Reading in Reykjavík

I used to be a regular visitor of   the eponymous blog that spawned this book. I was aware from the first that it should really be titled "Stuff liked by stereotypical, white, middle-class, liberal, urban Americans aged between about 18 and 40", but that didn‘t make it any less funny. I‘d check in, smile or occasionally giggle over the humour, agree or disagree with Lander, and then move on to the next blog in my feed. For some reason (i.e. I found another blog I liked better – I have limited time to read blogs and only ever juggle about 10 at any given time) I stopped reading the blog, but coming across the book in a second hand shop brought a smile to my face and I bought it and took it home with me to read.  The thing to keep in mind when reading this book is that it is, as I said above, very much about stereotypes and therefore it is by necessity hyperbolic. It also seems to aim to shoot down or at least uncover pretentiousness and one-upmanship, which makes it s...

Originally published in January and February 2005, in 2 parts. Book 50 in my first 52 books challenge. Editor: Natalie Rothstein Text: Madeleine Ginsburg, Avir Hart, Valerie D. Mendes, et al. Photographs: Philip Barnard Year published: 1984 Pages: 176 Genre: History of clothing styles Where got: Public library I was planning to read a Danish book titled Krop og klær: Klædedragtens kunsthistorie (In English: Body and clothing: The art history of dress) for this week’s review, but leafing through it I realised I could never finish it in one week AND enjoy it, because it’s been a while since I’ve read anything more complicated than craft magazines in Danish, and there is a fair amount of technical vocabulary in it that requires the use of a dictionary. I did want to read something about textiles, and picked up this overview of dress history as seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Dress Collection. It is published by the museum and contains a large number of photograp...

Originally published in January 2005, in 2 parts. Book 47 in my first 52 books challenge. Edited/Retold by: Pratibha Nath Year published: 1995 Pages: 170 Genre: Folk-tales, myths, legends Where got: Paramount Book Store, New Delhi, India I bought this book during my stay in India in 1996. For some reason I only ever read the first few stories, and when I got back home I put it on a shelf and promptly forgot about it. It came to light again recently when I was culling my books, and I decided to finally finish reading it. Like most of the locally published books I bought in India, it is printed on cheap paper that is already yellowing, and the glued binding is coming apart, even though the book has rarely been opened. As you can see, the cover is quite funny – I believe that’s supposed to be a demon. This is a collection of folk-tales and legends from all over India. Although the stories are meant for children, they are readable for persons of any age who like folk-ta...

Originally published in December 2004, in 2 parts. Book 43 in my first 52 books challenge. Author: Jane Feuer Series: British Film Institute Cinema Series Year published: 1982/1993 Pages : 154 Genre: Cinema history and criticism Where got: National/University Library I came across this interesting volume while browsing at the library. As someone who possesses a growing collection of musicals and watches them frequently, I am naturally interested in the subject, which is why I picked it as the book of the week. Contents and review : A critical and analytic look at the Golden Era Hollywood musical as a genre. Feuer examines some conventions and formulas of the genre, how the earlier musicals refer back to stage shows, vaudeville and revues, while the later ones refer back to the earlier ones. She examines the importance of the songs, the standardized romantic storyline of the musical comedy, and in a postscript chapter takes a brief look at some post-Golden Era musicals and gay readi...

Originally published in September and October 2004, in 2 parts. Book 32 in my first 52 books challenge. Edited out some non-review stuff. Author: Robert McKee Year published: 1998 Pages: 466 Genre: Non-fiction. Story structure, screenwriting, practical film theory Where got: Student book store This is apparently one of the best books available to people who want to learn screenwriting, and is required reading for many courses on the craft. And no, I’m not about to run off to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. This is one of two set books for the university course I’m taking on media translation. Since a lot of media translation consists of translating movies and TV series the teacher thought it would be a good idea if we were well acquainted with the way such material is built up. In order to become a good screen translator, one needs to be aware of the extra-linguistic content of the story one is translating, not just the linguistic aspects. This is why I’m reading the ...