Iceland: Where Storytelling Forms the Basis of Everyday Life

By Daniel Penev

Guest writer for Wake Up World

The land of ice and fire – this is the first association millions of people make about Iceland. Although ice and fire are part of the puzzle, they are not the only things Iceland should be famous for.

The small island nation, which lies approximately in the middle between the Scandinavian countries and North America, stands out with a highly dynamic cultural and artistic scene. On the top of the pyramid stands the Icelanders’ centuries-old love for storytelling.

Some say reading is a national sport in Iceland. Others describe it as a religion. Classifications of this kind clearly show that reading in Iceland a way of living, a necessity without which everyday life would be inconceivable. Iceland ranksamong the leading nations based on the number of writers and the number of books published per capita, as well as reading activity. The Icelanders like to express their values, impressions and views through in written form. BBC reports that every tenth Icelander will publish at least one book in their lifetime. Over the past few years, Icelandic literature has been garnering increasing popularity abroad. The most successful among contemporary Icelandic writers is crime author Arnaldur Indridason. He has so far sold more than 12 million copies worldwide – a praiseworthy achievement on its own but even more so when analyzed in light of the fact that Iceland has a population of just over 336,000.

CONTINUE READING:

FACEBOOK]: http://www.facebook.com/joinwakeupworld (An interactive community of over 3,500,000)

[PINTEREST]: http://pinterest.com/wakeupword/

[TWITTER]:  http://twitter.com/joinwakeupworld

[YOUTUBE]: http://www.youtube.com/joinwakeupworld          

[GOOGLE PLUS]: https://plus.google.com/112452105795129310867/posts

[WEBSITE]: http://wakeup-world.com