Voyage of the Narwhal: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Good story, but...
Review: The Voyage is a 19th century story told with a 20th century sensibility and style. Written a hundred years ago, the hero would have been Voorhees, the explorer stranded in the arctic and returned a public hero. Instead, today's hero is the Naturalist Erasmus who sees Voorhees for a vain and arrogant fool but is uncomfortable in his own skin, who simmers inside about morality buts commits no action until the tide has turned, who resents the falseness of the world but will take no step to remedy it. Ned and Alexandra were the real heros (in either century!) but they are not the center. Written a hundred years ago, the story would have been a rich, swashbuckling yarn, but in today's style, it is lean and understated and ultimately disappointing. I so much wanted to walk away wow! It seems so many writers would rather we admire their artful minimalism than participate as equals in their real feelings!

Rating:
Summary: A Journey into the Struggles of Man
Review: To suggest this is an adventure novel would be to suggest that Heart of Darkness was an adventure novel. Rather, it is a remakbable journey into the souls of men and an exploration of the human struggles that draw people together and tear them apart. Barrett's book doesn't waste words hand feeding the reader every detail of the journey, but rather allows us to feel the impact of events by sharing the emotional toll they take on the characters. This refreshing approach flies in the face of modern day Harrison Ford heroes whose struggle against evil is blazed in black and white decisions and death-defying physical feats. Narwhal's characters face impossible choices, their struggles against natural forces are more often lost than won, and for each and every decision, the weight of lives and relationships hangs in the balance. An amazingly real and gripping journey it is, and one that was an absolute joy to read.