Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica by David G. Campbell ISBN: 0-618-21921-8 Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 07 May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.14 (7 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Not About Antarctica
Comment: This was a disappointing read, mainly because it isn't about Antarctica, but about King George Island. Like writing a book about North America from research conducted on Cuba. Yes, Cuba is part of North America, but... If you want information on Antarctica, look elsewhere. Why he named it "Crystal Desert" is beyond me because there is NOTHING on the ice cap. Secondly, Campbell, who may or may not be a competent biologist, spends far to much time grinding his environmental axe. For some reason, he thinks he and other academicians are the only people with the right to go to Antarctica, making numerous disparaging comments about tourism throughout the text. Moreover, he seems to have a major problem with males - be they human, sperm whale, or elephant seal, espousing traits such as "machismo" and other derogatory human emotions to these animals simply because they are larger than the females. And finally, he spends the entire final third of the book expounding on the horrors of the seal and whale hunts that decimated the populations of these magnificant animals. Unfortunate, definately. But the book is supposed to be about Antarctica - not a treatise on over-sealing and over-whaling by people from another period in time. It does have some good descriptions of Admiralty Bay on King George Island - mainly from a biological perspective, but overall, it was a waste of time.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good, but the author isn't big on introspection
Comment: Since I've visited Antarctica, and enjoyed its haunting, indifferent beauty as well as the spectacular wildlife, I was interested in reading an account of someone who had lived, studied, and conducted research there.
Campbell's strength is writing about the science, the wildlife, the extremes of weather and of living in a difficult place. His weakness is his utter lack of self-analysis. He berates the tourists who come to this place (does he think he owns the Antarctic area himself?), and laments the loss of microscopic and macroscopic life that is lost when the loutish tourist dares step on the fragile landscape, yet he is blissfully unaware of the far greater damage he does to the ecosystem when he powers up the hills to work on the weatherstation, and when he pulls up marine creatures and watches them burst, dying, under his microscope.
I guess anything is fair game when done under the guise of 'science', but woe be to the ordinary person who dares to learn about one of the farthest reaches of the planet.
Rating: 4
Summary: Quite a topic
Comment: It would be hard for this book to be uninteresting, covering as it does the natural history and present teeming life, as well as the everyday life of a human community, in this remote area. My only objection is the use of some scientific biology words which may be common enough among scientists but which are curveballs for us lay folk. Otherwise it's a fine read. This really made me picture myself there, and want to visit Antarctica, and appreciate its role in the world environment.
 |
Title: Antarctica: A Guide to the Wildlife, 3rd by Tony Soper, Dafila Scott ISBN: 184162019X Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: Discoveries North Pole, South Pole by Bertrand Imbert ISBN: 0810928817 Publisher: Harry N. Abrams Pub. Date: 30 March, 1992 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: Lonely Planet Antarctica (Lonely Planet Antarctica, 2nd Ed) by Jeff Rubin ISBN: 0864427727 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
 |
Title: Penguin by Frans Lanting, Christine K. Eckstrom ISBN: 3822865192 Publisher: TASCHEN America Llc Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $24.99 |
 |
Title: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing ISBN: 078670621X Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: April, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
