Iceland for Neurotics

Names for the Sea
Strangers in Iceland

A memoir by
Sarah Moss
Counterpoint, Berkley, 2013


Sarah Moss is a writer and academic from the UK. She spent parts of 2009 and 2010 teaching in Reykjavík, moving there with her husband and two young sons. I got my copy from my blog-pal, DJ Cousin Mary (Thanks Mary!). I was keen on reading it for I had been there in October of 2009. This book is full of information, although I found it presented in a somewhat skewed fashion. There are some very good interviews with interesting Icelanders (these Icelanders were, as usual, very good story-tellers) and there is a lot of detail about some of the places she visited which I found fascinating although those less interested might just see lists.

Actually finishing the book became an ordeal. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at first, but after a few chapters I figured it out. It was something I’d seen before in Icelandic travel books written by UK writers: a distortion of reality filtered through  “English Myopia”: a sense of superiority coupled with thinly veiled condescension. There was scarcely a page without some form of put-down of Iceland or disparaging cracks about Iceland vis-á-vis the UK. I will grant that the author had walked into a very difficult situation. With Iceland still reeling from a financial meltdown while also experiencing volcanic eruptions (to say nothing of the usual problems of dealing with small children) it is understandable that she would not always be painting a pretty picture. Those circumstances would tax anyone’s patience. But I found that the real turn off was her constant whining (whinging?) about her distastes and fears of virtually anything the slightest bit out of line with her preconceptions. After the twentieth iteration of how bad Iceland traffic is I was quite ready to throw the book in the trash. I’d give you some more examples, but the stern (neurotic?) warning on the publishers page against any such violation of her “moral right” and the threat of subsequent “criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages” prohibits my use of any quotations from the book.  If you do happen across a copy, however, just open it anywhere and read a paragraph or two.

You’ll see what I mean.