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Title: Farthest North by Fridjtof Nansen, Roland Huntford ISBN: 0-375-75472-5 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 17 August, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Would be Better as a Three Book Series.
Comment: Skip the preparation section unless you are really interested in how many tons of coal or potatoes Nansen took along. Skip the final section by Sverdrup on his return from the ice unless you have trouble sleeping at night. The only part really worth reading is the tale of Nansen and his partner 'walking' home (close to home anyway) over the ice. Nansen wrote this from the comfort of his home but still has a casual attitude to this amazing 'walk'.
Rating: 5
Summary: A remarkable story of survival
Comment: If you are a fan of Arctic and Antarctic adventure stories then this is one you don't want to miss. The great explorer Fridtjof Nansen left Norway in 1893 on the Fram, a ship especially designed to withstand the pressure of the frozen northern sea. Nansen's intention was to drift, locked in the ice, to the North Pole. Eventually, he determines that his theory of drifting to his destination will not be possible, so he and another crewman leave the ship and continue towards the Pole by dogsled. The Fram continues drifting in the ice and Nansen and his partner have no hope of returning to the ship. The story unfolds over a period of three years and you can't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens to Nansen and the crew of the Fram.
Rating: 4
Summary: A valuable 1890s historic document of arctic exploration
Comment: I share the wonder of others at Nansen's achievements in advancing the art of arctic exploration many important steps forward. This pioneer recognized that the "North Pole" was neither frozen land nor solid ice but rather, slowly moving ice. Nansen designed his ship the "Fram" to not only withstand the movement of ice but to use it to his advantage. He planned for several years of drift in arctic ice with no hope of rescue if things went badly. Before his voyage, he was dismissed (as other explorers before him) as a reckless nut case. On the trip, he occupied his crew with scientific study, ship maintenance, and occasional celebrations and treats. Nansen grew impatient with his plan, left the Fram to the care of his crew, and journeyed with one other crew member on a double-dogsled slog for the Pole. The two men mushed until blocked (300 miles from the Pole); heading home, they got lost when their watches stopped and they could no longer orient themselves on the map, GPS being unavailable at the time ;-). The two groups of explorers simultaneously arrived home by separate eventful journeys. This is a remarkable story of successes and misses.
"Farthest North" combines Nansen's post-trip narratives of events with many verbatim daily journal entries. These passages, as in most diaries, are understandably highly repetitive and at times lack focus. (It's easy enough to skim until finding something more engaging.) I found Nansen's descriptions of the polar darkness lasting many weeks each winter and its effects on morale particularly compelling. Also well recounted was the nerve-wracking grinding and pressure of the ice upon the "Fram" with the underlying danger of shipwreck in the Arctic. I was also moved by Nansen's bitter frustrations at the forward-then-back progress north and at his exhaustion trying to move dog sleds across uneven tundra. The map of the journey is hard to read or to match with the text, unfortunately. Conversely, the trip's black and white photos that match faces to names add much to the book. This edition of "Farthest North" was abridged from an original two-volume set. I for one did not, however, want more text to read and would have appreciated additional editing. Even abridged and even as an historical document, this remains a very long book.
One caution not mentioned in other reviews here to date: attitudes of Nansen towards wilderness and wildlife will likely bother some readers. Nansen's view of an animal could be characterized as, "Shoot it... unless it's a sled dog we need... at the moment." Polar bears (including cubs), whales, fish, walrus, seals, birds, as well as non-wild sled dogs and puppies are killed frequently, every few pages on average, and without guilt (with the exception of a few favorite sled dogs whose demise did bother Nansen). One can rationalize a need for hunting because this well-stocked crew had to find additional food in a place where it couldn't be grown. But at other times, the killing seemed for diversion or because, in the case of the dogs, supplies were running short, and a faithful but hungry sled dog had one final service to perform for its comrades or master. In August 1894, Nansen noted with wonder and delight that he'd finally seen three "rare and mysterious" Arctic Ross' gulls, a species he'd been searching for. With no expression of irony balancing his happiness at his sighting, he gunned each one down, apparently ensuring that the species would be even more rarely observed in the future. These small birds, the size of snipe, would have had little food value. To readers who are sensitive to graphic descriptions of hunting that in today's culture may seem senseless, or to raw exploitation of animals for human needs, this book may be hard to take. Dog-training techniques are also notably unenlightened. One also misses crew attention to any need to carry out what was carried in to the wilderness. But these are objections in the context of current environmentalist values towards animals and wilderness-- values that have only come into prominence in recent years. The essential point to remember is that "Farthest North" reflects the attitudes of the era in which it was written and of the people who participated in this historic venture. As such, it offers a point-of-view and a look at cultural values of the 1890s that could not be matched by a modern third-person account of the trip. "Farthest North" is not the way we would choose to travel there now. To readers who can keep this perspective in mind, and can in fact appreciate the contrast and change in attitude towards wild places over the last century, the book is a journey they will be glad they made.
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Title: The South Pole by Roald E. Amundsen, Roland Huntford, Captain Roald Amundsen ISBN: 0815411278 Publisher: Cooper Square Press Pub. Date: January, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford, Paul Theroux ISBN: 0375754741 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 17 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818-1909 by Pierre Berton ISBN: 1585741167 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: August, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Nansen: The Explorer as Hero by Roland Huntford ISBN: 0349114927 Publisher: Abacus Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Icebound: The Jeannette Expedition's Quest for the North Pole by Leonard F. Guttridge, Loenard F. Guttridge ISBN: 0425181782 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: 04 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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