SUGGESTED READING GUIDE ICELAND: LANDSCAPES of FIRE and ICE Here Is a Selection of Recommended Books Prepared for Your Tour

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SUGGESTED READING GUIDE ICELAND: LANDSCAPES OF FIRE AND ICE Here is a selection of recommended books prepared for your tour. For your convenience, you may call (800) 342-2164 to order these books from Longitude, a specialty mail-order book service. To order online, and to get the latest, most comprehensive selection of books for your trip, go directly to reading.longitudebooks.com/N923542.

*Annotated by Carleton faculty leaders Mary Savina and David Lefkowitz.*

RECOMMENDED PACKAGE These four items are available as a set for $79 including shipping, 15% off the retail price (Item EXICL39). Any additional books ordered will be shipped free of charge.

Laxness, Halldor. Independent People, An Epic. Vintage Books, 1997. Rich in local color, this great mock-epic by the Icelandic Nobel Prize-winner features the indelible Bjartur of Summerhouses, a hard-headed, independent-minded sheep farmer. Laxness won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955. (PAPER, 480 Pp., $16.95, Item ICL01)

Lacy, Terry G. Ring of Seasons, Iceland, Its Culture and History. Perseus, 1998. A longtime resident of Reykjavik, Lacy weaves tales of family life, anecdote, lore and history into this illuminating personal portrait of Iceland. (PAPER, 332 Pp., $26.95, Item ICL03)

Swaney, Deanna. Lonely Planet Iceland. Lonely Planet Publications, 2013. This concise guide to Iceland includes short essays on history, culture and attractions and plenty of practical travel information. (PAPER, 360 Pp., $29.99, Item ICL06)

National Geographic Society. Iceland Adventure Map. National Geographic Maps, 2011. A detailed, double-sided traveler's map at a scale of 1:465,000. (MAP, $11.95, Item ICL05)

HISTORY, CULTURE & EXPLORATION

Byock, Jesse. Viking Age Iceland. Penguin Putnam, 2001. In this scholarly study, Byock challenges the conventional view of Norse society in Iceland. He describes the life, economy and culture of medieval Iceland – including its autonomy from kings and warlords back home. (PAPER, 432 Pp., $18, Item ICL15) *Note from Prof. Savina: “…strongly recommended by Bill North in the History Department and covers the archaeology, specific to Iceland.”*

Cohat, Yves. The Vikings, Lords of the Seas. Thames & Hudson UK, 2010. An indispensable reference that fits in your pocket, this slim volume is packed with maps, archival photographs and illustrations. (PAPER, 175 Pp., $15.95, Item VIK01)

Diamond, Jared. Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Viking, 2011. Diamond tackles nothing less than the history and fate of civilization in this compelling book in which he offers case studies, present and past, of societies that work and societies that do not, devoting 100 carefully reasoned pages, for example, to the fate of the Norse settlements in Greenland and the North Atlantic (climatic change, Inuit) and another big section on Easter Island (deforestation, hubris). This revised edition includes a new afterword. (PAPER, 575 Pp., $19, Item GEN324) *Note from Prof. Savina: “…includes a section on Iceland and Viking settlement in the North Atlantic (chapters 6, 7, 8). I teach this book, too, because it’s important even if it isn’t right. If you have it on your bookshelf, take a look at those chapters.”*

Karlsson, Gunnar. The History of Iceland. University of Minnesota Press, 2000. A history of Iceland from the Viking era through colonization, independence and the 20th century. Karlsson draws on the sagas and rich literature of Iceland in presenting this comprehensive history. (PAPER, 418 Pp., $25.5, Item ICL17)

Kurlansky, Mark. Cod, A Biography of a Fish That Changed the World. Penguin Putnam, 2009. A sparkling extended essay on the cod, looking at the importance of the fish to cuisine and history, as well as to Scandinavian, American and Canadian commerce. (PAPER, 294 Pp., $15, Item OCE10) *Note from Prof. Savina: “…includes recipes!”*

Lewis, Michael. Boomerang, Travels in the New Third World. W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Lewis takes readers on a guided tour through some of the disparate places hard hit by the fiscal tsunami of 2008, notably Greece, Iceland and Ireland. (PAPER, 240 Pp., $16.95, Item REF56) *Note from Prof. Savina: “…chapter 1 [is] a story of the European Economic Crisis, 2008 – ??, from the perspective of Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Germany, and the U.S.”*

TRAVEL, BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

Auden, W.H. Letters from Iceland. Gardners Books, 2002. Written with fellow poet Louis MacNiece, this quirky, under-appreciated masterpiece captures the spirit of Iceland, its people and landscapes. (PAPER, 256 Pp., $24.95, Item ICL49)

Brown, Nancy Marie. The Far Traveler, Voyages of a Viking Woman. Harcourt Books, 2008. Brown's intriguing account of the life of the young Viking woman Gudrid sheds light on early Norse settlements in Iceland, Newfoundland and beyond. It's an archaeological mystery, a history of ancient seamanship and a biography all rolled into one. (PAPER, 320 Pp., $15.95, Item VIK26)

Holm, Bill. The Windows of Brimnes, An American in Iceland. Milkweed Editions, 2008. In these provocative essays, Minnesotan Holm writes from his fisherman's cottage on the shore of a creek in northern Iceland, on the fate of America. (PAPER, 216 Pp., $15, Item ICL63) *Note from Prof. Savina: “[relevant to] Skajafjörður and Hofsós (home of the Icelandic Emigration Museum which we will visit on August 27th)”*

Holm, Bill. Eccentric Islands, Travels Real and Imaginary. Milkweed Editions, 2000. Holm mixes his meditative journeys to five actual islands (Iceland, Madagascar, Molokai, Isla Mujeres and Mallard Island) with utterly made-up places in this poetic, philosophical inquiry into the myth and meaning of islands. (PAPER, 346 Pp., $22, Item TVL112) *Note from Prof. Savina: “Two long chapters on Iceland…”*

*Note from Prof. Savina: “…Bill Holm [was a] Minnesota writer/educator of Icelandic descent, who taught at Southwestern State University in Marshall, MN. His other books include Coming Home Crazy (about spending a year teaching English literature in China), Box Elder Bug Variations (about, well, box elder bugs) and several others. For many years, he had a second home in Hofsós, where he ran a writing workshop, a place we visit on this trip. He died in February 2009.*

Kavenna, Joanna. The Ice Museum, In Search of the Lost Land of Thule. Penguin Putnam, 2007. The enchanting account of travels throughout the North in the footsteps of great explorers with chapters on Shetland, Iceland, Estonia, Greenland and Spitsbergen. (PAPER, 304 Pp., $15, Item ARC175)

Millman, Lawrence, and Paul Theroux (Introduction). Last Places, A Journey in the North. Lightning Source, 2000. Millman explores the culture and history of the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland in this hilarious account of his travels in the wake of the ancient Vikings. (PAPER, 242 Pp., $15.95, Item ARC54)

Moss, Sarah. Names for the Sea, Strangers in Iceland. Counterpoint, 2013. A stranger in a strange land, British novelist Moss captures the spirit of Iceland in this tale of a year abroad with her husband and two children as the family experiences a nation in financial and political crisis. (PAPER, 358 Pp., $17.95, Item ICL61)

Oslund, Karen. Iceland Imagined. University of Washington Press, 2013. This cultural and environmental history explores the geography, literature, language, culture, politics and symbolism of Iceland, Greenland, northern Norway and the Faroe Islands. (PAPER, 260 Pp., $24.95, Item ICL57) *Note from Prof. Savina: “Based on her Ph.D. work, this environmental history traces how Icelanders and foreigners have viewed Iceland and the rest of the North Atlantic from about the 16th century until the present. Her case studies include the Laki eruptions of 1783 and their aftermath, the introduction of reindeer in the 18th century, and the current battles over whaling.”*

Roberts, David, and Jon Krakauer (Photographer). Iceland, Land of the Sagas. Villarde, 1998. Krakauer and colleague Roberts hike and climb around Iceland in this classic travel narrative, reissued as a paperback and featuring Krakauer's color photographs. The book interweaves the natural and cultural history of the island with the authors' own adventures. (PAPER, 160 Pp., $24, Item ICL07)

LITERATURE

Byock, Jesse. The Saga of the Volsungs. University of California Press, 2012. A piece full of traditional lore, including runic knowledge, jealousies of princes, betrayals, unrequited love, the vengeance of a barbarian queen, the greed of Attila the Hun and the mythic deeds of a dragon-slayer. (PAPER, 145 Pp., $20.95, Item SCN05)

Cook, Robert (Introduction). Njal's Saga. Penguin, 2002. The tales of heroic (and handsome) Gunnar Hamundarson and his scheming friend Njal. Originally written in Icelandic sometime in the 13th century, it's an earthy tale with a strong sense of place, featuring murder, mayhem, a famous feud and noble deeds. (PAPER, 384 Pp., $17, Item ICL16) *Note from Prof. Savina: “…our first stay of several days [August 18th thru 23rd] is in the area this saga is set in.”*

Indridason, Arnaldur. Jar City. Picador USA, 2006. Indridason's first moody police procedural finds Reykjavik detective Erlendur Sveinsson investigating the brutal murder of a lonely pensioner and the man's connection to the deaths of a number of young women. Made into a darkly superb film. (PAPER, 288 Pp., $15, Item ICL27)

Laxness, Halldor, and Magnus Magnusson (Translator). The Fish Can Sing. Vintage Books, 2008. A quirky, moving coming-of-age tale set in Reykjavik at the turn of the last century, featuring an unforgettable cast of Icelandic characters. (PAPER, 256 Pp., $15.95, Item ICL14) Laxness, Halldor, and Magnus Magnusson (Translator). Under the Glacier. Vintage Books, 2005. Laxness brings the full range of his wit, humor, humanity and imagination to this strange, rather slight and amusing book, in which a Church of Iceland envoy travels inland to investigate the strange goings-on in a remote parish. (PAPER, 256 Pp., $15, Item ICL24)

Laxness, Halldor, and Philip Roughton (Translator). Iceland's Bell. Vintage Books, 2003. An Icelandic novel in the spirit the medieval saga by Iceland's Nobel Laureate. Set in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the novel evokes the atmosphere of Iceland and of Denmark with epic, memorable characters. (PAPER, 425 Pp., $15.95, Item ICL22)

Smiley, Jane (Preface), and Robert Kellogg (Introduction). The Sagas of Icelanders. Viking, 2001. Prose “histories” of events from the 10th to 11th centuries, compiled and written down in the 13th-14th centuries, these rousing tales are told with surprising directness and simplicity. Includes nine sagas and six tales, including an account of Leif Eriksson's voyage to North America, all newly translated. (PAPER, 848 Pp., $26, Item ICL13)

Sturluson, Snorri, and Byock, Jesse (Translator). The Prose Edda. Penguin Classics, 2006. A new translation of one of the most influential and entertaining medieval Icelandic sagas, the source for much of what we know of Norse mythology. (PAPER, 304 Pp., $17.65, Item ICL26)

Verne, Jules. Journey to the Center of the Earth. Dover Publications, 2005. An unabridged republication of the famous work, originally published in 1876. The adventure starts in Iceland, as the explorers descend into the crater of Snæfelljökull. After multiple adventures, they reach the surface through Stromboli, one of Italy’s Aeolian Islands’ volcanoes. (PAPER, 155 Pp., $3, Item ICL64) *Note from Prof. Savina: “The 1959 movie (starring Pat Boone) is a hoot, but it’s filmed in Carlsbad Caverns – which has no resemblance to either Iceland or Stromboli. The book is much better…”*

*Also Recommended by Prof. Savina:

Versions of the Sagas, Eddas, and the Landnámabók (the book of settlement) are available on the web, or as inexpensive electronic books; http://www.northvegr.org/index.html has links to online versions.

The Eddas [are] collections of Old Norse mythology and poems, written and compiled in the 12th and 13th centuries:

The Poetic Edda: The Mythological Poems, translated by Henry Adams Bellows, 1923, published 2004 by Dover, Mineola NY, 288 p. ISBN-13: 978-0486437101

The Poetic Edda: The Heroic Poems, translated by Henry Adams Bellows, 1926, published 2007 by Dover, Mineola NY, 336 p. ISBN-13: 978-0486460215*

NATURAL HISTORY & FIELD GUIDES

Cannat, Guillaume, Einar Mar Jonsson, and Patrick Desgraupes (Photographer). Iceland. Harry N. Abrams, 2005. The French landscape photographer Desgraupes captures the natural beauty of Iceland in 175 color-saturated photographs. (HARD COVER, 180 Pp., $45, Item ICL38)

McPhee, John. The Control of Nature. Noonday Press, 1989. In the classic McPhee tradition, these sparkling essays explore our generally feeble attempts to combat all-powerful nature, including valiant efforts by Icelanders to control the flow of a volcano across the harbor at Heimaey in the Westman Islands. (PAPER, 272 Pp., $16, Item NAT01) *Note from Prof. Savina: “’Part 2 – Cooling the Lava’ is about Iceland and the (ultimately successful) attempts to prevent lava flowing on Heimaey in 1973 from completely blocking the island. We visit Heimaey, the largest of the Westman Islands [on August 20th].”*

Pielou, E.C. A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic. University of Chicago Press, 1994. Our bestselling book on the Arctic, this guide covers the geography and climate, plants, birds and wildlife of the circumpolar north. (PAPER, 327 Pp., $22, Item ARC03) *Note from Prof. Savina: “Pielou’s books are readable and good value; potential buyers should know that it doesn’t specifically refer to locations in Iceland.”*

Thordarson, Thor, and Armann Hoskuldsson. Iceland. International Specialized Book Services, 2002. This geologic companion to Iceland covers rifting of the crust, volcanic eruptions and glacial and other geologic activity in detail. (PAPER, 208 Pp., $35, Item ICL56) *Note from Prof. Savina: “I will be carrying a copy and so, most likely, will our Icelandic guide. I can help anyone who buys a copy with the technical terms.”*

TO ORDER

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ART AND ICELAND: FURTHER READING RECOMMENDATIONS by Prof. David Lefkowitz

There are a few contemporary artists whose work has focused on the landscape of Iceland that I would recommend taking a look at: the Icelandic/Danish installation artist Olafur Eliasson, about whom there is a lot of literature (including the exhibition catalog listed below) and the American conceptual artist Roni Horn, whose work on Iceland is a little harder to find but well worth the investigation.

Grynsztejn, Madeline. Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson. Thames & Hudson, 2007. An exploration of Eliasson’s installations, which transform ordinary spaces into sites of wonder. Includes more than 200 color illustrations which survey the artist’s career. (PAPER, 272 Pp., Worth Looking For) ISBN-13: 978-0500093405.

Then there is the Iceland-born pop artist Erro, whose omnivorous appetite for pop culture imagery is well represented in the Reykjavik Art Museum. A survey of his work can be found here:

Hollein, Max (ed.). Erró. Hatje Cantz, 2012. A celebration of the work of Erró who became popular through innovative double portraits of celebrities and monstrous likenesses. (PAPER, 128 Pp., Worth Looking For) ISBN-13: 978-3775731683.

I will be available for general consultation for any participants who are interested in drawing and/or keeping a field notebook/journal during our trip. If you’d like to learn more about that, I recommend any in a series of books by Carleton alum Clare Walker Leslie, but especially:

Leslie, Clare Walker and Charles E. Roth. Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You. Storey Publishing, 2003. With easy techniques, prompts and exercises, this advice on finding the beauty in each season help one reconnect with the world and the self. (PAPER, 224 Pp., $18.95, Item NAT291)