{"id":12794,"date":"2020-11-20T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T05:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archive.richardlittledale.co.uk\/?p=12794"},"modified":"2020-11-20T09:47:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-20T08:47:42","slug":"a-perfect-book-for-jolabokaflod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/2020\/11\/20\/a-perfect-book-for-jolabokaflod\/","title":{"rendered":"A perfect book for Jolabokaflod"},"content":{"rendered":"

A review of Nancy Campbell’s Fifty Words for snow<\/strong><\/p>\n

In case you don’t know what\u00a0Jolabokaflod\u00a0<\/em>is, let me tell you.\u00a0 It is a tradition which started in Iceland during the Second World War. At the time, paper was one of the few things which was not rationed – and so people would buy each other books.\u00a0Jolabokaflod ,\u00a0<\/em>which means ‘Christmas book flood’\u00a0 referred to the tradition of curling up under a blanket with your new book and a hot drink on Christmas Eve.\u00a0 I cannot imagine a better book with which to do it than Nancy Campbell’s Fifty Words For Snow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone who is imagining a dry lexicographical treatise will be wonderfully surprised. The introduction of each chapter with a different snowflake set on a midnight blue background is a foretaste of the intricate beauty of Campbell’s writing. Whilst the fifty words, or phrases for snow are fascinating (who knew, for instance, that there was a Swahili word for snow?) their true beauty is their function as trap doors. Through each door Nancy takes us into another place and culture for the duration of a short and very readable chapter. With Nancy’s help, you will travel from Finland to Hawaii and Thailand to New Zealand without ever leaving the comfort of your duvet.\u00a0 I mention the duvet because I found this book, with its accessible chapters, to be the perfect bedside companion. It is hard to imagine a better book for Winter.<\/p>\n

It is clear to see that the book is meticulously researched and written as a labour of love. That said, there is nothing dry about it. It has the sparkle of new snow and the stimulating zing of a frosty morning about it. There is no doubting Nancy’s scholarship, but no doubting her poetic skills either.<\/p>\n

Out of all the descriptions of snow, my favourite might just be the sun-cups, which can be ‘as tiny as a watch face or larger than the dial of a Grandfather clock’.\u00a0 What they are, and where to find them, is something you will have to discover in the pages of this wonderful book.<\/p>\n

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A review of Nancy Campbell’s Fifty Words for snow In case you don’t know what\u00a0Jolabokaflod\u00a0is, let me tell you.\u00a0 It is a tradition which started in Iceland during the Second World War. At the time, paper was one of the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12794"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12794"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12800,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12794\/revisions\/12800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}