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mcc's review against another edition
2.5
I had a really hard time following this book. At first I thought it was my attention span that was the problem, but I realized that the author was just ALL over the place and I couldn't understand what the point of this book was other than the author's absolute love of Iceland? The extra half star I gave is for this as that part was genuine and heartwarming and I could tell this book was written with real passion...I just couldn't really tell about what?
pennym_'s review
informative
medium-paced
3.0
not what i was expecting. this was expansive and a bit meandering in its subject matter, and ultimately a bit lacking in central thesis/internal cohesion. which was a bit of a bummer, because the author puts together a ton of intriguing information about ecology, philosophy, cognitive science, quantum physics, spirituality, and more. overall i think it is worth picking up, but its not as focused on the natural world or on elves as the title indicates.
in three words: fascinating but unfocused
in three words: fascinating but unfocused
unladylike's review
3.0
This book is more one American woman's love letter to Iceland in a series of semi-academic essays than it is what the main title suggests, per se.
Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book, which speaks deeply to my beliefs about the importance of Story as Everything:
"In the anthropology of magick, Greenwood acknowledges that she herself, though a working scientist, is a witch." ... One of the witches Greenwood met in Northern England early on in her study of magic "whose preferred form of magic was storytelling. 'She told me,' writes Greenwood, 'that her stories were spells that could change people's lives. The witch explained 'I don't have to say to people "I'm working on your unconscious now." If I'm doing my work right, something will happen."'"
Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book, which speaks deeply to my beliefs about the importance of Story as Everything:
"In the anthropology of magick, Greenwood acknowledges that she herself, though a working scientist, is a witch." ... One of the witches Greenwood met in Northern England early on in her study of magic "whose preferred form of magic was storytelling. 'She told me,' writes Greenwood, 'that her stories were spells that could change people's lives. The witch explained 'I don't have to say to people "I'm working on your unconscious now." If I'm doing my work right, something will happen."'"
pizzamyheart's review
1.0
DnF
What a letdown. The title and description sounded promising, but the actual result was all over the place. There was no structure. No focus. Just a woman recording her time in Iceland and trying to sell the story to recoup her travel costs.
Ok maybe she did some research, but it was light. There were heavy descriptions on people she met and what they were wearing. Random tangents about Tolkein and Einstein.
What a letdown. The title and description sounded promising, but the actual result was all over the place. There was no structure. No focus. Just a woman recording her time in Iceland and trying to sell the story to recoup her travel costs.
Ok maybe she did some research, but it was light. There were heavy descriptions on people she met and what they were wearing. Random tangents about Tolkein and Einstein.