of Western countries of the same time. Immersed in the Islandian culture, John Lang steadily increases his understanding of his emotions and his sexual feelings. He becomes accustomed to the slightly more sexually permissive Islandian culture. Wright's description may have been intended as a positive comment on the increasing sexual permissiveness of American culture of the 1920s. Another difference between Islandian culture and the West is that Islandians reject most modern Western technology. It is a rural society with an arcadian philosophy, which Dorn humorously describes as "enlightened Hedonism". They're not interested in building railroads for quick travel. But they do not reject all Western technology; they use a few Western inventions that they judge to be worthwhile, such as modern rifles. At one point, one Islandian uses a sewing machine. Among John Lang's discoveries, he finds that the Islandians use four words for love: alia: love of place and family land and lineage (heimat) amia: love of friends (philia) ania: desire for marriage and commitment (storge) apia: sexual attraction (eros) Plot While an undergraduate at Harvard, John Lang becomes friends with an Islandian fellow-student named Dorn, and decides to learn the Islandian language (of which there are very few speakers outside Islandia). Once he has graduated, his uncle, a prominent businessman, arranges his appointment as American consul to Islandia, based primarily on his ability to speak the language. Gradually John Lang learns that his tacit mission as American consul is to do whatever is necessary to increase American trade opportunities in Islandia. He does not begin this mission right away, preferring to get to know the country and the people first. John Lang meets and becomes infatuated with Dorn's sister, Dorna. They spend some time together alone, which John finds unnerving at first, since they are not chaperoned. When Dorna comes to understand John's feelings, she tells him that she does not love him in return in that way (though he wonders whether she means "cannot", or "will not"). She accepts the marriage proposal of the King instead, a handsome young man who has been courting her for some time. One of the culminations of the plot is the decision by the people of Islandia to reject the demands of the Great Powers for unrestricted trade and immigration, choosing instead to maintain their tradition of isolation. As this political struggle intensifies, John Lang sympathizes with the Islandians, to the