Archive for Iceland
Já við viðræðum. Já við Evrópu ! [sorry & thanks for all the fish]
Posted in pictures, Travel with tags 69⁰ North, EU, European Democratic Party, European Union, fishing quotas, Iceland, industrial fishing, referendum on September 1, 2026 by xi'an
a journal of the chaos year
Posted in Books, Running, Travel, Wines with tags Battle of Hastings, BD, Belledonne, Black Plague, book reviews, Cambridge, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, Detroit, England, fairy story, fantasy, Gloria, Guillaume le Concquérant, horror story, Iceland, Japan, Journal of the Plague Year, Paris - Texas, pissaladière, Roma, Spaghetti alla bottarga, sumo, Sunset Boulevard, tapenade, Thelma and Louise, tuna on August 27, 2026 by xi'an
Read a few other books from my (physical and virtual) piles, starting with Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey, an horror story set in post-conquest England, when Mathilda and Stephens are competing for the throne and the country suffers. While the setup is much to my liking, right after Guillaume‘s conquest of Britain at Hastings, the story is too lame to be continued, with cardboard characters and an awful style, if trying to create a fake 12th Century feel. (With potatoes!!) I think I bought this book upon The Guardian’s recommendation. Or maybe it was Tor Reactor Mag‘s… And then Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett, another variation on the fae theme, with a mock scholarly approach but too much infodump and a contrived scenario. Not to mention idiotic characters and an incomprehensible avoidance for acknowledging Iceland as the location of the story. Volume 1 of a series shortlisted for the Hugo Awards, I wonder how it ended up there. (Same question about it being Elle Best book of the year!) I also went quickly through The Human Division, which is Old Man War #5 by John Scalzi, essentially made of several short stories in the OMW universe, regrouped into a single one, rather loosely. Not worth the time. Thanks to Andrew, who was in Paris at the time, I borrowed a great BD, DETROIT ROMA, which is a road movie, from Detroit (Michigan) to Roma (Georgia), drawn in an unusual if not pretty style, with many links to film classics like Gloria, 8 ½ and Sunset Boulevard, but also Paris, Texas (of course!) and Thelma and Louise.
Under the relentless heat, I prepare salad after salad, an uninterrupted series of rhubarb preserve, and my own version of Banh mi, with Lao Gan Ma spicy chili crisp oil (what else?!), peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, coriander and HM Breton tuna tataki, in a fresh whole wheat mini-baguette… I also made another batch of red onion pissaladière, cooked long enough to turn the onions into a tapenade. And had the pleasant surprise to see spaghetti alla bottarga on a restaurant menu (and have a great meal).Upon my son’s recommendation, I watched Sanctuary (サンクチュアリ-聖域) a Japanese series centred on modern sumo. While it is quite interesting and revealing for someone like me who never paid attention to the sport (it being as far as possible from running! Or climbing!), it is also a challenge to watch with a high level of violence and bullying, and not truly any frankly positive character. Plus a rather ambiguous perspective on hazing and harassment. It also made me wonder at the impact on bodies the training and combats involve.
a journal of the sargaço year
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel, Wines with tags accras, Antilles, Basse-Terre, Black Plague, bokit, book reviews, Caribbean Sea, cassava, crêpes, cuisine, cyanide, Daniel Defoe, dragons, fantasy, France, French West Indies, galettes, gardening, Guadeloupe, homegrown, ice climbing, Iceland, Icelandic noir, internship, Joseph Cornell, Journal of the Plague Year, mango, mountaineering, Neuromancer, overseas, Reykjavik, sargassum, Soufrière, volcano on September 5, 2025 by xi'an 
Read my pile of vacation books before the vacations were over! Apart from Choice, reviewed in a separate post, they were quite a disapointment. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon (also bought in Seattle last year) is a sequel to the Priory of the Orange Tree that I read by Lac Saint-Jean, Québec (that I enjoyed enough to buy this one). A very poor sequel then, where I could find but little appeal in the story. There are too many similarities with the literature, plus inspiration from Earth cultures like the Vikings’ and Japan. The actions and reasonings of the main characters are at times disputable, incl. what they consider as their duties to the Realm or to their religion (eg. duty 
pregnancies). The hugely predictable romantic developments are taking for ever, while the overall scenario is weak and unrealistic (even conditional on the local universe). As in other poor fantasy novels, the characters travel huge distances at times of upheavals of a cosmic scale, can indulge in fancy meals while the society is collapsing, uncover super-powers at times of need, and meet at the perfect moment to save the day (of fallen night!). In addition, the cosmogony of the local universe is poorly constructed, with different creeds conflicting. A single redeeming if idiosyncratic factor is the skills of Dumai in ice climbing and mountaineering, where she lost a few fingers… The second book was a trilogy, La Dame de Reykjavik (the Hulda series) by Ragnar Jonasson, that I bought because of high praises, a fascination for Iceland and a well-made book. Quite disappointing, with a poor and unrealistic scenario, and unbelievable attitude of a senior inspector. The hints are heavy, the flashbacks unceasing, and the constant whining of the main character unbearable. No to mention the heavy infodumps about Iceland’s landscape and history. Another novel surfing (or attempting to) the Icelandic noir fad. The second and third novels are even worse, recycling the same story by moving backward and further backward in time. Hard to believe they received so many awards! The last one is Petites boîtes by Ogawa Yoko (小箱) whose earlier work I also enjoyed, but this one is a surrealist non-story about an alternative Japan where all kids died and parents honour them by maintaining memory boxes à la Joseph Cornell (who also inspired a character within Gibbson’s Neuromancer). The short book consists of the description of the fantastic life of the narrator’s small town, with no plot whatsoever. And no lasting impression.
Made a purée from one breadfruit, which grows extensively in Guadeloupe. A nice taste close to potatoes with a nuttier flavour. Also made lots of (local) tuna ceviche, ideal for cold meals, and mango purées, taking advantage of the mango tree in the garden of my daughter’s rental. Even brought back a frozen jar of the purée (along with the massive avocados that grow on the island and a few of the local bananas). Tasted a fantastic cassava crêpe, much crunchier than the buckwheat and tef galettes I am used to. (Meanwhile my attempt at growing buckwheat at home failed for the second time, despite constant irrigation…) And a bokit, a local taco with fried bread that is definitely not to be tried more than once for its fat and salt contents, if predictably enjoyable for the same reasons! And many versions of accras.
a journal of the skyr, conquest, war, famine, and death year
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel with tags Alpha Centauri, book review, book reviews, COVID-19, culture clash, Daniel Defoe, hen, Iceland, invasive species, Jesuits, Journal of the Plague Year, lassi, olive oil, Philosophy of religions, Princeton University, renet, Roman Catholic Church, Russian invasion, skjør, skyr, Society of Jesus, space travel, speculative fiction, stir fry, Ukraine, yogurt on December 11, 2024 by xi'anRead The Sparrow, the 1998 Arthur C. Clarke Award by Mary Doria Russell, a profound and mesmerizing book (even though it took me a while to go through it as my bedside read!). It is a science-fiction book (since the mostly Jesuitcharacters travel to another planet in Alpha Centauri) that involves a lot of philosophy, religion, anthropology and linguistics. There are weaknesses in the science half of science-fiction and too much space musing over the contradiction inherent to the celibacy of Catholic priests, but I strongly enjoyed this book, maybe due to my Catholic upbringing!, and its highly unexpected conclusion. (I am however uncertain about pursuing with the sequel, as the central character returning to the planet sounds like the ultimate torture.) Also read Since we fell by Dennis Lehane, which I find terrible at so many levels, from a complete lack of realism in the crime scenes and in the way coïncidences keep happening, to the endless introspection of the main character, Rachel, to the cardboard consistence of most characters…
Started making skyr, the Icelandic style cottage cheese that I usually eat as yogurt. It is fairly straightforward, with a very few steps and ingredients (fat-free milk, renet, and… skyr!), but an overall 15 hour preparation range, and it does not always turn into the expected curded outcome (in which case it is close to a lassi, लस्सी). I have not yet analysed the sources for this variable outcome, possibly the different starters I used. I also cooked a batch of okonomiyaki, rescuing an out-of-date bag of okonomiyaki batter as I had some spare cabbage in the fridge.
a journal of the chaos, conquest, war, abundance, and death year
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, Wines with tags Alaska, Barnes & Noble, book review, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, fig-tree, film review, First Nations, Iñupiat, Iceland, jam, Jodie Foster, Journal of the Plague Year, long night, MacGuffin, octopus, preserve, Prudhoe Bay, Russian invasion, Seattle, True Detective, Ukraine, varieties of radishes, zucchini flower on September 21, 2024 by xi'anRead The Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty within a few weeks, after I started the first book in a NE Seattle Barnes & Noble on a bookstore long stop between two Airbnb‘s. A suitable choice to read out the sleepless bouts induced by the jetlag. Some original ideas around a Middle East djinn kingdom, a compelling enough central character, and a page-turning scenario, but also too much info-dumps, a syncretic mismash of religions, and a terrible tendency to find excuses for mass-murderers…
Made heaps of fig preserve and jam (with honey, lemon, maybe too much lemon, and chia seeds) as our fig tree delivered an outstanding harvest, at the end of a particularly wet summer (even the tomatoes more than survived our three week absence!). And radish leave pesto (while waiting for my own radish harvest to come out). Also cooked an octopus for the first time, which proved much easier than I feared (no freezing, no beating, just a long enough boil) and delivering! And zucchini spaghetti every other day or so, since large late season zucchinis have now appeared in the local markets.
Watched the entire True Detective Season Four, featuring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as the detective duo (and mostly women as the leading characters). It widely differs from earlier seasons for so many reasons… It is set in coastal Alaska (if shot in Iceland), during the long night (as in Prudhoe Bay where it lasts close to two months). It seems to involve supernatural events, connected with First Nations myths and traditions. Possibly overdoing it. It does involve First Nations, quite forcibly, as Foster’s character’s step-daughter is a Native Iñupiat woman, searching for her roots. And many other characters are from that community. A major environmental pollution by the local mine leading to still-births (ghastly moment when Foster visits the storage with coffins waiting for thaw to be buried). Scientific MacGuffin very weak and further scenario impossibilities. (Also an orange wool hat turning green. Or blue.) The end is not that satisfactory, from the resolution of the scientists disappearance to the duo escaping consequences of their actions. But this is a great show, almost par with Season One.
