Review (PDF) The Windows Of Brimnes: An American In Iceland
In his most ambitious book to date, poet, musician, wit, and polemicist Bill Holm repairs to his Icelandic cottage to reflect on the United States and what it might learn from the land of his ancestral roots. The book begins with a description of the extraordinary setting of Brimnes, a small fishing village on the Arctic Circle. From his house, Holm captures Iceland’s warmth and genuine community, its secularism, pacifism, and love of nature, poetry, and music. Writing of the America to which his ancestors fled only two generations before, he wonders whether the compelling dream of liberty, freedom, and inquiry still animates his native country. For the legions of Bill Holm fans as well as for those yearning for some straight if often comical reflection on the state of America today, this book provides a memorable experience.
Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Milkweed Editions; First Edition edition (October 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1571313028
ISBN-13: 978-1571313027
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.8 x 8.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,722,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #131 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > European > Norse & Icelandic Sagas #172 in Books > Travel > Europe > Iceland #4923 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Travel
Some years back, Bill Holm, a writer and poet of Icelandic descent, decided to visit the island his ancestors had left behind when they immigrated to Minnesota. He not only found himself happy to be there, but has since become one of Iceland's part-time residents, having bought a small house named Brimnes in a village, Hofsos, along one of the country's northern fjords. Mainly he and his wife are there for the summer but sometimes they manage winter visits as well, when Iceland's "spareness is magnified by snow and darkness." It's a simple life. Their Icelandic-made stove is older they are but does all a stove needs to do, with the not insignificant advantage that the fish cooked on it were swimming in local waters just an hour or two before arriving in the Holm's kitchen.Holm writes: "When Americans ask me to describe my little house, I tell then, not entirely disingenuously, that it a series of magical windows with a few simple boards to hold them up, to protect your head from rain while you stare out at the sea."As a boy growing up on the prairie, about as far from an ocean as it is possible to be, he read books of adventures at sea -- Moby Dick, Two Years Before the Mast, etc. -- and dreamt one day of finding his way to the world where land gave way to endless water with its tides and rollers utterly indifferent to all headlines, ambitions, ideologies and advertisements. In Iceland he found what he had been looking for.Returning to the theme of windows, he writes:"We do not see reality -- or nature -- directly," he writes, "but always through a window of some sort. These windows are often physical, the window of our `place,' our experience, our particular angle onto nature.
The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland Windows 10: Windows10 Mastery. The Ultimate Windows 10 Mastery Guide (Windows Operating System, Windows 10 User Guide, User Manual, Windows 10 For Beginners, Windows 10 For Dummies, Microsoft Office) Round walled graveyards and churches in Iceland, Greenland and possibly in Rhode Island.: Were there Round walled graveyards and churches in Rhode Island like in Iceland and Greenland. Windows 10: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners (Windows 10 for dummies, Windows 10 Manual, Windows 10 Complete User Guide, Learn the tips and tricks of Windows 10 Operating System) Windows 8.1: Learn Windows 8.1 in Two Hours: The Smart and Efficient Way to Learn Windows 8.1 (Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 For Beginners) Windows 10 Troubleshooting: Windows 10 Manuals, Display Problems, Sound Problems, Drivers and Software: Windows 10 Troubleshooting: How to Fix Common Problems ... Tips and Tricks, Optimize Windows 10) Windows 10: The Ultimate User Guide for Advanced Users to Operate Microsoft Windows 10 (tips and tricks, user manual, user guide, updated and edited, Windows ... (windows,guide,general.guide,all Book 4) Windows 8 Tips for Beginners 2nd Edition: A Simple, Easy, and Efficient Guide to a Complex System of Windows 8! (Windows 8, Operating Systems, Windows ... Networking, Computers, Technology) Windows® Group Policy Resource Kit: Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Vista®: Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Vista® Microsoft Windows Internals (4th Edition): Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 Windows 10: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide - Learn How To Start Using Windows 10, Easy User Manual, Plus The Best Hidden Features, Tips And Tricks! (Windows ... Windows 10 Software, Operating System) A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever! (Third Edition): Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, ... and Windows 10 (AutoHotkey Tips and Tricks) Windows 10: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide How to Operate Microsoft Windows 10 (tips and tricks, user manual, user guide, updated and edited, Windows ... (windows,guide,general,guide,all) (Volume 3) Hands-on Study Guide for Exam 70-411: Administering Windows Server 2012 R2 (Exam 70-411, 70-411, Exam Ref 70-411, MCSA Windows Server 2012 R2, MCSE Windows Server 2012 R2) Windows 10: From Beginner To Expert: A Complete User Guide to Microsoft's Intelligent New Operating System (Now With Bonus Chapter) (Windows - General ... General Guide, Windows - General Mastery,) Windows 10 New Users Guide: Learn How To Master Windows 10 Step By Step! (Windows 10 For Beginners) Windows 8.1 :: Migrating to Windows 8.1.: For computer users without a touch screen, coming from XP, Vista or Windows 7 Windows 8 :: Migrating to Windows 8: For computer users without a touch screen, coming from XP, Vista or Windows 7 Microsoft Windows Security Inside Out for Windows XP and Windows 2000 (Bpg--Inside Out) Advanced Windows: The Developer's Guide to the WIN32 API for Windows NT 3.5 and Windows 95
