What I have been reading -1

Polish Girl by Monika Wisniewska.

Subtitle; In Pursuit of the English Dream.

I am the sort of traveller who chooses to have a good book within reach. On mega air journeys I prefer a good read rather than squint at an airline screen fixed to the seat in front. If the book is a ``page turner’’ then all the better.  Polish Girl is one of those.

Monika Wisniewska has a master’s degree in EU Economic Relations. She is also an accomplished English speaker. So equipped, it should have been easy to find agreeable employment in one’s adopted country. For our heroine it was not. She gets menial employment at an airport restaurant. Management is not accommodating and work colleagues seemingly have few interests outside money and drinking parties. When homesick she wishes to visit her wonderful Mom in Poland. But her wages are insufficient to purchase the air ticket. Despite her feelings of angst threatening to break her spirit, she hangs in, finding better employment and comfortable lodgings. She is also keen to discover the perfect man to share her life with. She has several relationships. Some offer commendable highlights before turning to custard. So well does she pen her words, I am quickly discovering fault lines in some of her suiters.

Her story begins with the end of her most cherished relationship as her possessions are returned to Poland. The section is headed; ``the path to paradise begins in hell,’’ a quote from Dante Alighieri. Sometime previously she meets John at dancing classes. Things begin well but he is struggling with a messy divorce that appears to have no settlement. I get an inkling John is not being as honest as he should be. He is well-moneyed but losing much of it to the demands of his estranged wife and their son.

When John gets new employment he has Monika move with him to a villa near Amsterdam. It promises to be the beginnings of a new life but while John enjoys many business trips, Monika is left at home. She fills her time keeping the villa looking perfect for John’s infrequent homecomings. She asks herself, how many times she needs to clean the same windows. John has promised to help her find employment but continually reneges. This understandably does not suit our well-qualified outgoing Monika.

Eventually Monika gives John the ultimatum to exclusively commit his life to her. He opts out reciting vague unconvincing reasons.  Monika finds solace in an ability to love herself and her own company.

The English dream is finally derailed with Brexit. The vote was partly a racist one wishing to curtail the free movement of people between EU countries. (Blog writer’s opinion.) Monika discovers an unfriendly attitude from some former colleagues.

Polish Girl is Wisniewska’s first book. She published it herself, presumably via Amazon. It is available as an e-book or paperback. It is recommended. A delightful ``page turner.’’ In my dreams I am likely to wish I had met a Monika Wisniewska in my younger life and offered the perfect relationship. I say ``in my dreams’’ as my track record has, sadly, had flaws.

Polish Girl storytelling allows the reader to be occasionally intrigued by snippets of Polish life and culture.

If Wisniewska is an upcoming Polish woman writer, she is not alone. Another Polish woman, Olga Tokarczuk, has written a book Flights.  It was the winner of the 2018 Booker Prize.

Maybe something wonderful happens when a Polish girl empties her mind with pen and paper. Or, more correctly, with fingers dancing on a keyboard.

   

Iceland’s take on religion

Iceland has been dubbed the world’s most religious Country.

Statics of regular church goers, however, suggest Iceland is little different from other Western countries including New Zealand.  Eighty per cent of Icelanders claim to be Lutheran, modelled on Martin Luther’s 16^th century version of Protestantism. The principal Lutheran cathedral is the Hallgrimskikirkja a landmark of the island’s Capital, Reykjavik. The striking wood and concrete structure is named after the seventeenth-century religious poet, Hallgrimur Petursson.

Hallgrimskikirkja 

 Its space shuttle-like design has divided Reykjavik citizens over the years. Its much visited interior is distinguished by its organ having 5275 pipes, maybe more than any other cathedral’s King of Instruments.

Christianity was introduced to Iceland in about 1000 AD.

The King of Norway had dispatched missionaries to Iceland. Christianity clashed with the belief in pagan Norse gods, dividing Iceland. It was resolved, according to legend, at Thingvellir a popular stopping place for tourists. About an hour’s drive from Reykjavik, it is a geological curiosity where tourists walk through a cleft of lava created by the shifting of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian to the east and North American to the West. 

This dramatic landscape was the unlikely site of the world’s first democracy, the Althing. Chiefs from all over Iceland gathered here to discuss matters of mutual interest. The designated speaker stood in a spot where his voice was best amplified by natural acoustics. When a debate was in progress about Iceland adopting Christianity a runner arrived with the news a volcanic eruption was sending lava flow towards the farm of one the debaters. Surely a sign their Norse gods were unhappy. Further debate concluded volcanic eruptions were a natural phenomenon in Iceland and the Althing adopted Christianity.

Christianity as the official Icelandic religion, introduced the concept of Hell. Hell and volcanoes became partners in doom –one as imaginary as the other was real.

 But Christianity also opened Iceland to more cultural exchange, particularly from Nordic countries.

Iceland has many delightful Scandinavia-style wooden churches scattered through rural landscapes. One on our travel schedule was Skalholt. It is larger than most Iceland churches and designated a cathedral. The present church was completed in 1963.

 Former churches had been destroyed by fire. From 1056 to 1785, Skalholt was also a political and cultural centre.

It continued as an episcopal see following the Reformation when Skalholt became Lutheran.

Catholicism came to an infamous end at Skalholt in 1550 when Bishop Jon Arason was executed along with his two sons.

                               Interior, Skalholt Cathedral

                               Bishop Jon Arason's stone coffin 

The much-visited church and surrounds became an archaeological excavation site. Along with the cathedral were a school, monastery, accommodation dormitories and an extensive farming smithy. 

 The stone coffin of Bishop Jon Arason is on display in the church basement. A crack across the stone is said to have been caused by heat. It was in a former church on the site when it caught fire.

    Many cultural events such as concerts are held in Skalholt. Foremost of these is the Summer Concerts program in July, in which prominent classical musicians and choirs are invited to perform.