This book is great and is even greater because the first time the book was read to me was by Mrs. Salley. Everyone will love this book even if you are not from New Orleans.

A Review in the December issue of the Norwegian-American newspaper, Døtre av Norge, a publication of the Daughters of Norway..

Let me begin by saying that Katherine Larson is a member of Nina Grieg Lodge #40 of the Daughters of Norway in Poulsbo, Washington.

Katherine worked with the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle and the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Decorah, Iowa, to develop a major exhibit on woven coverlets from major museums in Norway and the United States that was or will be shown as follows:

• Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, Washington, September 13-November 11, 2001;
• The Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota, May 16-July 14, 2002;
• West Vancouver Museum and Archives, West Vancouver, British Columbia, August-October, 2002.

The first forty pages of Katherine Larson's book are a cultural history of Norway using weaving and coverlets as a unifying theme. Katherine writes extensively and well about the isolation and self sufficiency of rural life in Norway. Although the precise dates that many techniques and technologies arrived in Norway from abroad are not typically known, she does try to frame such introductions in terms of centuries. More importantly, she discusses why weaving was so important to the development of the culture.

My favorite chapter in the first section of the book is titled, "More Than Just a Cover for the Bed," in which she describes the arrangement of farm households, the psychological boost from colorful additions during the long winter months and the cradle to grave use of coverlets, including baptisms and funerals.

Katherine uses historical photographs of women and their equipment; color prints from paintings in the National Gallery and line art of plants used for dying wool, of weaving techniques and of weaving patterns. She presents about 130 high-quality color photographs of finished coverlets, either flat so you can see the entire design or a close up section or in use on a bed. In addition there are many, many black and white photographs of more whole coverlets. Some of the detail drawings would also be useful for embroidery and knitting.

The later chapters of the book are devoted one each to the various types of Norwegian woven coverlets. Some of these are pan-Scandinavian and others even pan-European, but the essence always comes back to what Norwegian women had, wanted to have and were willing to create for their homes from roughly the middle ages to modern times.

Each valley or district in the country had a favorite technique and pattern for its coverlets, providing a rich visual texture to the book. The weaving styles and techniques covered include tapestry/billedvev, square-weave/rutevev, bound-weave/krokbragd, other weft-faced styles, knotted pile/rye, (reversible) double-weave/dobeltvev, and overshot/tavlebragd or skillbragd.

The appendices and closing words include a brief afterword about her family's immigration experience, a conversational and a literal table of equivalent of weaving terms among English, Norwegian and Swedish; notes; a glossary of textile terms in English; a bibliography; and a proper index.

This book is NOT a beginner's how-to. It is a highly readable cultural reference book about weaving. It would be a useful addition for anyone making hand-woven textiles, anyone who likes to apply older techniques in modern textile settings (not just weaving), and anyone interested in the cultural history of Norway and for Norwegian-Americans. In short almost everyone interested in Norway.

I was pleased to find my own family's two dominant weaving styles in the later chapters of the book: Danish weave, common in southeastern Norway, and overshot weave, mostly the Monk's Belt pattern. One of my maiden great, great aunts was a professional weaver and both my grandmother and aunt also wove.

Even if you can read Icelandic, you still might want to read Holland's book. This is a great source for a retelling of the old Norse myths. Rather than merely translating, Holland decided to bring together all sources and "to retell the myths in new versions, and hope that they are both representative of the originals and full-blooded in their own right." I believe that he succeeded at the second task. I'm not enough of a scholar or time-traveller to judge his success at representing their original versions.

This book serves as an excellent introduction to Norse mythology. Most of the major stories are present. Holland retells the stories in the first part of the book, then provides insight into sources and other interpretations for each story in the back. His index, bibliography, and glossary are quite useful.

The myths are quite readable, suitable even for bedtime reading for older children. This book would make a great resource for a middle- or a high-school report. For those contemplating college level work, get direct translations of the Eddas and of Saxo Grammaticus. Even for college level work, Holland can serve as a roadmap to the primary sources.

Where Holland fails (and he fails miserably), is his failure to unwrap the Vanic from the Aesic traditions in the myths. Metzner has shown in The Well of Remembrance: Rediscovering the Earth Wisdom Myths of Northern Europe that the uncritical blending of these two traditions gives a different character to Norse mythology. In spite of this failing, however, Holland's book serves as a good introduction to the subject and primes the reader for more research, either directly into the Eddas, or for the work of Metzner and of H. Ellis Davidson.

I read this book cover to cover, and found each page worth reading again. While it is certainly not as extensive in its explanations as other books, it offers fair notes on anything with which a new reader might be unfamiliar. I found the most enjoyment in the stories themselves; they seemed to have a more friendly appearance than the stories as told in other books. I consider myself well-versed in the Norse myths, and I would recommend this book to anybody wishing to learn about the Norsemen's tales, or to anybody just looking for a good story.

The author starts off with a 25-page or so introduction to the myths, covering the Norse world, cosmology, the pantheon of Norse gods, the sources, and the general structure of the myths.

The heart of the book consists of 32 myths, arranged in basically a chronological order - beginning with the creation of the world / Ymir, and ending with Ragnarok.

This is followed by notes (of a more academic nature) keyed to each of the 32 stories, where he gives additional information, sources, parallels in other cultures, and interpretations.

The writing style moves well, and the myths are told in a way that holds the reader's interest. Younger folks may well need to start with something a little simpler, like D'Aulaire or "Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology" published by Schocken Books, but for adult readers looking for an intelligent introduction to Norse mythology, this book can't be beat.

Second only to Slavomir Rawicz's The Long Walk in the annals of WWII escape stories I've read, the story of Jan Baalsrud's amazing escape after a failed commando insertion into occupied Norway is more a tale of endurance than one of derring-do. Penned by a former British spymaster, the book is a clear, if somewhat simply written, account of how Baalsrud was sheltered for weeks by various patriotic Norwegians who did their best to keep him out of German hands.

An expatriate Norwegian, Baalsrud and his fellow commandos were attempting to establish a resistance cell in northern Norway that would disrupt the operations of a major German airfield nearby. Betrayed, the commandos were ambushed by German soldiers, with only Baalsrud escaping. The bulk of the book described how over the next several weeks, regular citizens in remote villages attempted to keep him alive while arranging for him to get to Sweden. This was greatly hampered by the frostbite that made walking or skiing impossible for him. It's an excellent glimpse into the mundane details of how regular people did their best to resist the Germans with the knowledge that they and their families would be killed if their plotting was uncovered.

Ultimately though, the book is a tribute to Baalsrud's incredible physical and emotional endurance-he was buried alive for days under snow, left by himself for days at a time unable to move and in excruciating pain, and had to contemplate self-surgery-all while knowing that his discovery could mean the deaths of many innocent people. Think you're tough? Read this and think again! It would have been nice if the publisher had included a map.

This amazing memoir will change the way you see, and appreciate life. An almost unbelievable story of human endurance, this has got to be the ultimate survival story. If a better one exists, I have yet to read it.

The book chronicles the story of an American citizen of Norwegian descent, who joins the WWII effort via the English, on a secret mission to sabotage the Nazis in Norway. Their plan fails and they are discovered by the Nazis, and one of them, "Jan", escapes into the frigid Norwegian hinterlands. What follows is an incredible journey as Jan seeks the assistance of Norwegian locals who risk everything, under pain of death, to help him escape to Sweden. Since all roads and waterways are patrolled by the Nazis the only recourse is overland through the frozen deserts of the Norwegian highlands. Incredibly, Jan survives many weeks alone without food or shelter in the blizzards of the Norwegian Arctic.

The author makes the case of how much we take for granted in our daily comforts. An inspirational story.

In a plain and straightforward manner, David Horwath recounts the incredible true story of a Norwegian commando sent back to his defeated homeland to sabotage a Nazi airfield. The mission is discovered and compromised before it really gets started--but the story has just begun.

The commando, Jan Baalsrud, embarks on an incredible journey as he attempts to escape back to friendly lines. He is aided here and there by his countrymen, who risk their own lives and the lives of their families and villages to save him, long after, by all odds, he should be dead.

As I read the book I was reminded of Ken Follett's "Eye Of The Needle", but with two distinct differences: Jan Baalsrud is a hero, not a villan. And this is a true story, not fiction.

Although it does have minor flaws, such as no real connection between some parts of the book, "Astrid" is a wonderful book to read, written by a Norwegian woman born and living in the States. The most important observation that should be made, is that the atmosphere of the book is real, you do not have the impression that it is written from today's perspective. Given the incompleteness of original sagas, Henriksen did a decent job, having managed to keep the story consistent and as full as possible. Who knows, maybe the detachment of some parts of the book were intended. If so, there is nothing that should prevent you from reading this book. You should not have an impression that the book is for children. Having read the book, I may assure you, that it is not suitable for kids. On the contrary, some events are either drastic, or have sexual content. Nevertheless, it was written with taste and you will enjoy the book throughout. The book is very Norwegian, if that may be stated by a person that has never been there... Very recommended.

After recently finishing Stephen Lawhead's "Byzantium", I felt slightly disappointed in that thiS STORY should have incorporated a much more elaborate tale. Do try "Byzantium" if you find "Astrid" enjoyable.

What follows is a part of the informational flyer the publisher has sent out to bookstores, newspapers, etc.

"In the days before Christianity brought the written word to the Viking lands of far Northern Europe, history was a spoken rhythmical saga. These sagas sang of kings and heroes. Only occasionally did a storyteller mention, in passing, the women involved. One such was Astrid...

Astrid's story is told from the time she is fifteen years old, in 955 A.D., the year she chooses a husband and begins accompanying him on raiding and trading expeditions in France and England. In just a short time she would become mother to one of Norway's future kings [Olav Trygveson], while fighting for her own son's life as well as her own. In a rare account of one Viking woman's chronicle, "Astrid: A Viking Saga" traces Astrid's journey as she becomes a mother, a widow and a slave, while attempting to preserve her freedom and make a life for herself and her family.

Based on the recorded events of Astrid's life, "Astrid: A Viking Saga" not only depicts a slice of Viking and women's history, it fills in the unknown gaps with adventure and suspense, bringing to the page a vivid illustration of this tumultuous era. Written by Joan Felicia Henriksen, this grand epic captures all the magnificence and coarseness of the Viking culture and explores the complexity of one young woman's struggle to maintain her independence, strength and dignity. Henriksen blends adventure, romance and history in this riveting page-turner and reveals some little-known facts about a fascinating era. Not only does "Astrid: A Viking Saga" represent years of meticulous research and unwavering interest in the Viking culture, it also reveals Henriksen's fervent desire that the stories of strong and independent women be passed along and preserved."

Wow--this book is hard to put down; it skims along as swiftly as the kids riding their sleds downhill (smuggling gold bullion right past Nazi soldiers), to be loaded aboard a camouflaged ship and taken to America for safe keeping. What was a simple, childhood pasttime has now beome a matter of life and death.

Based on a probably true story, but Fact or legend, it could well have happened this way. This exciting little book is a tribute to the courage and dedication to Freedom of the people of Norway during the winter of 1940, when Nazis invaded even this tiny village. No one thought they could be defeated, yet Peter's Uncle Viktor suggested a plan which involved school children in a fabulously daring smuggling adventure! If you want to read more about Scandinavian resistance to the Nazi's, try Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, set in Denmark. Snow Treasure is a literary treasure of tension, histoircal fiction which might have been historical fact!

Snow Treasure is a book for people who like action and adventure. The story is about his friends and other children that are trying to keep their country's gold from the invading Nazis. In April 1940 there was a heavy snow, and the Germans had already invaded them. The men of the village were trying to figure out a way to get the gold out of Norway. Nobody could think of a way to get it to the U.S until Uncle Victor saw Peter standing in the doorway, and he had the idea of smuggling the gold out on the sleds. Uncle Victor appoints Peter the head of the "Defense Club," which are the kids that take the gold down to the Uncle Victor's boat. To find out how the story ends read the book yourself.

I read this book when I was 10 - I'm now 41. I've been looking for 31 years to find this book again and I'm ordering one dozen copies as soon as I'm done writing this review.

This story has stayed with me since the day I read it. The courage and commitment of the children to help their country. The risks they took to move the gold under the very noses of Nazi officers. Boys and girls alike did their part to protect Norway's gold and their own futures.

I can't wait to wrap up these Christmas presents for every child I know. This was one of the best books I've ever read and I can't wait to read it again.

31 years - I don't think that's too long a time for success.

There are two important facts to remember about The Last Place on Earth. The first is that its author, Roland Huntford, comes to it with the clear agenda of debunking Scott and lionizing Amundsen. The second is that he has the benefit of more than fifty years of historical hindsight, which makes it easy for him to criticize Scott for apparent incompetence. He's also not above fabricating so-called "facts" if doing so helps him further his cause of tearing down the Scott legend (I'm thinking of his more or less unfounded allegations that Kathleen Scott had an affair with Nansen). The truth regarding Scott and Amundsen and their respective expeditions is naturally somewhat more complicated. The Last Place on Earth is not a bad book. It's not necessarily even bad history. But it is revisionist, and heavily skewed, written by a man with a clear agenda. If you want a more fair, balanced, and compassionate view, read Diana Preston's A First Rate Tragedy. Read the Scott chapters of Francis Spofford's I May Be Some Time. And read Scott's and Amundsen's own published records of the events. Because let's face it: nobody knows what really happened better than the men to whom it actually happened. And they left their own perfectly adequate accounts.

This book is a fascinating combination of detailed analysis of the two men, Scott and Amundsen and the wildly different tactics used to reach the Southernmost point on Earth. Although certain sections of the book drag with perhaps too much in-depth analysis (such as a detailed discussion of Amundsen's housekeeper's influence on his life) it moves along well overall.

The final days of Scott's party are laid out in a plain and factual way, but the terror that must have crept over them when they finally realized that there was no way they could reach their main base alive comes through remarkably well. You begin to feel the deep chill of the Antarctic wind and the crushing disappointment when a food depot is missed.

In contrast, the absolute ease of Amundsen's journey is shocking. His men used dogs to pull their sledges to the pole and then killed the weaker dogs on the return trip to feed the remaining team. Detailed planning for the journey, including learning to live in high latitudes from the experts, the Inuit, led to his success. Their skis carried them upwards of 20 miles per day with ease, despite the harsh environment. The team literally had a holiday while "boxing" the pole with flags during the several days used to confirm their position and ensure their place in history.

The pictures reproduced in the book do a good job of filling in the stark images the text roughs out for the reader. The amount of research required to produce this book is simply overwhelming and it should be considered the definitive text on this last great geographic race.

There are few books as satisfying as this one, both in the inherent interest of the story and in the literary execution in all its enthralling detail. A few truly excellent books come to mind, such as Rhodes' Making of the Atomic Bomb or Halberstam's Best and the Brightest. This book is indisputably of that caliber and every page exudes the love of the author for its subject.

Huntford tells the story of the conquest of the S Pole as a race between Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen just prior to the outbreak of the First World War. On innumerable levels, the book is utterly fascinating: as pure adventure, as a contrast of extraordinary personalities, and (my purpose in reading it) as a management challenge. It also has plenty on the historical context, set against the beginning of the decline of the British Empire at the same time that a Norwegian nationalism was being forged. It was also the last great exploration that was done largely without higher technological vehicles such as airplanes and land rovers.

On the one hand, there is Scott, the quintessential bureaucrat of the British Navy: he is most comfortable in a huge hierarchy that lends him indisputable authority and is driven by a smoldering ambition and hopes to advance himself via the discovery of the S Pole. He is exceedingly rigid, arrogant yet painfully insecure, and pathetically unsuited to command. His failure to learn, in part because he is more comfortable at a desk with books than in observing real life, eventually leads to the ultimate failure. Nonetheless, he embodied a certain British romantic ideal, which he consciously cultivated: the heroic explorer who takes great risks for the sake of discovery and national glory. With his remarkable physical stamina and literary gifts, he created a legend for himself that his ambitious widow spent a lifetime advancing.

On the other hand, there is a consummate professional explorer, Amundsen, who decided at age 15 that he would master Arctic travel and live the life of a discover. Amundsen systematically learned how Eskimos lived, from their primitive technology (perfectly adapted to the polar climate) to their languages, and apprenticed to the greatest arctic explorer of the age (Nansen). He was also a shrewd and natural leader, able to lead a "happy ship" without rigid hierarchy of command. It is a case study in highly capable management of a monomaniac, and as we should all know, he succeeds (I give nothing away here). This book explains why in wonderful detail.

The reader really comes to feel that he knows these men by the end of the book. At every step, we witness a subtle psychology emerge. Genius though he might have been, Amundsen made plenty of mistakes and lived a lonely and unhappy life, much like a general who spends years, or even decades, planning a decisive victory that is decided in only a few hours of combat and then feels hollow. Scott, for all his disorganization and petty egotism, was better with the media and more in sych with the expectations of his times, which explains why his story of a noble failure eclipsed that of Amundsen for so long.

Warmly recommended. This is a great gift book and a truly splendid read. If you are considering getting it, you won't be disappointed.

Tora is a thirteen year old girl who is dying of leprosy; she resides in Norway during the Napoleonic Wars. Throughout the novel, the author (Mette Newth) utilizes light imagery to foretell the events of the story. The title, "The Dark Light," is a blatent contradiction. Tora's life is also a contradiction. Although she leads a life that would be perceived as hopeless by many, she manages to find success and beauty. The success comes from her mastery of reading, and the beauty comes from the friendships that she cherishes as she resides within the horrid conditions of St. Jorgen's hospital. There, she cares for other lepers in order to pay for her stay. Tora finds her spiritual answers toward the final point of her death as the spirits of her mother and her two best friends answer her question "Does God exist?" They inform Tora that man creates his own gods; the answers of life lies within each of us.

I thought this book was awesome. You never wanted to put it down. Although it was a bit depressing, it turns out okay. Here is my summary of it:
She saw nothing but death. Death: a thick black fog over all her other thoughts. When 13 year old Tora found out she had leprosy, her life shattered before her. She was forced to leave her freinds, family, and home, to travel to St. Jorgen's hospital in Bergen, Norway. The leprosy hostpital: place of the livng dead. To outsiders, lepers were horrible, unclean people, so the lepers got little from the public. As Tora's body begins to fail her, however, she finds a new life within books.

This girl is just my age and i couldnt imagine being in her position. This book made me appreciate life and every day i get to live with great health. I hope more people will read this and feel the same.

As an individual who has worked in the field , I can say without equivocation that this book captures not only the disease but the stigma that still accompanies it, despite the fact that Hansen's Disease can be treated and cured . In America we had places like Molaki and Carville where we once banished our sick suffers of Hansen's Disease. This story could have been one of our own forced into a pitiless exile in the 1800s and early 1900s. This story ,however, captures fully the resiliance of the human spirit and the humanity of some of their caretakers. I am recommending this book to everyone I know for the graceful prose and beautiful depth of knowledge of the human heart.

This book by Nevil Shute was presented in a PBS series and if you saw the movie you should read the book. Nevil Shute is a master storyteller and this is one of his best.The story chronicals a young English womans forced march through southeast Asia as a war prisoner and her life afterwards as she leaves her home to find the Austrailian soldier who helped her.Together they begin to build a small outback settlement into their dream town, " A town like Alice". This is a great book for all ages and I am sure after reading it you too will become a Nevil Shute fan.

Having spent time in the Australian outback in the 1960's, I found this book (read several years later) to be the ONLY story I've EVER read that captures the true character, lifestyle, and sense of the Australian people. The story woven around World War II and and the subsequent re-uniting of the main characters years later, makes this novel compelling and impossible to put down. The PBS series Masterpiece Theatre aired this story in the late 1970's and was an excellent portrayal of Shute's work. The two-volume video, while shortening the PBS work considerably, is still an enjoyable viewing experience.

An unlikely title---until you read on. A wonderful story. The journey of Jean Paget and Joe Harmann through WWII and then to their meeting again six years later. Jean proves to be a character of strength, courage and compassion as she marches through Malaya with other women and children. This story encompasses life at it's worst and people at their best. This is an adventure of the soul and a journey of the heart. A happy and poignant ending to a lovely book.

Island Soul will truly touch your soul. When forced to move to Norway, this American author from Texas undertook the huge challenge of learning the Norwegian language in an attempt to understand the culture and people of her new land. She writes of her neighbors, the merchants, the children, the fishermen, as well as the new who have emigrated to Norway from many parts of the world. Her anecdotes and characterizations are laced with humor, compassion and great insight. Her descriptions of her new surroundings are vivid and beautiful. Patti Jones Morgan is a master of the metaphor, as her essays are crafted with beauty and heart.

I have a feeling that many people who read "Island Soul" would like to move to Karmoy, the peaceful little island off the coast of Norway which, with its people, is the star of this story.

Maybe that's a post-9/11 reaction. But in the midst of all that's going on around us, Karmoy seems like the Shangri-La of the 21st century.

Patti Jones Morgan has a nice eye in spotting the idiosyncracies, the lifestyles, the joys and the trials which make up the culture of the people of Karmoy, and she has a nice style in relating them. And she does it with a quiet but funny sense of humor, which befits both the island and her book.

And friend, if you've ever traveled overseas for any length of time, as I have, you'll appreciate her struggles as she works ever so hard to master the Norwegian language. Uff-da, as the Norwegians say.

The book is worth a read, maybe on a rainy day over a cup of coffee. After all, Patti writes accurately enough, "Sometimes a mere hot cup of coffee indoors out of the rain tastes like nectar." And the book will add flavor to the coffee.

One more thought: Patti wrote the book in 2000. She would have no way of knowing the eerie feeling she generates when she tells of a seemingly innocuous incident in the Oslo airport when she was patted down during a routine search for drugs. "My heart skipped a beat," she writes, "as I visualized the agent's reaction if she found my little plastic bag of white powder."

In view of the news today, again I say, "Uff-da."

But I also say hooray to Patti for coming up with an interesting and insightful book about the people of and the peaceful place called Karmoy.

Island Soul: A Memoir of Norway, by Patti Jones Morgan, is the delightful and poignant story of one woman's expatriate love affair with her host country. Relocating from Houston, Texas to Norway, the book evokes the phases of the transition experience and describes both the challenges of culture shock and the joys of cultural learning. Filled with insights for anyone relocating internationally, the book speaks especially to the importance of language study, to the role of animals and children as cultural bridges, and, most importantly, to the possibility of new relationships when hearts remain open. I recommend this book highly.