Berlitz Pocket Guide Iceland Book

Hmmmm. I really thought I would eat this up, despite the mediocre reviews I kept seeing for it. It has all the elements that usually entrance me--travel, the Arctic, mystery, ancient history, a gorgeous cover (I know, I know, you're not supposed to judge)--and yet somehow it still all fell flat.

Part of the problem for me was that I couldn't quite figure out what Kavenna was trying to do here. The title implies a sort of research journey into the origins and location of Thule, but while Kavenna has clearly done a whole lot of reading on the subject, the way she goes about telling us about it feels flat and regurgitated and somewhat repetitious, and during her actual travels, she seems to mostly just wander around asking random people about Thule rather than talking to historians or other people who might have actually studied it. It seemed weird to me.

The descriptions of places I'm normally fascinated with also just...lacked magic. Though Kavenna repeatedly talked about her enthusiasm for these places and for the mystery behind Thule, I could never actually feel that enthusiasm. It was like she wrote this entire book completely without emotion.

In the end, perhaps her writing style just didn't work for me, I don't know. I really wanted to love this. And I actually am really interested in the history of Thule. But I feel like I'd be better served finding some other book on the subject, because this one just seemed...too scattered.