Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.11.1994, Page 2

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 25. nóvember 1994
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More books that wlll prove of
interest to people of
Icelandic descent include:
Living on the Land: Change
Among the Inuit of Baffin Island:
by John S. Mathiasson, (Broadview,
Peterborough, Ont.) Dr, Mathiasson,
distipguished anthropologist at the
University of Manitoba has written a
scholarly but readable account —this
is no small achievement — of how
the last three decades have brought
unprecedented changes to people of
the Arctic, in particular the
Tununermiut group of Baffin Island.
The research is thorough and he
makes it accessible to the layman. All
in all, a fascinating read for anyone
interested in the Arctic.
Seven Books Between Two
Covers: The Complete Poetical
Works of Gus Sigurdson
(Wheatfield Press, Winnipeg). This
volume collects the poetry of Gus
Sigurdson from Manitoba’s Interlake
ÍÍII»::SEyKN EÖÖKS
8ETWEEN TW« COVEKS
'í'iw Csmpkw Work»
r, ■ ý'

Mmowx vfGsht
area. Mr. Sigurdson published his
first book of poetry in 1950 and,
judging by the size of this book,
never stopped writing. He has been
compared to Robert Service, among
other poets and his poetry betrays
his Icelandic love for rhyme and allit-
eratíon
You will eat a lot of airline
meals and you will use some of
your royalties to buy stock in
the company that makes Divol. And
while someone says breathlessly, “I
saw you on TV”, you will learn not to
be flattered because he will then add,
“You were between the guy who was
selling aluminum windows and the
lady who makes her living dying poo-
dles different colours. Did you stay to
talk to her? Do you know that she
makes thousands of dollars on St.
Patrick’s Day? Everybody wants their
poodle green. She had three poodles
with her. One was blue and one was
pink and one was green.” And you
will appreciate this because you are
Lutheran and you know it helps you
from becoming vain.
You will get used to restraining
yourself from dying people blue, pink
and green when they say “Why don’t
you quit teaching and just write full
time?” And, instead wiíl, with amaz-
ing politeness reply that “In Canada a
best selling book sells five thousand
copies, the author gets 10% and five
thousand copies at fifteen dollars
TERGESEN
& Sons
GENERAL MERCHANT
Establishi-d 1899
Box 1818
82 - lst Ave.
GIMLI, MANITOBA
PH. 1 204-642 5958
FAX: 1 204-642-9017
IDNIGHT
ADNESS
Friday, December 2
6-12 midnight
Saturday, Dec. 3
Photos with the Huldufólk
at the store 3 - 5 pm
We carry a great selection ofBooks!
comes to seventy-five hundred dol-
lars.” The questioner invariably will
be someone who rips out people’s
molars or chops out their gall blad-
ders or sells stoek and makes two
hundred thousand a ye.ar.
And you will manage all this
restraint, good manners and under-
standing because you’re Icelandic
Canadian. It’s in the genes. The abili-
ty to go berserk, grab anything that
resembles a sword and hack your
bloody way through crowds is also in
the genes. However, you are, in these
circumstances, the skáld, the poet,
the troubadour, the descendant of the
tellers of the sagas and the Eddas, the
sensitive man. And, it is only natural
to you to accept the fact that in
Canada hardly any writer can make a
living from writing. While others
curse and roar, you accept this fact
quite calmly. After all, throughout
Icelandic and Icelandic-Canadian
history few ever expected to be “pro-
fessional” writers. Instead, there were
farmer poets, fishermen poets, cleri-
cal poets (and the clerics even expect-
ed that they would have to do other
Thrand of Gotw Two Icelandic
Sagas translated by George
Johnson (Porcupine’s Quill, Erin,
Ont.) The two sagas contained in
this volume are not among the great
pieces of saga literature. The Saga of
the Faroe Islanders and the Saga of
the Geenlanders are of considerable
Coní'd.
work as well). So the situation of the
Canadian writer is not a hardship. It’s
a way of life with hundreds of years
behind it. And you know that those
poets who went abroad to the courts
in Ireland and Sweden and Norway
nearly always were poor. That they
did not always live in luxury, that
they too spent nights in rented rooms
or as the poor guests of kings and
merchants.
historical interest, however, the first
dealing with political developments in
the Faroes and the other with early
explorations of the Icelanders in
North America. It is always useful to
have English translations available
and these are worthwhile in that
way. Mr. Johnson, however, chooses
to write in the present tense, a style
which this reviewer found extremely
disconcerting.
My Compass Points North:
Memoirs of Geiri Johnson (self-
published). Detailed memoirs of a
man who devoted his flying in and
developing the North, this autobiog-
raphy provides a wealth of informa-
tion. Not only did Mr, Johnson lead
an unusually active and interesting
life, but his account will provide
material for future students of this
era that might otherwise have been
lost forever if it had not been set to
paper.
Thora's
Island Home

£1
, . ... ._
SylviaSigurdson’
Thora’s Island Home
Adelightful story about a 12 year
old girl who comes from lceland
to live with an Aunt and Uncle
on Hecla Island.
Film laminated cover and quality
bond paper. Cover illustrations by
Roman Swiderek (1992), courtesy of
Gull Harbour Resort and Conference
Centre. 112 pages.
$13.95 plus $2 for G.S.T. & mailing
Available at:
♦ H.P. Tergesens & Son, Box 1818, 82-
1 st Ave., Gimli, 'Man. ROC 1BO
Winnipeg — 489-9564
Riverton —378-2280
♦ Eyja Publishing, Box 106, 1450
Johnston Rd., White Rock, B.C. V5B
5E9.
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