The Ice-Shirt (Seven Dreams) (original 1990; edition 1993)

This book wasn't for me. From the opening pages, I found the author's use of language to be self-indulgent in an almost congratulating way. I'm far too old now to really enjoy the use of language towards it's own ends. In poetry, it's called "music". I require a meaning in addition. The concept of the work is fine. I'm not a huge fan of historic fiction, I'll admit, but I came in willing to enjoy it. I ended up skipping around a little and found deeper in the usage was better, a little more even, but I just found it too forced to enjoy it. Couldn't finish it.

Another dense book by Vollmann (which is his tendency), and one of many of his which interweaves myth and story and ancedote with history. Writes in the style of sagas and ancient myths very convincincly. Characterizes the biting and forbidding nature of the north. On to #2, as soon as I can find it. ( )

This is a strange and difficult book. A liberal retelling of the Vinland Sagas, you won't find a happy ending here. Primarily concerned with Gudrid and Freydis, the daughters of Eirik the Red who colonized North American circa 1000 CE. Gudrid is spiritually symbolic of the change from Norse paganism to Christianity. Though she believes in her Christ, she can't fully shed the supernatural powers imparted to her as a child by her pagan godmother. Freydis, ostracized for being a bastard, fully embraces the old gods, some even older than the Norse ones. She gives her soul to the ice demon that rules the glacier on Gunnbjorn Fjeld, the highest peak in Greenland. She gains powers only associated with semi-mythical kings. The demon gives Freydis the responsibility of bringing the frost to Vinland. It's a tale of ice, lichen, murder and demonology. And we shouldn't forget the wolf hearts.Despite all this fanciful imagining, Vollmann attempts to remain as historically accurate as possible given the contradictions of both the literary sources and the archaeological evidence. The historical narrative is inter-cut with accounts of Vollmann's bohemian travels across Greenland in the late 1980s. This technique doesn't always work. He's trying to tell how we got from there (200 CE) to here (1990 CE). His contemporary accounts are superfluous because his literary metaphors work just fine in getting his point across. Or maybe not his metaphors, maybe just the historical record gets his point across: the arrival the Europeans ushered in an ice age that would change North American culture forever. The text itself is work of art being interspersed with the author's ink drawings. Significant front and end matter render the text near ergodic. Vollmann is clearly enjoying himself creating a kind of adolescent Viking notebook inflated to personal reference text extraordinaire. I think The Ice-Shirt must have inspired The Voyage of the Short Serpent by Bernard du Boucheron, a far more controlled tale of the final Norse colony in Greenland. Short Serpent is another frost-axe-nightmare kind of book. Though not for everyone, I recommend both to anyone unafraid to get mangled into the bowels of history by the churning wheel of time. ( )

Ice-Shirt is a highly original blend of historical fiction and myth with snippets of the author's travel experiences. I primarily enjoyed learning about the Viking way of life and the places they explored (Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland). The mythological components, while interesting, were hard to follow and became tedious after a while. The glossaries at the back and the maps are not as complete and helpful as they could have been. I think the book left a long-lasting impression on me but I can't say it was an entirely enjoyable read b/c it was just so dark and bloody. The writing style was clever and original though so I give it 3.5 instead of just 3 stars. ( )