WORK OF NON-FICTION
In The Sea Wolves, Lars Brownworth brings to life this extraordinary Norse world of epic poets, heroes, and travellers through the stories of the great Viking figures. Among others, Leif the Lucky who discovered a new world, Ragnar Lodbrok the scourge of France, Eric Bloodaxe who ruled in York, and the crafty Harald Hardrada illuminate the saga of the Viking age - a time which "has passed away, and grown dark under the cover of night"
Why did I choose this text
I wanted to go with something historical, a book that I could read and understand everything there is to the Vikings. Since it's a book, I hoped to gain knowledge in a fun, engaging way.
I specifically chose this book since it had good reviews and has a pretty decent rating. It made me very curious.
How did I come up with this text?
As I already explained, I wanted to go with something historical, so I roamed the internet and began my quest. I saw a few books that piqued my interest but this book had the highest rating and it looked very interesting to my eyes. I have some of the reviews to see what it was about and downloaded a copy.
How does the text link to the Theme or any other Theme discussed?
It definitely connects with the ESL, the book explains the influences Vikings had on us nowadays and how they raided Anglo Saxon and why. It also connects to War because of all the raids the book talks about.
Personal response
This book was well,... kind of what I expected and not. It was very interesting to read in the beginning but when I progressed more, it became very bland. It was as if I were reading from a textbook and not enjoying myself anymore. I quit halfway through. I couldn't handle the dryness of what I was reading. I would have liked it if he had tackled it in a story-based situation but this was all chaptered. I can't say I have learned something, but I do like how it follows the storyline, if only they had written it more book-wise. I miss Religion in this whole book and how they thought about families, but maybe I did just miss that or didn't come to that yet. They had a few mentions about Odin and Freya, but I couldn't find explanations.