What are we reading? 6/01/2024

[Gpfr]

A crime novel set in Iceland. Those who like Yrsa Sigurðardóttir will probably enjoy this. Seemingly unrelated deaths turn out to have a connection.

[scarletnoir]

AB76 wrote: "The most similar language to Finnish is actually Hungarian, both sit way outside the comprehension of most european language speakers..."

Not strictly relevant, but... Some years ago I saw a reference to, or a review of, a book called New Finnish Grammar which despite its title is not a grammar book and was written by Italian author Diego Marani. I have a penchant for books with improbable titles and as this was favorably reviewed in the press (and won a prize in Italy) I bought it. I don't remember much about it now, but quite enjoyed it though perhaps it wasn't quite the experience I had hoped for.

This synopsis from Wikipedia gives a flavour of the story:

The plot begins in 1943 Trieste, Italy, where a military doctor, originally from Finland but enlisted in a German hospital ship, finds an unidentified man who is seriously wounded.[1] The man recovers from his wound but seems to have lost his memory and even his language. The doctor believes the man to be a Finnish sailor who has somehow ended up in Italy, like himself. The doctor attempts to reconstruct the man's identity, to teach him Finnish, and eventually arranges his "return" to Helsinki to find his past.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Fin...

[scarletnoir]

RussellinVT wrote: "scarlet - I didn't mean to be in the least derogatory..."

Oh, I didn't take it like that - I simply got the impression that you believed she hadn't worked very much after the accident (which I knew nothing about, or had forgotten).

Perhaps she ended up getting more 'character' roles as a result rather than often duller parts where she would have been 'the pretty young woman'? And after all, not many such actors sustain long careers based on just looks... they need something else as well - ability or charm - and a good agent!

[scarletnoir]

Robert wrote: "The Long Ships an epic novel by the Swedish writer Frans G. Bengtsson, takes its hero, Red Orm, from Denmark to Spain, by way of the Irish coast, where the Vikings had one of the biggest slave markets in the world..."

Some years ago we visited a museum in Reykjavik - I'm pretty sure it was the National Museum - where we saw a display about research which had been done on human remains found not that long before. It turned out that the science proved conclusively that the body was that of a fairly young Irish woman, presumably taken to Iceland as a slave - but she had been buried with some valuable goods, which showed that she had gained status and position once in Iceland.

[giveusaclue]

scarletnoir wrote: "Robert wrote: "The Long Ships an epic novel by the Swedish writer Frans G. Bengtsson, takes its hero, Red Orm, from Denmark to Spain, by way of the Irish coast, where the Vikings had one of the big..."

Some while ago I read

And gathered from it that a lot of Icelanders have Irish in their DNA. As you say, probably due to slavery.

Should they ask for reparations?🤣