Scandinavians: In Search of the Soul of the North
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The Scandinavians are regarded as Europe's most tolerant and peace-loving people. So how was it that one of the worst acts of political terror ever witnessed on this continent was committed by a Norwegian – against his fellow countrymen?
Scandinavia is the epitome of cool: we fill our homes with cheap but stylish Nordic furniture; we envy their health-giving outdoor lifestyle; we glut ourselves on their crime fiction; even their strangely attractive melancholia seems to express a stoic, common-sensical acceptance of life's many vicissitudes. But how valid is this outsider's view of Scandinavia, and how accurate our picture of life in Scandinavia today?
Robert Ferguson digs down through two millennia of history to tell stories of extraordinary events, people and objects – from Norwegian Death Metal to Vidkun Quisling, from Agnetha Fältskog to Greta Garbo, from Lurpak butter to the Old Norse rune stones – that richly illuminate our understanding of modern Scandinavia, its society, politics, culture and temperament.
Robert Ferguson
Robert Ferguson was born in the UK in 1948 and left school in 1966. He worked at a number of jobs including postman, hospital porter, deckhand on a trawler, factory worker, cook, driver etc before enrolling at UCL, London in 1976 and taking a course in Scandinavian Studies. He graduated in 1980. In 1983 he emigrated to Norway and has made his home there since. He began his literary career as a radio dramatist, translating and adapting for radio works by Knut Hamsun and Henrik Ibsen for the BBC. He has also written eleven original radio plays and twice won the BBC Methuen Giles Cooper Award for Best Radio Drama, in 1984 and 1986. His first literary biography was Enigma: The Life of Knut Hamsun, which was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Best Biography Award in 1987. It also won the University of London J.G.Robertson Award. In 1996 Enigma was dramatized as a 6-part television series by NRK (Norwegian State Television) As well as literary biographies and a history of the Vikings, Ferguson has written two novels, published only in Norwegian.
Read more from Robert Ferguson
Making Conflict Work: Harnessing the Power of Disagreement Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scandinavians: In Search of the Soul of the North Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Kierkegaard Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Knights Templar and Scotland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurnames as a Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe River-Names of Europe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLate Starter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Scandinavians
Related ebooks
Made in Sweden: 25 ideas that created a country Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Introduction to Nordic Cultures Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise of Little Big Norway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Promise of Iceland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finntopia: What We Can Learn From the World's Happiest Country Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Little History of Dublin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnow Your Dane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNordic Paths to Modernity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSwedish Mentality Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Pennine Way: From Edale to Kirk Yetholm Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Never Mind the Quantocks: How Country Walking Can Change Your Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Craic Baby: Dispatches from a Rising Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saga Land Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Me, Myself, And Iceland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Ideas Matter: Speeches for an Ethical Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking in Cumbria's Eden Valley: 30 walks between the Yorkshire Dales and the Solway salt marshes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking in Northumberland: 36 walks throughout the county - coast, Cheviots, Hadrian's Wall and Pennines Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bearbrass: Imagining Early Melbourne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Trails of the Lake District and Cumbria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEmily Hobhouse: Beloved Traitor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Melbourne Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Frog in the Fjord: One Year in Norway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ipswich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNative: Life in a Vanishing Landscape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Our Own Correspondent: A Celebration of Fifty Years of the BBC Radio Programme Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tales of Iceland -or- Running with the Huldufólk in the Permanent Daylight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Self in the World: Connecting Life's Extremes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPig City: 10th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imperial Mud: The Fight for the Fens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
European History For You
Mein Kampf: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kamphf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jane Austen: The Complete Novels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Six Wives of Henry VIII Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Violent Abuse of Women: In 17th and 18th Century Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short History of the World: The Story of Mankind From Prehistory to the Modern Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Slave Trade: The White European Slaves of Islam Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Book of English Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gulag Archipelago [Volume 2]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Scandinavians
14 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I really liked this very personal account of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark written by an "outsider" who maybe shouldn't be considered an outsider after anymore, having spent more than 30 years in Norway, and became so much involved with Scandinavian literature and history.This is not a very didactic book, following a strict pattern with the aim of guiding the reader like a student on history and culture of Nordic lands. The book is rather like an old friend buying you a beer, or aquavit in this case, and telling you personal stories, literary anecdotes, strange encounters with famous figures from the world of theater and cinema. The writing is fluid, but the author can easily deviate from a topic, only to jump to another anecdote, only to return the original theme some pages later. This is the beauty and curse of it! One thing is certain: After having read this book, I know more about various aspects of Scandinavian culture, history and literature; and I'm motivated to learn much more. Hence, I consider this book a success, but I'm not sure I can recommend to everyone.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I picked up this book at Barnes and Noble after browsing for about 15 minutes. The subject looked intriguing, as I love history, am curious about Scandinavia and have very little background on the subject. After reading the entire book, I am still curious and still have very little background.I must say that I have seldom encountered a book so poorly organized. I fact, I would have to say that it is not organized, at all. There are about 20 chapters about various aspects of Scandinavian life, history and/or culture, with seemingly no structure or connection. It is almost like an anthology, or collection of essays written by different people, except the author makes almost every chapter more about himself than the subject.I didn’t buy this book to read about the author’s life, his friends, the lives of his friends, or his philosophy, yet that is predominantly what I got. Scattered throughout the book are nuggets of helpful and/or entertaining information, but they are widely scattered.