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A review by fieldofhats
Looking for the Hidden Folk: How Iceland's Elves Can Save the Earth by Nancy Marie Brown
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
This was a very interesting and fun book, but it was very unorganized. The book is marketed as being about elves, but that’s a little misleading; Nancy Marie Brown bolts from topic to topic, some of which don’t even relate to elves much at all. She talks about science, mountains, stories, volcanoes, etc. Nearly everything she touches on is at least interesting (except for the volcanoes, I got sick of that rather quickly), but it often has little to do with elves. Some of the topics, like the discussion of Faerie stories and (to an extent) the musings about science, were good and warranted, but they seemed few and far between.
And as a fairly minor gripe, I found many passages to be a bit boring. I think it’s because I don’t care for Brown’s style of storytelling (which is why I DNF’d The Real Valkyrie). But while there are many stories, there was much more of Brown’s actual voice that shone through, which I enjoyed well enough.
I expected this going into the book since I had read some reviews before starting, but I was hoping that this book would talk enough about Iceland’s elves that I would have more insight and knowledge about them. And it did do that, but not as much as I would have liked. The history aspect of elves, for example, is severely lacking. In general, I just wish there was more about elves.
This book reads like a journal, or a travelogue. It’s well-written, but sporadic. There’s no clear thesis, nothing this book is trying to say, prove, or build up to. The lack of direction is what kills this book. If this were marketed and named differently, perhaps as just a book about Iceland, then it would have made much more sense. Overall, if you want a book on elves, this will give you a decent bit about them, but it’s not comprehensive or exhaustive. This is a book for people who want to learn more about modern Iceland more than anything.
And as a fairly minor gripe, I found many passages to be a bit boring. I think it’s because I don’t care for Brown’s style of storytelling (which is why I DNF’d The Real Valkyrie). But while there are many stories, there was much more of Brown’s actual voice that shone through, which I enjoyed well enough.
I expected this going into the book since I had read some reviews before starting, but I was hoping that this book would talk enough about Iceland’s elves that I would have more insight and knowledge about them. And it did do that, but not as much as I would have liked. The history aspect of elves, for example, is severely lacking. In general, I just wish there was more about elves.
This book reads like a journal, or a travelogue. It’s well-written, but sporadic. There’s no clear thesis, nothing this book is trying to say, prove, or build up to. The lack of direction is what kills this book. If this were marketed and named differently, perhaps as just a book about Iceland, then it would have made much more sense. Overall, if you want a book on elves, this will give you a decent bit about them, but it’s not comprehensive or exhaustive. This is a book for people who want to learn more about modern Iceland more than anything.