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Iceland: Land of the Sagas | 
 enlarge | Authors: Jon Krakauer, David Roberts
Publisher: Villard
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $13.10
You Save: $8.85 (40%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 45701
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 11.4 x 9.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0375752676
Dewey Decimal Number: 949.12
EAN: 9780375752674
ASIN: 0375752676
Publication Date: October 6, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: R20080630013036H
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Product Description
"We raised our fists and cheered. . . . With the sagas in our heads, with Iceland at its wildest beneath our boots, it would not have been impossible to see Bardr clumping along the summit ridge, prodding the glacier with his staff, ready to show us the way down."
Iceland is a pictorial classic on one of the last "undiscovered" countries in Europe--reissued for the first time in paperback.
Iceland is often thought to be covered by ice, but in fact it is gloriously green. Lush meadows, wildflower fields, and miles of rich tundra cover a landscape of remarkable variety: deep lakes, bubbling hot springs, tumbling waterfalls, snow-capped mountains. It's also a landscape amazingly alive with massive lava flows and enormous glaciers. The human story of Iceland goes back more than eleven thousand years, and its heritage is told here in a treasury of riveting sagas of real-life heroes and all manner of supernatural beings.
Both the land and the people of one of Europe's most gorgeous countries come to life in this colorful account of the authors' adventures as they walk, climb, and photograph their way through Iceland and connect to the bone-chilling sagas and the unfamiliar terrain. With breathtaking photographs from critically acclaimed writer and journalist Jon Krakauer, author of the international bestsellers Into Thin Air and Into the Wild, and a penetrating narrative from Outside contributing editor and travel writer David Roberts, Iceland splendidly captures the spirit of this enigmatic country.
Circumnavigating Iceland in summer and winter, Krakauer and Roberts encounter tales of monks and Vikings, outlaws and adventurers, trolls and witches. While touring and photographing, they discover the myths and legends of Iceland's stirring history. Numerous other feats--including a hazardous winter climb to the summit of one of Iceland's tallest mountains--round out a fascinating introduction to this unique and beautiful land.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Beautiful Iceland November 29, 2007
This is an absolutely gorgeous book...the photographs inspire one to call Icelandic Air and make a reservation asap! Iceland, a placenot to be missed!
A Wonderfully Presented Book November 10, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Awesome photographs and well written, you will want to visit this wonderful landscape.
Excellent reading and beautiful photographs August 19, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I recently visited Iceland for a a couple days enroute from Europe to the US and found myself enchanted by the country and its people. Returning home, I immediately wanted to purchase a book that would give me a better understanding of the culture, the land, and the history. This book has it all, and has filled me with interesting facts and stories, not to mention the beautiful visuals the photographs give. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in or loves Iceland.
 Slight Disappointment July 26, 2006
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
Well, I must admit a slight "prejudice" regarding this book. I bought it because I've already read all the other books by Jon Krakauer (and loved every one a bunch!). But, this book is quite different from any other that Krakauer has been involved in. Right on the front cover it says "Photographs by Jon Krakauer Text by David Roberts" so I guess I shouldn't really have been all that surprised by the "difference." In fact, I have no choice but to believe that virtually everything that Jon Krakauer lays his hands on turns to gold somehow (this book is no different in this regard), since he absolutely has to be a severely super-experienced pro explorer, mountain climber, skier, paddler, writer and now, photographer, as well, judging from all he's written. If anything, he "under" emphasizes the feelings and emotions, at least, for those of us who've had at least a small taste of the miseries, dangers and pitfalls-- weather can play a big role-- that befall nearly every person who does these things. At some point, if your heart is in it at all, you'll get the crap scared out of you big time, unless you are completely out of your mind, either due to drugs, insanity or whatever. Krakauer is amazing at writing about all of this and more, but you'll find none of that in this book, at least none written by Krakauer. Nonetheless, as I said, Krakauer does anything and everything to perfection and with class, and in this book the text by David Roberts is nothing to boo-hoo at all. He is the equal of Krakauer in his own writing style and he tells great stories which are parts of the endless "sagas" that go on for centuries there, part of ordinary everyday life and culture for an Icelander, but a strange curiosity for foreigners from afar. Krakauer deferred to Roberts here most likely for a couple reasons; because he thought Roberts knew more and could write easier and with better results regarding Iceland, and he probably wanted to focus on developing yet another great natural talent of his own, photography, especially in such a surreal and amazingly different place that most peoples of the world aren't very familiar with. I'm guessing here, but the end results are superb. I know there are the little issues of content and various criticisms about whether they covered Iceland in a "balanced" and "informative" way, or whether the photos really represent the "true Iceland" that you'd see and experience should you take a "normal" vacation there (if there is such a thing). But those types of travel info books can be gotten by buying the title "Iceland" from any number of companies like Frommers or Fodors to many lesser known and more colorfully illustrated travel books that may or may not have as current of info as these well-known ones. I'm sure this is NOT the genre that Roberts and Krakauer had in mind when doing this book. Their book should be in that genre, too, but is very much more than that and I can definitely recommend it for anyone interested in Iceland, whether you have been there, are going there soon or maybe never will go there, but just want to know about the place. This title must be on your Iceland (or Jon Krakauer or David Roberts) list, whether short or long!
In Saga footsteps December 27, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
For anyone into the wild and all pure nature of Iceland, this is a good but advanced start. Try taking Njall's Saga at one hand and this very good-quality pictured book at the other and flip through the pages as you learn more about the Saga, the characters and the actual places where all these wild yet quite Icelandic bravery epic stories took place.This book is also great for anyone who would want to pursue a deeper understanding of the life during 1000 - when Christianity was adopted in Iceland. Again in this book you will get to read parts from various sagas, see turf homes and get a taste of pure Iceland. Enjoy it.
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