it was to get an appointment--booked online even! And when I got there this afternoon, the efficiency continued: they have a well oiled operation in place there, all very organized with computers asking questions and keyed lockers to keep one's personal belongings in. Then when it came time to see the doctor, well, that lasted all of 2 minutes. And I paid 3420 kroner. So I was overall a little disappointed. When I mentioned to the front desk clerks that I was wondering if it was possible to actually get an appointment where I could speak to a doctor, I was given a variety of phone numbers. None of the ones I called had appointments within the next 6 weeks. In the United States, when I want a doctor's appointment, I can usually get it within a week of calling, though sometimes I have had to wait 10 days or so. The highest co-pay I hav...
Read more

Cultural tourism in Iceland

I just finished writing a chapter of my dissertation, which resulted in a much larger discussion of cultural tourism in Iceland than I had intended. But the fact is, this is an issue I have been extremely interested and concerned about for at least 15 years, if not 20. I have never, ever liked the way Iceland is marketed to tourists in the U.S. Everything from the unspoiled nature to the crazy city life in Reykavik. It has always left the part of Iceland I loved--the simple joy of being in a relaxing and lovely place with my family--completely out of the picture. In 2001, I went to Hvollsvöllur to examine the Saga Centre as part of a study commissioned by the National Park's service to look into cultural landscapes as heritage tourism. I thought that endeavor might represent a change in how Iceland was presented to tourists. But in the last 10 years, and especially while working at Vikingaheimar, and at meetings with the Saga Trails Association, I came to see just how completel...
Read more