The Voyage of the Narwhal

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Summary: A Unique and Engaging Book of RetroAdventure
Review: Although I wouldn't characterize Barrett as having especially powerful character development, there is something very evocative and lyrical in her writing. Something that transmits a sense of crystalline sensuality and translucent imagery of the arctic and the sea. Her style is a bit disconcerting, like Jane Austen meets Herman Melville. This unique author has carved out a writing niche with in the 19th Century Victorian novelistic style, and lure of the sea, the call to adventure and the quest to explore in the interests of science which propelled popular passions in those times. Those passions have cooled but Voyage of the Narwhal recasts its own spell on the receptive reader. This author is one to watch, her best work is ahead of her.

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Summary: Bundle up and settle in for a harrowing ride
Review: This book tackles unusual themes in a highly readable form. The description of the voyage and the crew's subsequent stay and escape from the Arctic are thrilling. I had a hard time putting the book down. I could hardly wait to get back to it each day. The end was something of a let down but I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploration of the icy, terrifying, mysterious, beautiful Arctic. The main characters were well done. I grew fond of Erasmus as he changed throughout the novel. It will be hard to go back to "ordinary" books after finishing The Voyage of the Narwhal.

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Summary: i liked it.
Review: I found myself liking a book on a subject I knew nothing about. I liked the author'sstyle of writing. It's that simple.

Rating:
Summary: Splendid writing, engaging characters
Review: Andrea Barrett's writing has such texture and depth that she spoils the reader. Books I read after Voyage of the Narwhal read like greeting cards in comparison. Her writing reminds me of A.S. Byatt's, a comparison I made after reading Ship Fever.

The characters in Voyage of the Narwhal are engaging. Alexandra is especially interesting, and reminds me of women in Ship Fever who had to approach science by the back door. She also reminds me of the character from Byatt's Angels and Insects.

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Summary: Dull writing about a fascinating subject!
Review: An extremely intersting subject, I found the descriptive passages about the Narwhal's ice-bound polar expedition rather pallid and colorless. It was very difficult relating to these mid-nineteenth century characters who, more often than not, spoke and thought in uncharacteristic nineteenth century speech. Character developent was not only poor but sloppy. Alexandra, Erasmus' amour propre, turns out to be the most interesting person in the novel but is given very meager development and so comes across as a proto-feminist. Erasmus fails to evoke sympathy; he's such a nerd. Zeke is a villain and a rather empty character at that, despite all his bombast. Even the native polar peoples are portrayed as faceless, good-natured stereotypes. A lost opportunity.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good! Moving and a good read
Review: This book fascinated me because of my non-fiction reading about exploration of the Arctic in the 1800s. The Arctic itself seems to symbolize the loneliness of Erasmus, his frozen interior. His voyage of discovery is the voyage out to the world, after years of a sort of living death.

I liked the way Ms. Barrett captured the age-old problem of the egocentric human being trying to dominate and control the environment around him and the people in it. Tragedy, of course, inevitably follows. Public discourse can be shaped by such men, self-serving and thoughtless to the last.

The kidnapping and return of the Eskimo boy is a bit farfetched, but satisfying to the reader.

A book that makes you think.

Rating:
Summary: Too many agendas
Review: I love stories about ice and snow and I wanted to love this book, but I was disappointed. The author has crammed in so many political and scholarly agendas that plot and characterization seem like afterthoughts. Not that I disagree with those agendas, or couldn't be convinced, but this could have been done with more subtlety and skill. The stilted style may be an attempt to imitate the exploreres of the period, and sometimes it succeeds, but more often just comes off as bad writing. The bits of history (human and natural), which were the main draw for me, got lost in the unconvincing and blatantly revisionist struggle between Erasmus, 19th-century New Age guy, and ruthless powermonger Zeke. Ho, hum.

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Summary: I really wanted to love this book.
Review: It's hard to believe that a book lacking descriptive imagination could still be 400 pages! I anticipated this book with great enthusiasm. I wanted to feel the cold, and wanted to hear the crunch of the ice. I didn't. The only goose pimples raised on my skin occurred on the very last page when young Tom got his spiritial revenge on the easily hated Zeke. If it gets more readers interested in Franklin and Kane than it will be a success.

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Summary: "Heart of Darkness" meets "Call of the Wild".
Review: This was a fair book with a firm sense of history while weaving a good story accurately into the time frame. A bit too slow through much of the text, the story seemed often to build to very little. The author brought me to the edge of the precipice but then was herself afraid to look in. The characters never acted clearly enough to discern their motives or for the reader to relate to anyone. However, the book does accomplish reconstructing the mind set of the 19th Century. Characters are three dimensional and represent different facets of social Darwainism.

Rating:
Summary: Shallow and Unrealistic. Poorly Researched
Review: Having an interest in arctic exploration and being told I don't read enough fiction I picked this book up with high expectations. I suffered through the character development which could've been over looked if the rest of the story had any substance to it. This book will entertain only those who are ignorant of what is really necessary to undertake such an endeavor. It's obvious the author took the "canned approach" and only brushed up enough on arctic exploration to hang some thinly disguised window dressing. I'm sorry-this was a major disappointment. I would've given a ZERO RATING, but it wasn't an option.