Xenophobe's Guide to the Icelanders

The Xenophobe's Guide

by Richard Sale

"Not only has an Icelander held the title of World's Strongest Man, but there have been several Icelandic Miss Worlds. There have also been a surprising number of Icelandic chess grandmasters, and Iceland has more writers and artists per capita than any other country on earth. These facts reinforce the Icelanders' belief that they are a nation of strong, beautiful and intelligent people."
"The essence of Icelandic conversation is the insult. Icelanders are born with a talent for it and use it with ease from an early age. Because of their farming and fishing ancestry the most telling jibes involve sheep and fish. It is a very serious matter to refer to someone as a sheep or a codhead."

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Humor, Cultural, Scandinavian Literature

92 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Richard Sale (1946-) is a physicist, with a PhD in astrophysics. After working as a glaciologist in Switzerland and then in the UK power industry he gave up fulltime physics for his first loves – birds and the Arctic. He has written and taken photographs for many books, including To the Ends of the Earth: The History of Polar Exploration and various travel guides.

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite observation. "Given the difficulty of hunting puffin, you would think they taste like ambrosia. You would be mistaken."

[Ape · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy these slightly tongue-in-cheek books about different nationalities. I still read them when I can get hold of one, although I don't know how relevant they are any more. This particular one was published in 1994. That's a whole 24 years ago - another generation has been born and grown up since then. Some of the things may not be true anymore, although I'm not that savvy on all things Icelandic to say what looks like rubbish now and what is true. Funny to read about the low levels of crime (except alcohol-fuelled crime) and really low murder rate, especially considering the trend of scandi-noir that's really popular now. All those murder books set on Iceland... And then the bizarre observation that condom dispensers are (were) all over the place and people were fine buying them, but there was something shameful about buying toilet paper? The traditional food... yeah, I saw that in the shops when I was over there a few years ago. They're still really pleased about the Cod Wars as that came up, and I love the belief in the small folk and the fact that roads and buildings will be placed to accomodate big boulders in the ground that the small folk live in.

[cloudyskye · Rating 4 out of 5]

So amusing. I don't think I know a single Icelander in person, but the country and its people have fascinated me from my schooldays. I've read books and watched TV shows about it.
Let alone their footballers, they were a huge hit here during the last championships. We all wanted a shirt with Sigþórsson's name on it: It sounds a lot like the German word for the "winning goal", Siegtor. (No chance, sold out in no time.)
I'm still dreaming of travelling to Iceland one day (preferably in the summer ...).

[Ocean · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title suggest, this book is a humourous guide to Iceland and its customs.
The humour is so painfully brittish. I really enjoyed it although I don't know how much this holds up 20 years later. A lot probably has changed. As I'm only reading this for leisure it wasn't a problem for me and it was still interesting to learn about 90's Iceland as the country always fascinated me.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and good natured poke at the ways of Icelanders. I have never met anyone from Iceland, but I think I would get along fine with Iceland's inhabitants if the author's description is fairly accurate. ;-)

[Christopher Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This handy companion is anything but xenophobic: it sheds light on the national traits, passions and personalities of the Icelandic people, shaped in part by geographical isolation, part by its proximity to the Arctic Circle, and part by its extraordinary landscape, formed by volcanic activity at the meeting of tectonic plates. Iceland is an elemental place in many senses, creating a unique relationship to arts, culture and the environment. I am looking forward to embracing the country and its people: I am planning to visit later in the year.

[Cenhner Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Medio mentiroso el título, para empezar. Yo pensaba que al ser la "guía xenofoba" realmente se iban a pasar de rosca, pero más allá de un par de chistes no dice nada impactante.
Tampoco esperaba que el librito me diera información que no hubiera leído ya; yo sí esperaba la cuota de humor zarpado. Pero el contenido es casi el mismo que el libro de Sigurdsdóttir, así que casi es preferible leer ese. Este está bien, igual.

[Azaghedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun. How accurate were these playful, (at best) half-serious observations about the Icelanders as a people? That I have no idea. But at the very least it was good for a sensible chuckle and you can never have too many of those.

[Epp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartwarming and full of giggle material!

[Eduardo Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh-out-loud funny. More than once. And it was even useful as preparation for our trip there.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moments of humor, but this book could have seemingly been written without ever visiting or having advanced knowledge of the people. Little more than a cribbed Fodor's, with mild jokes.

[Patrice-loup Rifaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just for fun ! And on some points, accurate.

[Elizabeth Schlatter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe there's this whole series of books that stereotypes entire populations. But, uh, I read the whole (short) thing. Amusing. And I'd like to read the one on Americans.

[Charlane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Very short and will explain Icelanders to you.

[Outdoors Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great intro to the people. Annoying pre quotes of the body text.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a bit of fluff as an alternative to Brave New World and found this in the pile. It may be a bit dated (contains a reference to cell phones as recent technology and implies the utility of fax machines) and is more than a bit snarky (that being the point of the entire series). Still, it was mildly informative and readable. I am left wondering, though, how the English (of which the author is one) handle snowfalls of more than a few inches that don't melt immediately, given the disdain expressed for the Icelandic method which is the same as that used throughout the US and Canada. Also, I am now even more convinced that the weather is viewed the same everywhere, since in Iceland it is also described as "if you don't like it, wait 5 minutes and it will change."

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please consider this four-star rating only in the context of the Xenophobe's Guide. This means this isn't a real four-star book but it is way better than the rest of the series.

Maybe it depends on the author: I really liked this one. I loved all the comments he makes on Iceland and on the Icelanders. They're funny but he doesn't take himself seriously, so you kind of grin a lot.

I love the part about the Georgian lawyer teaching himself Icelandic and becoming a translator.

Maybe I'll take a little break and then I'll delve again into the Xenophobe's Guide.

[Zafikowana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lektura była całkiem przyjemna, aczkolwiek początek lekko mnie zraził. Potem było o wiele lepiej. Dowiedziałam się wielu ciekawych faktów o Islandii i samych mieszkańcach Wyspy. Jednak najbardziej urzekł mnie wiersz o języku islandzkim. Nie mogę się doczekać aż zacznę się go uczyć!

[Tfalcone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not realize they were about 20 of these. Short and sweet.

[Vallery Feldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of fun, especially if one has spent any time in the country.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Straszny stek bzdur. "Coś tam słyszałem, to powtórzę, ale nie ważne czy to prawda, półprawda, czy było zupełnie inaczej i tylko imiona brzmią podobnie". Humor nieśmieszny i na siłę.

[Książkoloszka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ciekawe fakty przedstawione w zabawny i przystępny sposób

[Sara Nowak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this much better ten years ago. This edition is from 2014 so I think it's just really dated. Read it in anticipation of a return trip to Iceland and I'm curious to skim a more recent edition.

[A.]

Somewhat amusing, and more or less accurate, but not interesting enough to finish.