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I needed something different to divert my mind, so over the past few days, I watched both seasons of Trapped. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it was a good escape for me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapped_(Icelandic_TV_series)
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I’ve been fascinated by Iceland for over two decades, but I’ve never made the trip. (In recent years, tales of larger crowds have made it a little less appealing.) So, part of the choice to watch Trapped had to do with the images of landscape. I often choose media that way.
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Since I’m thinking about the topic now, here are three of my collections with Iceland-related materials:
1. https://robertogreco.tumblr.com/tagged/iceland
2. https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/t:iceland/
3. https://www.are.na/roberto-greco/iceland-puu6gycflby
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1. https://robertogreco.tumblr.com/tagged/iceland
2. https://pinboard.in/u:robertogreco/t:iceland/
3. https://www.are.na/roberto-greco/iceland-puu6gycflby
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And here are a few specific references (in no specific order):
The Sagas of the Icelanders
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/332353/the-sagas-of-icelanders-by-various/
The Reykjavik Grapevine (news from Iceland in English) https://grapevine.is/
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The Sagas of the Icelanders
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/332353/the-sagas-of-icelanders-by-various/
The Reykjavik Grapevine (news from Iceland in English) https://grapevine.is/
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Gnarr (both the documentary and the book)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnarr
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/243015/gnarr-by-jon-gnarr/
The Blue Fox, by Sjón
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Fox_(novel)
Cold Fever
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Fever
Heima (a Sigur Rós film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heima
Nói albinói
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noi_the_Albino
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnarr
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/243015/gnarr-by-jon-gnarr/
The Blue Fox, by Sjón
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Fox_(novel)
Cold Fever
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Fever
Heima (a Sigur Rós film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heima
Nói albinói
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noi_the_Albino
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Lay Low
https://vimeo.com/52653564
Birgitta Jónsdóttir and the Pirate Party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birgitta_J%C3%B3nsd%C3%B3ttir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party_(Iceland)
the Hilda series (not Icelandic, and not exactly Iceland, but related, and I love that series) https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/here-comes-hilda
https://vimeo.com/52653564
Birgitta Jónsdóttir and the Pirate Party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birgitta_J%C3%B3nsd%C3%B3ttir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party_(Iceland)
the Hilda series (not Icelandic, and not exactly Iceland, but related, and I love that series) https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/here-comes-hilda
fun fact, according to Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland#Literature):
“Icelanders are avid consumers of literature, with the highest number of bookstores per capita in the world. For its size, Iceland imports and translates more international literature than any other nation. +
“Icelanders are avid consumers of literature, with the highest number of bookstores per capita in the world. For its size, Iceland imports and translates more international literature than any other nation. +
“Iceland also has the highest per capita publication of books and magazines, and around 10% of the population will publish a book in their lifetimes.
Most books in Iceland are sold between late September to early November. +
Most books in Iceland are sold between late September to early November. +
“This time period is known as Jolabokaflod, the Christmas Book Flood. The Flood begins with the Iceland Publisher's Association distributing Bokatidindi, a catalog of all new publications, free to each Icelandic home.”
**THE FLOOD BEGINS**
**THE FLOOD BEGINS**
There’s a lot of film and TV that is not about Iceland, per se, but shot or partly shot in Iceland. A few:
- Sense8
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Greenland and Himalayas scenes shot in Iceland too)
- Black Mirror’s “Crocodile” episode
- Bokeh
- Game of Thrones
- Fortitude
- Sense8
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Greenland and Himalayas scenes shot in Iceland too)
- Black Mirror’s “Crocodile” episode
- Bokeh
- Game of Thrones
- Fortitude
(Like I said, sometimes I watch things just for the landscapes.)
Forgot to mention earlier that the population scale of Iceland messes with my brain. The country has a total population of 364k with 131k in Reykjavík and 233k in the Reykjavík metro region). Yet, Icelanders seem to make a vast overstatement with regard to culture production.
I think about cities in California with similar populations and while it’s unfair to compare because Iceland is a sovereign nation and Reykjavík is the capital of a country, it still seems very impressive.
Part of that might be the multiple roles that people play in society in a smaller place? Part of that might be opportunity (to participate in international events)? Part of that is the legacy self-sufficiency that comes from being in an isolated location?
Some of those questions come from observations of the characters in Trapped* (because they are fresh in my mind), who as individuals have varied career histories and through circumstance take on varied roles at any given time.
*getting back to what started this thread
*getting back to what started this thread
