Amazon.com
Wanting to understand the most fundamental questions of the universe isn't the province of ivory-tower intellectuals alone, as this book's enormous popularity has demonstrated. A young girl, Sophie, becomes embroiled in a discussion of philosophy with a faceless correspondent. At the same time, she must unravel a mystery involving another young girl, Hilde, by using everything she's learning. The truth is far more complicated than she could ever have imagined.
Book Description
This elegant CD-ROM will take you on an interactive journey through the history of Western philosophy, from its beginnings in ancient astronomy and myth up to twentieth-century existentialism. The philosophical adventure is built around a series of exchanges between a naturally curious young girl and her anonymous teacher, in which the user must participate. The pedagogical value of this interaction is complimented by the CD-ROM's Reference Band, a philosophical map providing eight film summaries of particular historical epochs and 28 text summaries of the work of major philosophers. The CD-ROM is available on its own, or can be combined with the #1 international bestselling novel, Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder--an excellent and affordable combination for introductory classes.
Customer Reviews:
OR PHILOSOPHY FOR DUMMIES.......2007-09-26
THIS BOOK WAS CHOSEN FOR A BOOK CLUB READ. I WAS SCEPTICAL. I WAS FANTASTICALLY SURPRISED. IT WAS EXTRAORDINARILY EASY TO READ. IT MADE ME WANT TO TAKE A PHILOSOPHY COURSE JUST FOR THE DISCUSSION. THIS WRITER CAME UP WITH JUST THE RIGHT HOOK TO GET ANY READER THROUGH WITH A MINIMUM OF EFFORT. THE STORY LINE IS EXCITING, FAST, AND WELL WRITTEN. WHAT A RIDE!!
Sophie's world.......2007-09-19
What could we say about the "Sophie's world"? It's trully increadible, for anyone who hadn't taken any advanced philosophy lessons. Reading it beguins as a magnetical curiosity (both because of the novel and the philosofical lessions in it) and ends almost as a reading addiction.
I cant believe I finished this..........2007-09-18
Unlike other reviewers who dislike this, I read this of my own accord. I thought a novel might explain to me how a non-believer views the world rather then simply reading a list of rules in a biased text book.
Unfortunatley I assumed the main chara would come to a conclusion of who created the universe. I suppose that would be too controversial. What a shame. I would rather people flame this book for simply disagreeing rather then boring them to death.
This book does make it's point though, philosophy is alot of talk with no conclusion. You spent a LONG time learning only to find out it was all for naught, just like this book.
Beautiful!.......2007-09-01
What a wonderful book! We are truly extraordinary beings, and this book will show you this. Prepare yourself to embark on an exciting journey of the mind--you'll come back a different person. The author will take you on a journey to the minds of the past philosophers, and in the process, within your own mind. You'll find out that it is easier to ask philosophical questions than to answer them. Philosophy is not something you can learn, but perhaps you can learn to think philosophically.
A "philosopher" really is one who loves wisdom. The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder. Babies have this faculty. But as they grow up the faculty of wonder seems to diminish. A philosopher never gets quite used to the world. To him or her, the world continues to seem unreasonable, bewildering, and enigmatic. To illustrate, a child is sitting on a baby chair having his breakfast. Suddenly, he sees his father float in mid-air. At the same time his mother sees her husband floating in mid-air, drops the dishes on the floor, and screams. Why is that? To the child, seeing his father float in mid-air is exciting but nothing unusual. After all, everyday he witnesses something new. To his mother, however, it is an impossibility to have a person float in mid-air. She is a creature of habit, stuck in a certain reality. A child's reality is unlimited and ever expanding, just like a philosopher's world. The world is also floating in space!
Because man thought it was so astonishing to be alive, philosophical questions arose on their own accord. By philosophy we mean the completely new way of thinking that evolved in Greece about six hundred years before the birth of Christ. Until that time people had found answers to all their questions in various religions and myths. Greek philosophers attempted to prove that these explanations were not to be trusted. The philosopher Xenophanes, who lived from about 570 B.C., said that men have created the gods in their own image. "They believe gods were born and have bodies and clothes and language just as we have. Ethiopians believe that the gods are black and flat-nosed. Northern Europeans imagine them to be blue-eyed and fair-haired. If oxen, horses, and lions could draw, they would depict gods that looked like oxen, horses, and lions!" So philosophy gradually liberated itself from religion.
What is the origin of the universe? At some point something must have come from nothing. But that notion was soon changed to `something cannot come from nothing', therefore all that is always existed. This meant that there is something of everything in everything. Once it is accepted that nothing can change, that nothing can come out of nothing, and that nothing is ever lost, then nature must consist of infinitesimal blocks that can join and separate again. This was the theory of Democritus, and for this reason he is today credited with being the inventor of the most ingenious toy in the world--Lego. The world consists of blocks, just like Lego blocks, that can join and separate again and form unlimited forms. Today we know this to be true. DNA is such an example.
Socrates said that the wisest is he who does not know. He said, "One thing I only know, and that is that I know nothing." The essential nature of Socrates' art lay in the fact that he did not appear to want to instruct people. On the contrary he gave the impression of one desiring to learn from those he spoke with. So instead of lecturing like a traditional schoolmaster, he discussed. Similarly, Socrates saw his task as helping people to "give birth" to the correct insight, since real understanding must come from within. And only the understanding that comes from within can lead to true insight.
A philosopher is constantly striving to achieve true insight. Let's examine the following analogy presented by Plato: Imagine some people living in an underground cave. They sit with their backs to the mouth of the cave with their hands and feet bound in such a way that they can only look at the back wall of the cave. Behind them is a high wall, and behind that wall pass human-like creatures, holding up various figures above the top of the wall. Because there is a fire behind these figures, they cast flickering shadows on the back wall of the cave. So the only thing the cave dwellers can see is this shadow play. They have been siding in this position since they were born, so they think these shadows are all there are. Imagine now that one of the cave dwellers manages to free himself from his bonds. The first thing he asks himself is where all these shadows on the cave wall come from. What do you think happens when he turns around and sees the figures being held up above the wall? To begin with he is dazzled by the sharp sunlight. He is also dazzled by the clarity of the figures because until now he has only seen their shadow. If he manages to climb over the wall and get past the fire into the world outside, he will be even more dazzled. But after rubbing his eyes he will be struck by the beauty of everything. For the first time he will see colors and clear shapes. He will see the real animals and flowers that the cave shadows were only poor reflections of. But even now he will ask himself where all the animals and flowers come from. Then he will see the sun in the sky, and realize that this is what gives life to these flowers and animals, just as the fire made the shadows visible. The joyful cave dweller could now have gone skipping away into the countryside, delighting in his new-found freedom. But instead he thinks of all the others who are still down in the cave. He goes back. Once there, he tries to convince the cave dwellers that the shadows on the cave wall are but flickering reflections of `real' things. But they don't believe him. They point to the cave wall and say that what they see is all there is. Finally they kill him. What Plato was illustrating in the `Myth of the Cave' is the philosopher's road from shadowy images to the true ideas behind all natural phenomena.
Many philosophers believe that the search for God is natural to all men. Sartre believed that life must have meaning. It is an imperative. But it is we ourselves who must create this meaning in our own lives. To exist is to create your own life. Swami Vivekenanda, an Indian who was instrumental in bringing Hinduism to the west, once said, 'Just as certain world religions say that people who do not believe in a personal God are atheist, we say that a person who does not believe in himself is an atheist. Not believing in the splendor of one's own soul is what we call atheism.
In `As You Like It' Shakespeare writes:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.
Spinoza says that God did not create the world in order to stand outside it. No, God is the world. He believed that God--or the laws of nature--is the inner cause of everything that happens. He is not an outer cause, since God speaks through the laws of nature and only through them. For example, does a lion decide to become carnivorous? Can a lion suddenly decide to become vegetarian? Similarly, do humans have freewill? For that matter, does God exist in the first place, or is God a creation of our mind? Hume gives us a theory. According to him, an 'angel' is a complex idea. It is a false idea which must be immediately rejected. Why? Have you seen a human being before? Of course you have. Have you seen wings on birds before? Of course you have. Have you seen wings on a human being? According to Hume, none of us have. In this case we have to admit that the brain has done a good job of cutting and pasting together all on its own. Each element was once sensed, and entered the theater of the mind in the form of a real impression. Nothing is ever actually invented by the mind. The mind puts things together and constructs false 'ideas.' But Hume emphasizes that all the elements we put together in our ideas must at some time have entered the mind in the form of simple impressions. For example, a person who has never seen gold will never be able to visualize streets of gold.
Are we living in a world of dreams? Is the whole world made off spirit, and thus nothing solid? Let's say you hit a table with your fist. You had a sensation of something hard, but you didn't feel the actual matter in the table. In the same way, you can dream you are hitting something hard, but there isn't anything hard in a dream. We exist only in the mind of God. So 'to be or not to be' is not the whole question. The question is also who we are. Are we really human beings of flesh and blood? Does our world consist of real things--or are we encircled by the mind. According to some philosophers, we are spirit, and nothing in our world is solid! Novalis said that 'the world becomes a dream, and the dreams become reality.' The English Romantic poet Coleridge expressed the same idea; saying something like this: What if you slept? And what if, in your sleep, you dreamed? And what if, in your dream, you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful Flower? And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hands. Ah, what then?
We live in a complicated and mysterious world. If an overgrown child draws something on a piece of paper, you can't ask the paper what the drawing is supposed to represent. Similarly, we are like the paper, with events drawn on us. But what do these events signify? What is the truth behind life? According to Kierkegaard, rather than searching for the Truth with a capital T, it is more important to find the kind of truths that are meaningful to the individual's life. It is important to find 'the truth for me.'
You and I also began with the Big Bang, because all substance in the universe is an organic unity. Once in a primeval age all matter was gathered in a clump so enormously massive that a pinhead weighed many billions of tons. This 'primeval atom' exploded because of the enormous gravitation. It was as if something disintegrated. When we look up at the sky, we are trying to find the way back to ourselves. Beautiful! Now you know why you look up at the sky when you are in search of God!
But what is this earthly substance? What was it that exploded that time billions of years ago? Where did it come from?' These questions concern us all very deeply because we ourselves are of that substance. We are a spark from the great fire that was ignited many billions of years ago.
In case that spark has extinguished in your life, this book will rekindle it. Read this book--you'll love it!
Kinda creepy in places........2007-08-29
Take an "introduction to Philosophy" textbook, chop it up, and insert a creepy stalker novel in-between the chapters.
Freud would have a field day with this novel, which is presented as a dream in a dream.
I don't know if 15 year olds would actually read the textbook parts. I found it useful as a refresher course.
Book Description
Colloquial Dutch is easy to use and completely up-to-date. Specially written by an experienced teacher for self-study or class use, the course offers you a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Dutch. No prior knowledge of the language is required.
What makes
Colloquial Dutch your best choice in personal language learning?
* it's interactive - lots of exercises for regular practice
* it's clear - concise grammar notes
* it's practical - useful vocabulary and pronunciation guide
* it's complete - including answer key and special reference section.
Cassettes accompany the course to help you with listening and pronunciation skills. By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in a broad range of situations.
Customer Reviews:
Made for parrots, not language learners.......2007-09-19
Once again a course from Routledge that is all but destroyed by a very common error. No wordlists.
For some reason, quite a few of the authors in the Colloquial series seem to be under the false impression that providing English translations of the dialogues is a satisfactory substitute for listing the new words. I disagree 100%. There are no languages that can be translated word by word into English and the result of this is that you end up not knowing which words in Dutch that corresponds to a given English word.
The result of this is that you can memorize the phrases in this book like a parrot, but that won't get you any far and is no better than a much cheaper and more extensive phrasebook. As you're not given the chance to learn and repeat new words, you simply won't be able to construct sentences on your own. It's very disappointing that such a great expert on Dutch as Bruce Donaldson has made such an enormous error and it makes this book very unsuitable for learners. Look for Teach Yourself Dutch instead.
colloquial series.......2005-02-25
I've tried many other language/phrase book, and I think the Colloquial Series are the best for beginners who plan to learn and pursue to a higher level.
This book explains every details on grammars and usage...and the cultural points are interesting as well.
The explanations are very clear and you'll find the learning process with colloquial series is very smooth, you'll hardly feel lost...
The audio CD mainly focus on conversations in every chapters, I like it because the native speakers talk as they are in everyday life (kind of fast for beginners), which is good cuz it's realistic...Just listen to it over and over until you're able to understand everything.
The only thing I don't like about the audio CD is that I wish it can provide more recordings on how to pronounce some important phrases rather than just numbers.
Hope you'll enjoy learning w/ this book
Great Jumpstarter to Dutch..........2003-12-19
I emigrated to the Netherlands two years ago from California, an English-monolingual culture. I was familiar with Afrikaans, since I was born in South Africa. This made learning Dutch a lot easier for me, so I very quickly came up to speed. However, it was the book by Donaldson which was the vehicle that brought me up to speed. I know this because after I rapidly moved forward as I used the book, I recommended it to an American who also found the book useful. I had a number of other texts, but I quickly abandoned them and concentrated on Donaldson's book.
After settling down to life in Amsterdam, the things that REALLY helped were the "colloquialisms" mentioned by Donaldson, and the little "culture points". They were enormously helpful. Dutch has a lot of idiom, and you need to understand what is happening in the syntax and delivery and the culture points also help clarify why things are being said the way they are when they are by whom under what circumstances. But any language is that way, including English !
Of course you need a dictionary ! You cannot rely on the word list in the book. Of course you need a verb conjugator (like 201 Dutch Verbs). And I would add, that after you get serious, you will also need a specialist idiomatic reference and dictionary.
The book was not all I needed to learn Dutch. I had to go to courses to get better, and you must also force yourself to use the language and to hurl yourself deep into a Dutch-only environment. English is pervasive and you can end up in an English universe in the Netherlands. A Dutch live-in partner would also help. Watching TV (cartoons are a great help), subtitling, listening to the radio (online too), reading the newspaper and magazines and web pages all add as an addendum to the book and daily usage.
This is a very good, serious first-level starer, folks ! The tapes too !
Een goed boek........2003-03-01
This was the closest thing I could find to a college textbook for first-year Dutch. Each chapter has about 4 grammar lessons, about 6 blocks of exercises to drill you on the grammar lessons, about 4 dialogues to read and hear on tapes which illustrate the grammar lessons, plus a couple of blocks on Dutch/Flemish culture.
The whole thing is very well done. If you're willing to devote the kind of effort you would in a one-year college course, you should be quite satisfied. Bruce Donaldson is a good writer/teacher. The back of the book contains answers to all the exercises, very helpful for self-study. In the dialogues you encounter many common family and tourist situations. By the end of the book, you'll have encountered all verb tenses and many common grammatical constructions. In fact, you'll have a working knowledge of basic Dutch.
There are a couple of things about the book I would like to see changed. At a few places, you're taught the correct way to say something, followed by a statement to the effect that in practice it's often said in some technically incorrect way that you are then taught at length. In effect, you're being taught slang. I personally don't like this in a text for beginners. I suspect that the author was influenced by the "colloquial" in the title.
Another point is that the book doesn't have many vocabulary lists. You usually first encounter words in the dialogues or exercises. You can usually, but not always, find the word defined in the glossary at the back of the book. Get a Dutch-English dictionary to supplement the book.
Sometimes grammatical constructions appear in dialogues long before they're formally explained in the text. You end up initially learning these things by rote without understanding them well. I assume this was intentional on the part of the author (we learned our native language this way). You just find yourself thumbing back to past dialogues at times. Since the dialogues are an essential part of the learning experience, I strongly recommend you shell out the extra money for the tapes. Dutch pronunciation is quite challenging, all the more reason to get the tapes.
The bottom line is that I enjoyed working my way through this book and I'm satisfied with the amount of Dutch I was able to learn. I don't think anything else in print would have served me as well.
Essential in Amsterdam.......2002-08-22
I'm in the Amsterdam airport right now. The announcements over the loudspeaker for gate changes and such are all in Dutch...which is very scary because I don't speak it. If you plan to spend some time in the Amsterdam airport you should get this book first. Granted, they make the announcements in English eventually but the first burst of Dutch sure can scare a guy. Save yourself the pain and grab this book first. Oh...they are talking in Thai now...better buy that one too.
Book Description
This is a classic work not only on this history of armour in the 14th century, but of a key battle and the wound pathology relating to victims of the battle.
Customer Reviews:
Unique work.......2005-10-08
This book contains a wealth of knowledge about medieval armour and the effects of weapons. The pictures are fantastic, skeletons buried in their armour, rarely does one get to see how armour was actually worn. The breakdowns and detail of actual armour construction is immaculate and enables any competant armourer to reproduce the examples shown. The detail from an archeologist's point of view was a little too in depth for my interest but if you are that way inclined then great. Only issue I have is the "analysis" of some of the wounds seen, Mr. Thordeman seems to imply that this battle was unusual in some way, that the combatants fought with unusual fury. He sites one incident of one combatant having both legs severed by a single blow as an indication of some great fury and intensity. I only disagree as there are very few examples of medieval battle wound pathology to compare the Wisby corpses. It seems that the author is looking at the battle from too detached a viewpoint, forgetting that killing was the purpose of the people who showed up to battle that day. This is a small detail but supposition as to the mental states of combatants, by someone who has no first hand experience of battle is unproductive. Otherwise a great book.
A true masterpiece!.......2003-02-27
This book has a very special meaning to me since I'm from the town of Wisby(nowdays spelled Visby). Born and raised on the island Gotland and lived most of my life thete. I'v built several of these coats of armour and so far everyone I've tried on have been of satisfatcion. The book is so far the best resource book I've ever found. I have for a long time tried to find the first edition, but IF you can find it somewhere it's incredibly expensive. So jus imagine my joy when I saw there was a reissue! And very soon I'm going to be proud owner of this masterpiece...
The book is really easy to use and have exceptional drawings and scetches. Transforming the scale of the objects in the book to original size is really easy and there's a lot of information i general. At last a recommendation for all you SCA-fighters out there. Try out armour no.6 and no.9 because they give very good protection and are comfortable to wear.
A true masterpiece!.......2003-02-27
This book has a very special meaning to me since I'm from the town of Wisby(nowdays spelled Visby). Born and raised on the island Gotland and lived most of my life thete. I'v built several of these coats of armour and so far everyone I've tried on have been of satisfatcion. The book is so far the best resource book I've ever found. I have for a long time tried to find the first edition, but IF you can find it somewhere it's incredibly expensive. So jus imagine my joy when I saw there was a reissue! And very soon I'm going to be proud owner of this masterpiece...
The book is really easy to use and have exceptional drawings and scetches. Transforming the scale of the objects in the book to original size is really easy and there's a lot of information i general. At last a recommendation for all you SCA-fighters out there. Try out armour no.6 and no.9 because they give very good protection and are comfortable to wear.
It works!.......2001-10-30
I've made armor using the diagrams of existing armor types from this book. I didn't much care for some of the strapping arrangements described, so I designed my own. (Hey, this is the armor the regular fighters left behind - Wisby was defended by the teens and the oldsters to judge from the age of the bodies. This suggests the men of prime fighting-age were elsewhere, with their primary armor.) It worked, well, and protected me in combat. And the illustrations and text were clear, clear, clear.
Great book!.......2001-10-20
This is the complete version of the orginal book all in one book, not two sets like the first. There is just a little intro added by Price. BUY THIS BOOK! It has wonderful information on the skeletal finds, plus it shows the orginal armor that was found, sketches of it, and recreations done by Bengt and company. I am thrilled they republished this book! It is impossible to find the orginal two volume set.
Average customer rating:
- ikke bra
- Norwegian: Pimsleur Language Program
- Boy this method WORKS!
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Norwegian-English Dictionary: A Pronouncing and Translating Dictionary of Modern Norwegian (Bokmal and Nynorsk) with a Historical and Grammatical Introduction
ASIN: 0671043986 |
Book Description
Compact Norwegian, a stand-alone 10-lesson (5 hours) program, teaches beginning language strategies for essential communication and traveling needs, plus an introduction to reading.
SPEAK NORWEGIAN TO LEARN NORWEGIAN
The Pimsleur Method will have you speaking Norwegian in just a few short, easy-to-use lessons.
Learn at your own pace, comfortably and conveniently.
No books to study. No memorization drills.
LEARN NORWEGIAN AS YOU LEARNED ENGLISH
You learned English by listening. With Pimsleur, you listen to learn Norwegian. This Language Program was developed by renowned memory expert, Dr. Paul Pimsleur. His research led him to the realization that the most important use of memory is in language learning. Based on this, Dr. Pimsleur designed a learning program that works for any language. The Pimsleur Language Program is an integrated system which immerses you in the language, encouraging you to hear, understand and use the language all at the same time.
Now you can take advantage of Dr. Pimsleur's research. At the completion of these eight lessons you will comfortably understand and speak at a beginner level.
Customer Reviews:
ikke bra.......2004-01-20
I didn't get much out of it. I could do all of the lessons fairly easily, but I thought that the man and the woman sounded quite different in their pronunciations, so I struggled with what the actual words were. If I ever want to have a glass of beer at the Theater Cafe on Parliament Street, I've got it knocked. I don't think each lesson was really a whole half hour. I'm taking lessons from a teacher now.
Norwegian: Pimsleur Language Program.......2002-03-23
This program is the only place to start if you want to learn Norwegian. It provides you with the basics needed to speak a foreign language. The speakers are easy to understand and speak slow enough that you can hear each word. You will quickly progress through each unit. The program does not allow you to forget previous lessons, so you actually retain what you learned.
I have purchased several other programs over the years, and was not able to learn from them. I wish Pimsleur was available back then. Invest your money wisely, start with the Pimsleur programs. They are expensive, but they work. The proof: the Norwegians actually understood me when I spoke.
The main drawback with this product is that there is not a lot of information in the program. It will not provide you with enough phrases to get by as a tourist, so you will need additional material.
Now if Pimsleur would only produce a more comprehensive version. I am impatiently waiting.
Boy this method WORKS!.......2000-07-12
I have attempted several methods in learning Norwegian. My main stumbling block was pronunciation and an over-emphasis on grammar. What I needed was an easier way to learn pronunciation and something that would be more natural to learn. I have found that in this tape set!
What this tape set does is teach you the language in a way that I think most humans learned to speak, by listening and repeating with an understanding what the words mean. It starts slowly, but does not so slow as you lose interest. On the contrary, these tapes keep your interest at every turn. First of all, each lesson is 30 minutes long, not too long as to lose interest and sharpness but long enough to give you a solid lesson. Next each lesson builds on previous lessons and quite often somethig you learned 90 minutes ago creeps up and makes sure you remember the whole course.
This is mostly a listening course. There is a tiny booklet included but its main purpose is to teach you to recognize the words you have already verbally learned. Just as a child learns to speak before reading, this course does the same thing. I would HIGHLY recommend this course to beginners and would recommend using this course ALONE before any other study aids. Once this course has been mastered then you can comfortably move on to other aids. Again, this is a great course!
Book Description
The president and CEO of Scandinavia Airlines (SAS) shows how to adapt to the new customer–driven economy.
Customer Reviews:
Moments of Truth.......2006-07-25
In this new millenium it's funny to think how things used to be only 20 years ago. A lot of the principles of this book would be second nature now but it definitely highlights how you can develop a struggling business by focussing on what the customer wants - gee radical thinking!!
I'm of the opinion that it's good to read about the past lest we forget and make the same mistakes - in life and in business.
A good simple read but perhaps a little rose tinted. Left me wanting to know what happened in the late 80's (i.e. part 2).
A great leadership lesson for corporate leaders.......2006-06-01
If you are a business leader, you should read this book. It is a fascinating story of a corporate turnaround.
Moments of truth occur when your company touches a stakeholder and proceeds to deliver products or services that satisfy or disatisfy. It is that simple and yet very difficult to execute consistently.
If you have heard of "Service Maps" or touchpoints where customer contact occurs, my hunch is that the consultant or leader proposing the concept has read this book or been instructed by someone who has.
The book is a good read and provides deep business insights that you can you use to motivate and lead people and organizations.
IF you work for government or non-profit entities you too can learn from this book because its messages and concepts are applicable to all leaders and organizations.
Recommand an EXCELLENT publication from IATA!!!.......2005-07-14
Please go to http://www.iata.org/ps/publications/9057.htm
to get a comprehensive analysis of airline financial performance,by type of services and route areas!!
Turning SAS back to the profit zone during the 80s.......2005-03-14
Loyalty to vision, not details of execution is a must.
Middle management must be ignited and dedicated towards serving the market.
In a customer driven company the organization is decentralized with responsibility to make decisions that serve the customer at the front line. Middle level manager must learn that their roles are supportive and not declarative. The Middle level manager is to provide the resources and means allowing his front line to serve the customer.
Initiation of changes must originate from the executive suite. The executive's role is to communicate with employees, impart the company's vision and listen to what the employees need to make the vision a reality. A leader role is to be a visionary, strategist, informer, teacher, and inspirer.
At age 39, Jan Carlzon became President of Vigresor a subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS). Carlzon became president over 1,400 employees and immediately started acting out the role he thought he was given. Some of the employees started calling him "ego boy" behind his back characterized by his brash and dictator like commands until Carlzon realized the company was not asking him to make all the decisions on his own, only to create an environment or atmosphere with the right conditions for other to get their job done. Carlzon realized his role was to set the company tone and communicate the big picture with the employees. Vigresor's main function was to contract the flights and get the hotels and package them together for the customer and in the early 70s the company had 210,000 customers and 40,000 tourist package purchases that were unprofitable. The traditional model suggested the company should drive down costs and try to survive with 170,000 customers. Carlzon did not chop costs, instead restructured the organization, making it more flexible and able to handle more should the market bounce back. The market recovered and Vigresor was ready for the increased load and after four years Carlzon was offered the Presidency of Linejeflyg.
In 1978, Linejeflyg had $3 million in loses, passenger load was at 50 percent, 95 percent of the travelers were businessmen, fare rates were determined by airline expenses rather than customer demand levels and customer preferences of the market. Linejeflyg business model catered to business executives who want to fly into Stockholm in the morning and return home in the evening. Carlzon's first conclusion was that it was difficult to make money with an airplane was on the ground. Linejeflyg costs were fixed and the problem was how to increase revenues. Carlzon asks the company's employees to help solve the problem and be a part of the solution to turn the company around. The employees believe in Carlzon and begin participating actively in shaping the companies future. Carlzon believes he must make air travel attractive and increase counts by cutting air fares and getting the planes up in the air more frequently increasing the total hours in the air. Advertising is important and a new slogan is created, "The World's Best Airlines", a bold statement contrary to the norm against bring attention to ones self. Carlzon believes that times have changed and competition is good for the customer. Carlzon moves away from production oriented scheduling to letting the market define what Linejeflyg should produce and sell. Carlzon knows that to fill planes flying during off-peak fares had to be low, so a new campaign is conceived called "Hundred Note" - 100 Swedish kroner designed to attract 5,000 passengers and unexpected it attracted 125,000 passengers; the plan was simple, every knew the meaning a hundred note, and a new types of passengers started flying. Profits were realized when Linejeflyg started selling a $2 breakfast with a 50 cent profit and $1 coffee and bun; revenues increased from $84 million to $105 million with passenger volume increasing 44 percent. Carlzon says, "I succeeded because I reoriented each company towards the needs of the market it servers".
In the early 80s, Carlzon is offered the presidency of SAS. SAS for 17 years has earned a profit and suddenly takes a $20 million dollar loss. The board wants Carlzon to stop the slide into losses and turn the company around into a profit zone. Carlzon realizes that cutting costs is not the answer; the market is in stagnation with zero growth; the cheese slicer approach would cut cost from all departments equally and reduce or eliminate services that the customer wants and is willing to pay for and the cheese slicer approach retains little interest in the customer. Carlzon knows he must bring the best SAS services to market and this is the only solution to increase revenue. Carlzon want to be 100 percent better at one thing and requests $45 millions to improve competitiveness, increase operating costs, and expense $12 million for 147 projects. The board accepts the plan and wisely realizes $25 million in the first year, $40 million in the second year, and $50 million in the third year during a time when the rest of the airline industry was experiencing a $2 billion loss. Also, Carlzon drops the first class and replaces it with Euroclass and does not promote heavily the discount fares. As a part of Euroclass implements moveable partitions, adds telephone and telefax services at hubs, and convenience of their own check in counter and more comfortable seats with better food. Revenues were at $80 million during the first year with a 23% increase in full fare and 7% increase in discount fares.
In 1981, SAS purchases four Airbuses because to used for short flights because of their size and efficiency. The Airbus is large and has bright spacious interiors. The order was for 8 and the cost for the 4 was $120 million. This was not unusual because SAS often replaced aircraft with more technologically advanced models that could fly passengers at a lower cost per seat. The Airbus operate 6 percent cheaper than the DC-9 the work horse for SAS; it also had 240 seats verses 110. Carlzon looked at what the business man who flew SAS wanted. They wanted a non-stop flight from Stockholm to Continential Europe as a service. The Airbus was too expensive to fly this non-stop route. Carlzon switches back to the DC-9 away from the airbus to remain competitive to attract a limited market of Scandinavian business men who want a frequent non-stop flight with convenient schedules that best suite their timetables.
What an Airline CEO Should Be!.......2004-04-23
In this short book, Jan Carlzon relates how he righted three travel companies as CEO by listening to the knowledge accumulated by frontline employees and helping them do their jobs, rather than the other way around. Mr. Carlzon was spectacular in turning around the fortunes of Vingresor, Linjeflyg, and finally SAS. As head of SAS he was able to dispense with business as usual by listening more to the frontline employees, and scrupulously insisting on removing 'yes-men' from his inner circle, a policy that has also served Southwest amazingly well over the years. Although his tenure was not totally without controversy, Carlzon talks frankly about unions (he looks on them as partners and long-term stakeholders), and tough decisions, such as sticking with the trusted DC-9 when other airlines were buying newer planes merely for the sake of having newer planes, despite negative balance sheet implications.
This is a book that should be read by every business major, MBA, and airline employee about what is possible by working together. Sadly in recent US history most airline executives have been self-centered boors who don't care about the airline business, and have no long term stake in the company. Largely they have stayed around a couple of years, raked in millions (in some cases hundreds of millions) of dollars and then left a bankrupt or weak carrier in the lurch. Carlzon makes it clear that he is a capitalist, but a capitalist that realizes that if management and employees work together, solutions can be reached that will benefit all over the long term.
To the Boards of Directors of any airline anywhere I say this: read this book, learn how it should be done, and go out and get a Carlzon-school thinker for every executive position in your company. The long term results will amaze you. I could not recommend this book any more highly.
Customer Reviews:
The Mysterious Spirit of my Hearth Inheritance.......2007-07-18
This book is mainly concerned with the format and content of pre-Christian Scandinavian religion, using Celtic and Germanic equivalents as a means of reference, support and comparison. I first became aware of Scandinavian culture during my schooldays in North-East British Northumberland, and the lessons were mainly concerned with depicting the savagery of the Viking raiders, the terrible `dragon-headed' long-ships, and their rape, pillage and plunder of civilized Anglo-Saxon Christian settlements. This image of barbaric ice-warriors filled my imagination until the mid-eighties when excavations and archeological discoveries at Coppergate in York revealed many interesting and highly cultured facets of Viking life in the early medieval period. Much of these discoveries and subsequent research was installed as a permanent museum now called `Jorvik Viking Centre.' A decade later I was fortunate enough to visit Bergen in Norway and experience Scandinavian culture and history first hand, the Bryggens Museum is a showcase of finds from the earliest settlements and includes ceramics, rune inscriptions, artifacts and the remnants of a principally shipping and commercial society up to the Middle Ages. `Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe' provided me with a carefully researched and detailed account of the spirituality of the Scandinavian peoples, and which brought to maturity all my previous thoughts and experiences, to an understanding which gives considerable credit to those communities for their important cultural legacy in Western Europe.
Davidson has used the medieval literature, myths and legends of Iceland and Ireland as the primary reference source for this book, in combination with archeological research papers and sources, and iconography of pre-Christian Western European culture. Her main inspiration appears to come from many scholars of Celtic history including Nora Chadwick, Kenneth Jackson and Anne O'Sullivan, although the principle thesis of the this research is prompted by Georges Dumezil (1898-1986) the religious historian who specialized in the analysis of Indo European civilization, who asks; "Is it possible to fit these Norse and Irish legends into a general pattern of Indo-European religious beliefs, extending back far into prehistory?" This question it seems, is the answer that Davison was seeking to explore within her work, and she does so with imagination, clear perception and a satisfying conclusion. With a broad yet defining sweep she manages to assess and investigate seven principle areas of interest; sacred places and sanctuaries, feasting and sacrifices, warriors, codes and rites and battle, land spirits, deities and ancestors, prophetic knowledge, divination and the priestly caste, cosmology and the other worlds, and finally the ruling gods, goddesses and divine pantheons.
Davidson begins with the earliest sources of a broad Indo-European culture, the archeological sources of Halstatt and La Tene circa 800 BCE to 200 CE, and follows through her study to approximately 1000 CE when the Scandinavian Vikings began to convert to Christianity. She employs free use and comparison of geographical sites, archeology, linguistics, cultural, social, artistic and spiritual characteristics, and the dynamics of the anarchical tribal-feudalism of early European society to successfully accomplish the study.
I grew up within a traditional working class British community. There, the cultural inheritance was composed of remnants of ancient and medieval thought whose pattern and dynamic has evolved little beyond the concept of `indentured servitude.' Tribalism still exists albeit in the form of soccer, and beyond the boundaries of the town there still exists a fear, a dreaded chaos, of foreigners and disorganization. Even when I was a lad in the seventies there was a strong sense of home, a hearth and odd yet valid seasonal customs whose origins may be traced back a thousand years. From a curious perspective, even a psychological one, this volume (and others like it) helped me to understand my background, language, beliefs and culture from a traditional point, and subsequently how those traits still influence my perception and actions today. It is not a book that changed my life, but illuminated facets of it and helped me in understanding myself more.
A broad overview with some problems and gaps, but overall scholarly, useful, and intelligent. Recommended.......2006-08-17
A useful introduction to the structure, key concepts, and beliefs of ancient Scandinavian and Celtic religions. Davidson covers a number of topics, including holy places, feasting and sacrifice, battle rites, land spirits and ancestors, divination, the Otherworld, and what she calls "the ruling powers." Her text is an overview and an introduction: not very deep, but a good place to begin one's study. Because she discusses both Germanic and Celtic religions, there is too much ground to cover to do so in depth. Sometimes the religions feel confused or one of the other is ignored in order to move on to the text subject. Nonetheless, the text is scholarly, well-footnoted and clearly based in research; for the most part her analysis manages to identify key themes and symbols in an analytic, readable fashion. I believe that her attempt to categorize the gods at the very end of the book fails, but with that one exception the book is on the whole a useful, intelligent introduction to these ancient religions, and the writing style is approachable while still scholarly.
The student of either Scandinavian or Celtic religion may find this text unusual: rather than focusing on one of these religions, it discusses both concurrently. Germanic and Celtic religions appear to have a shared origin and a number of similarities, and so the analysis of both together should be interesting and provide a wider background for students of either religion. However, the broader subject matter makes for more cursory analysis and less detail: some subjects are only mentioned briefly; some subjects are discussed only in terms of one of the two religions. Furthermore, Davidson spends a lot of time talking about the similarities between the religions and often fails to discuss the differences beyond the rare mention that they exist. In comparative religious studies, sometimes it's the differences that matter more than the similarities. As such, the comparison between the two religions can at times be frustrating and degrade both.
Near the end of the book, Davidson attempts to group the gods of both Celtic and Norse religions into major groups and types, such as warrior gods and provider gods. She makes this attempt despite a preface which warns that it may be impossible and may even limit or corrupt our understanding of the gods. In her attempt, she categorizes only male gods: female goddess are ignored for the most part of the book. There is some interesting discussion about valkyries and battle goddess earlier on, but other goddess (Such as Brigid and Danu) are not even mentioned. I don't know why she omits them (perhaps they have no Nordic equivalent?); regardless, both the attempt to group the gods and the omission of the goddess do a great disservice to both religions and are the weakest parts of the book.
Despite these complaints, Myths and Symbols of Pagan Europe is still an interesting and scholarly introduction to both Nordic and Celtic religions. Davidson discusses the relationship between history, culture, and location in the formation of a religion. She looks at the root of Celtic and Nordic myths, including the relationship between the two; she looks at how natural and man-made locations and symbols impacted religious practice and the concept of sacred spaces; she looks the nature of religious practice and its role in the life cycle of the ancient Germans and Celts. She searches for symbols, correlations, and derivatives, and her analysis is clear and easy to follow. The book introduces some useful and easily applicable ways to approach a study of the Celtic and Scandinavian faiths, one that depends more on the underlying structure and purpose of the religion rather than its small, contradictory, poorly-understood or unreliable details. I do recommend this book, although I encourage further reading on the specific religions in order to gain a better grasp of their depths, individuality, and roles and identities of the gods (and goddesses in particular).
Disjointed, but alright.......2006-07-16
I had to keep flipping back to remember what this page was referrencing, as it jumped around a good bit. The information was badly put together, I wish it had a more coherent form - it seems like really interesting information -
great overview.......2005-11-01
This is a marvelously fascinating book detailing both Scandinavian and Celtic religion. It covers an amazing sense of similarity as well as differences between the two cultures. Davidson covers the subject from the evidence in archaelogy, iconography, literature and folklore in a search for basic patterns which are enlightening in regards to the Indo-European hypothesis. A good read, not too terribly dry, it is well worth reading.
Great book!.......2005-10-22
Davidson has done a great job with this book in setting out to show the similarities in the religious/cultural practices and beliefs of the Germanic and Celtic heathens. My personal belief is that the Gods of the Norse and other Germanics are the same Gods as those that the Celts worshipped, even if the names, lore and rites differed in various ways. She draws heaviest from the Irish sources instead of Welsh, Brit and continental Celts for drawing comparisons to Germanic peoples but even those are far from being totally neglected. Personally I don't how anybody could deny, even coming from the academic egghead perspective , that Odin and the Irish/Welsh/Gaelic Lugh/Lleu are anything other than the same God after reading this book.
From an academic/historical perspective this is argueably the best book ever written on Odinsim.
Book Description
Colloquial Icelandic is the ideal introduction to the modern language. Written by an experienced language teacher, the course offers a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Icelandic. No previous knowledge of the language is required. Features include:
* pronunciation guide
* lively dialogues
* concise grammar explanations
* lots of exercises with full answer key
* English-Icelandic and Icelandic-English glossaries.
Learning Icelandic has never been so enjoyable! By the end of this rewarding course, you will be able to speak, read, and write Icelandic with confidence. Two 60-minute cassettes are also available, featuring the dialogues and exercises in the book. Recorded by native speakers, they will help perfect your pronunciation and listening skills.
Customer Reviews:
A Fine Introduction to Icelandic.......2007-03-17
This book does a pretty good job of introducing a rather difficult language---my wife and I moved to Iceland a year ago and we have been using this book as part of our learning process. No textbook can make one master a language, of course, but this is a reasonable overview of how teo introduce yourself, order food, and pick out some items from the newpaper. However, I must second the suggestion that the book needs a thorough explanation of elisions----the connection of sounds typical in everyday speech. English speakers do this also; terminal "t" often becomes a "d", as in "....what are we doing now?" Anyway, the peculiarities of daily Icelandic pronunciation deserve a at least a mention, and not least because the excellent native speakers on the CD make no bones about going slowly for the foreigners.
Secondly, some reviewers (and Daisy Neijmann herself) have mentioned that once you have mastered (!) Icelandic, you can "appreciate the sagas in their original form." That is rather hyperbolic; not many contemporary Icelanders can understand the original texts of the sagas. The ancient language in which, for example, Snorri Sturluson (author of Egils saga) spoke and wrote,was much harder and crisper, and since then many consonant sounds have softened; i.e. terminal "k" is now written and sounded as terminal "g"; the names "Haraldr" and "Eírikr" and now rendered both in speech and writing with and additional vowel----Haraldur and Eírikur. My point is that the suggestion that a non-native speaker upon completing his study of Colloquial Icelandic can strait proceed to the original saga texts is rather far-fetched. Icelanders today often read a modern translation of them, in the same way that it is quite difficult to understand the original Chaucer.
Those two points aside, this a fine book, and helpful for anyone who plans for a stay in Iceland. If you're just going to Reykjavík for a party, don't bother.
Best book on learning the language, but could have more.......2007-01-20
I just started and I really like how the book is laid out and easy to understand. Other books are fairly complicated and nonsensical to me. Since I have no intention of writing in Icelandic, this is a great book because it covers all the important conversational topics.
However, I wish there was more on the CDs. The tracks did not announce what lesson/page they were referring to so it made it confusing if you picked track 15 and needed to know what page it referred to. Also, it would be helpful if there were more tracks with more conversations. I agree with a couple other users who mentioned the lack coverage on declensions (cuz I had no idea what they were till now).
The best part is that the exercises in the book have the answers! Some of my language books have exercises but no answers. At least Daisy got this right.
If you want to speak Icelandic and read a bit, I definitely recommend this book.
Not Well Organized or Thought out.......2006-09-30
This book is OK as a VERY basic introduction to Icelandic. You learn the word for "coach" (ruta) before yes and no. Also, the exercises are short and insignificant. When you learn about declensions (probably the most important aspect of Icelandic grammar), all the book has is a long paragraph, a HUGE graph (with vauge footnotes "There is a subgroup of masculine nouns which has -ir instead of -ar in the nominitive plural and -i in the accusative plural". No hint of these words), and one, measly fill in the blank activity.
This is good if you want to become vaugely acquainted witht the language, or if you just want to learn a few phrases. For the serious Icelandic student, get the Teach Yourself book.
Fabulous! Learn to speak Icelandic like a native!.......2005-06-02
I was getting ready to give a speech in Iceland and had no idea what the language sounded like. I tried several CD-based language courses, but none of them taught you more than just colors and common names. This CD course was EXCELLENT! I tested my Icelandic on the phone before I left and my hosts in Iceland were astounded at my pronounciation and knowledge of the language.
The lessons seemed strange at first because there is no direct translation of what you are saying. If you stick with it long enough to get past chapter 6, you'll be saying things like a native AND you will be understood!
Great .......2004-12-11
I like the colloquial series... the right way of using useable language and still some of the grammar you need... workable CD's and excersizes... I am happy here
Book Description
Young were the years when Ymir made his settlement, there was no sand nor sea nor cool waves; earth was nowhere nor the sky above, chaos yawned, grass was there nowhere. The sun turns black, earth sinks into the sea, the bright stars vanish from the sky; steam rises up in the conflagration, a high flame plays against heaven itself. Seeress's Prophecy 3, 57 The collection of Norse-Icelandic mythological and heroic poetry known as the Poetic Edda contains the great narratives of the creation of the world and the coming of Ragnarok, the Doom of the Gods. The mythological poems explore the wisdom of the gods and giants, narrating the adventures of the god Thor against the hostile giants and the gods' rivalries amongst themselves. The heroic poems trace the exploits of the hero Helgi and his valkyrie bride, the tragic tale of Sigurd and Brynhild's doomed love, and the terrible drama of Sigurd's widow Gudrun and her children. Many of the poems predate the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity, allowing us to glimpse the pagan beliefs of the North. Since the rediscovery of the Poetic Edda in the seventeenth century, its poetry has fascinated artists as diverse as Thomas Gray, Richard Wagner, and Jorge Luis Borges. This is the first complete translation to be published in Britain for fifty years, and it includes a scholarly introduction, notes, a genealogy of the gods and giants, and an index of names.
Customer Reviews:
In Need of Commentary/Notes - Read Snorri's Prose Edda first .......2007-05-31
Handy book with nice format and readable translation. However there's virtually no context here as far as a meaningful introduction to the individual works or the work as a whole. The individual introductions are cursory at best, written in a dismissive "Oxford" tone which assumes the reader is familiar with the works and their context. Imagine mixing up the books of the Bible, and removing most of the study annotations now included in most versions. Reading the Prose Edda first was EXTREMELY helpful, as Snorri does what the editor of this book should have tried harder to do herself. If you know little or nothing of Norse mythology, you'll be lost if you start with this book; but after the Prose Edda, things become much more meaningful.
A good introduction.......2007-04-23
Translating poetry will always be problematic. There is the decision to make whether to emulate the form, or concentrate on the meaning.
Larrington tends toward the latter. This is probably the best kind of translation for those wanting to become familiar with the narrative. Once the reader knows the tales, it is time to move on to a version like Hollander. Harder to read but more reminiscent of the poetry of the original. I like to go close to transliterating, using the English cognates when possible, although it certainly makes the meaning difficult, it does have a satisfying effect. However, to really appreciate the striking rhythm & alliteration of the verse form, one really needs to recite the Old Norse out loud.
Neither kind of translation will capture the subtleties of the words chosen for their ambiguity or being suggestive of other words. Both kinds of translation, as well as the original, have an important place in one's library.
Sweyn
The Rune Primer
THE NORDIC ILIAD.......2004-11-25
The Edda is for the Nordic European countries, what the Iliad meant for the old Greek. It is THE TREASURY - in a poetical form - of their MYTHOLOGY and of lots of their heroic stories and the wisdom of their proverbs.
This book embodies the ethics and the cultural life during the transition period from paganism to christianity (about 8th until 13th century). A world opens of gods, supernatural beings and creatures AND of the protagonists of a heroic (pre-)history. The existence of man in his natural environment and the place of "the family" in the world they lived in, as for so gets a meaningful, coherent interpretation.
The songs of the gods make a mysterious power of attraction on the reader of today. In the "vision of the famous visionary VOLUSPA", birth and decline of the old world of gods are treated AND at the same time the author made a sketch of the new world order. This vision remains, up until these days, the peak, THE highlight of Nordic literature. The heroic poems are a true glorification of the past. The power of the characters in the poems, as well as the events that take place here, go beyond the "normal-human life" out of later times. What is more, the tragic adventures and fortunes of the family, the race of the "NIBELUNGEN" have been a tremendous source of inspiration for so many writers, thinkers, even musicians. I hereby think in special about the famous, outstanding collection of opera's by the German composer Richard WAGNER: his "RING DES NIBELUNGEN", which gives such a fantastic, colourful insight in what happened centuries ago!
This work is one of the main sources for Nordic AND German mythology which gives a splendid view on the misty (sic!!) "WALHALLA" of the Western European, more specific the Icelandic-Scandinavian AND German, Dutch even English ancestors.
THE EDDA IS A BOOK FOR EVERYONE, as the Iliad or Odyssey are, and like the two latter is SO IMPORTANT for the development and evolution of Europe. A book from the top of the shelves of REAL GREAT WORLD LITERATURE, easily readable for ALL OF YOU.
A PIECE OF MY HEART, WARMLY AND VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY WHOLE BEING !!
Ian Myles Slater on: Up to Date, Sometimes Unfamiliar.......2004-02-21
The "Elder" or "Poetic" Edda is the modern name for a set of Old Norse mythological (mainly about gods) and heroic (mainly about humans) poems, found in a limited number of Icelandic manuscripts, the most important of which is damaged, and missing pages, and does not agree with other copies, and quotations in other medieval texts. The exact list of poems included varies slightly, with editors and translators having a little leeway. The "World's Classics" series from Oxford University Press finally included a translation of this famous collection in its list in 1997; it has since been reprinted in the slightly refurbished and renamed series of "Oxford World's Classics."
{Perhaps I should add that, like five earlier reviewers, I have taken for granted the importance and high literary quality of the Elder Edda, and concentrated on whether this particular translation is worth your time -- and money.}
Although some reviewers have complained that Carolyne Larrington's translation is inaccurate, it has been favorably received by the academic community on the grounds of its exceptional accuracy. (It is on a Cambridge University syllabus too, although this may reflect, in part, its availability.)
Part of the problem may be that Larrington is following the 1983 revision of the Neckel-Kuhn text edition, without giving specific notice of all of its decisions on how to resolve contradictions in the manuscript evidence. (A reader who consults the notes at the end will find some of them, particularly regarding the ordering of stanzas.) Most previous translators produced eclectic versions, based on a variety of older editions, and often noting their own departures from the then-standard text editions. For those without access to the latest revised version of Kuhn's revision of Neckel's turn-of-the-century critical edition, Larrington's departures from the familiar are likely to seem arbitrary.
She also seems to be making full use of the latest in linguistic scholarship -- another reason for departing from familiar readings.
Of course, some of her translations may well be wrong -- translators have to make decisions among various options, and the format of this book does not allow for full discussions of such problems. Some problems have no easy answer; for example, there are lists of names, most of which, but not all, were chosen for their obvious meanings; should any of them be translated in the main text? I found many points on which I would differ, preferring the arguments advanced by other scholars, but any other amateur, but enthusiastic, reader could probably come up with an entirely different list. I appreciate having her version available.
What I find a more serious problem is that the translation is not really all that pleasant to read, and, although valuable to the serious student, is not likely to attract the merely curious. Despite being set up in stanzas, it is extremely prosy. This was probably the result of a decision to prefer precision to literary form, but, after comparing translations of sample passages going back to William Morris in the nineteenth century, I can't say that I am completely convinced. I could be wrong; I would not be astonished to find that someone fell in love with Old Norse literature through this version. But I do think that some older versions would serve this purpose better, despite many shortcomings, due in part to age.
I offer, as examples, two other complete versions in English. Henry Adams Bellows' translation (from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923) was at least interesting to read aloud, despite numerous shortcomings, both as a translation and as poetry. (It was out of print, except in a very expensive limited edition, but was available in digital form, and is being reprinted in its original two-volume format, at a much more reasonable price, by Dover; as of summer 2004, "Mythological Poems" has appeared.) Lee M. Hollander's attempt at an alliterative verse rendering (University of Texas, also 1923, second edition, 1962, and still in print in paperback) is sometimes a little hard to follow, but at least the reader is kept aware that the original is a metrical composition. (I once worked through a good part of Hollander's text-edition-for-students of "Seven Eddic Lays," so his translation seems to me comparatively clear -- and, allowing for some liberties due to meter, mostly very accurate, since it matches his editing and glossary!) Larrington's stanza divisions, by comparison, seem to be there strictly as points of reference.
Curiously, neither of these translations is mentioned, so far as I can see, anywhere in the present volume; nor is another, more recent, American translation, by Patricia Terry, which has undergone several revised printings. Larrington discusses in detail translations published in Britain, which is fair enough; but she somehow omits the expanded edition of Auden and Taylor's "The Elder Edda: A Selection" as "Norse Poems" (1981), which does contain the whole standard Eddic "canon."
(It should added that "The Poetry of the Elder Edda," by Andy Orchard, announced some time ago as forthcoming in Penguin Classics, has yet to appear, as of Fall 2005; some on-line sources now list it for Spring 2008! The first part of a five-volume text, translation and commentary by Ursula Dronke was published in 1969, but only reached the second -- superb -- volume in 1997, with nothing since. Work on a more manageable bi-lingual edition was recently announced by Edward Pettit on his "Leaves of Yggdrasill" site, raising hopes once again.)
An horribly inaccurate translation.......2001-08-22
While it's popular to criticise the Hollander translation of The Poetic Edda for being more poetic than accurate, compared to Larrington's version, his is nearly ideal.
I've been studying eddic poetry for years, both in the original and in translation, and recently picked up a copy of this book because several friends insisted it is more accessible and easily read. I immediately saw why it is often suggested as an alternative to the archaic language sometimes used by Hollander, but simultaneously horrified. Of course, no translation will ever convey the full nuances of a text, but I found numerous places where Larrington either lost all subtext to a passage, or was simply inaccurate.
I would only recommend this translation for comparison to others, such as Hollander, Bellows or even Thorpe. The work simply does not stand on its own as a trustworthy edition.
Book Description
In the middle of the twentieth century, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, four countries with a total population no larger than New York City, impacted the world of design to a degree never before seen and unlikely to be repeated. Scandinavian Modern design already had a solid domestic audience, and the Post-World War II American consumer was ready for the distinctive style and the fine quality it offered. With a focus on more than 60 designers, this extensively researched book presents the furniture and household objects especially those of wood and metal. of the Scandinavian Modern style, beginning in the 1930s and culminating in the 1970s. Hundreds of photographs and a comprehensive introduction, historical timeline, and appendices of furniture makers and designers, distributors, and sources are included. Detailed captions with current prices, a large bibliography, and an index make this book a valuable reference and a must for all collectors, dealers, and researchers of Scandinavian design.
Book Description
This up-to-date two-way dictionary is ideal for students, translators, travelers, and users of Norwegian. Practical examples make accurate translations come alive, and special supplemental sections include guides to Norwegian pronunciation and grammar. Over 20,000 entries in each section make this an invaluable reference and an extraordinary value.
Customer Reviews:
Some fundamental problems for English speakers.......2006-03-15
I've noticed some glitches in the selection of vocabulary, but that's not the main problem for English speakers. It doesn't indicate the gender of the nouns in either the English-Norwegian or the Norwegian-English direction. And you can't speak or write Norwegian unless you know the gender of the nouns. And you can't tell the gender by looking at the word the way you can in Italian. A lesser complaint is that it doesn't mark the tone. Norwegian words have tone. Haugen's dictionary marks the tone. I speak Norwegian, and used this dictionary occasionally, because they have it at the office. I didn't notice that gender was missing for a year until a colleague tried to use it. Wow! No gender! What were they thinking?
Substandard.......2002-12-20
Although I did not buy this book from Amazon.com, I must concur with what the other reviewer has written. Quite frankly, this dictionary is substandard, and not worth the paper it's printed on. It is far too biased towards Norwegian users. If you want to translate from Norwegian to English, you'll get very little help from this dictionary. But that's not all. Many common words and phrases are omitted. Want to know how to say Happy Birthday in Norwegian? You won't find the answer in this dictionary! And as the other reviewer has pointed out, much crucial information about Norwegian words such as the past tense of verbs and gender of nouns has been left out. You're supposed to work that out from the grammar section in the middle. Not good enough!
A good bilingual dictionary should be equally helpful to users in both languages. The dictionaries put out by Collins and Oxford are excellent examples. They are models of what a good language dictionary should be. The "Norsk Ordbok" dictionary falls very far short of that standard indeed. If you're translating from English to Norwegian, it's not too bad (though you might get stuck if your text contains "Happy Birthday" or any number of other common words this dictionary forgets about). But if you're translating from Norwegian to English, then forget it!
Too many mistakes to recommend this one.......1999-02-23
This dictionary has many problems, and I recommend finding another one. For starters, it is clearly aimed at Norwegians needing to know about English words. The pronunciations given for headwords are only for the English words (British, at that). If you want to know how to pronounce gjøre, for example, there is no help forthcoming. The definitions have lots of little clues about which meaning you want to choose, but those hints are of course in Norwegian. Genders of Norwegian nouns, forms of irregular adjectives, past tenses of verbs are nowhere in evidence, not in the word's article nor by cross-reference. (Norwegians already know this information.)
It is the grammar section (in between the two translating sections) however that I have the biggest complaints about. Most of what is presented is correct, but the section is swimming with typos and other strange and quirky layout issues. I can live with the amusing English spelling "asterix" (p. 273), or even the misspelled past participle of gjøre (which should read gjort, but appears as gjordt (p. 274). But totally beyond my comprehension are the comparative and superlative adjective forms 'interessantmer' instead of 'mer interessant' and 'interessantmest' instead of 'mest interessant' (p. 279). This serious breach of proofreading is repeated with four different adjectives on that page. It gives one concern about trusting anything else in the dictionary.
Also in the introduction, where abbreviations are expanded, one reads that "US" means "United States (of Amerika)..." and that fl stands for "flertall (majority)" but they obviously meant "plural" in a grammatical sense.
I recommend Einar Haugen's Norwegian English Dictionary and perhaps the Berlitz compact dictionary for going the other way.
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