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Summary: Absolutely Hilarious
Review: This is actually one of the few books I have read twice. Gary Paulsen tells the story of his rookie run in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. He starts out this process knowing almost nothing about what it will take to actually get to the starting line, much less finish the race. His experiences during the training phase are tragically funny. The abuse he takes from his dogs, the elements, and his lack of knowledge about putting an Iditarod racing team together would make most people quit. Gary, however, sticks it out and endures what must have been one of the most spiritual experiences of his life. I read this book on a plane and I was laughing so hard I think people thought I was crazy. Have fun with it!
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Summary: Best book I read this year
Review: This is quite possibly the best book I have ever read. I laughed. I cried. What a journey
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Summary: For those who love animals, have had a chance to work and play
Review: Winterdance by Gary Paulsen is an absolutely fascinating and entertaining depiction about how one man lives out his dream of running in the Iditarod sled-dog race. From the moment we meet Gary and his dog team in a winter storm in Minnesota till the time he gets dragged down Dalzell Gorge in Alaska, his optimism, his observations and his relationship with his dogs keeps one glued to the pages of this book. Paulsen's personal account is easy reading in that he does not dwell in complex literary style, use large words or go overboard in describing deep characters or flowery scenery. He merely relates what he sees and feels. Often his mission is just staying alive and attached to his sled. His descriptions about his summer training with a bicycle and a car body leave you laughing out loud and in wonder about his perseverance and dedication to his dream" You look like a toy", Ruth (his wife) said as I came back from being dragged out of the yard on my face, hanging on to the overturned rig. " A big doggie toy...."Out of the first twenty runs, I didn't once leave the yard in one piece." His sense of humor is overwhelming as he tackles training a dog team without any instruction, without a book or manual but only his desire to run dogs to keep him going. 'In subsequent runs I left the yard on my face, my ass, my back, my belly. I dragged for a mile, two miles, three miles. I lost the team eight, ten times; walked twelve, seventeen, once forty-some miles looking for them. The rig broke every time we ran....""I once left the yard with wooden matches in my pocket and had them ignite as I was being dragged past the door of the house, giving me the semblance of a meteorite, screaming something about my balls being on fire at Ruth, who was laughing so hard she couldn't stand." Picturing this scene has got to put a smile on your face even if you can suppress an outward giggle. In between the excitement, thrill and adventure of the Iditarod is the story of the dogs. Each dog has it's own personality, each has it's role in the team. One learns to respect the lead dog and the decisions they must make for " their choices can literally mean life or death for the team and driver, often when the driver cannot see what is happening." However you often wonder why keep a dog like Devil who won't hesitate to pick a fight, bite the hand that feeds it or cause chaos within the team. Yet he is integral to the whole dog team and Gary reflects about the "bond" between driver and dogs as follows. " Dogs rarely violate this relationship(the bond)-virtually never. Devil may bite me, might kill other dogs, but by god he pulled and would die pulling and that was a kind of love. I have watched them work, always in awe-and not a little love- and sometimes what they are, out ahead of me, the curve from me up through the sled and gangline into the dogs, all of us moving for some new horizon, sometimes it becomes more, becomes spiritual, religious." It is these reflections interspersed between the gruelling physical pain of running eleven hundred and eighty miles in bitter cold, gale force wind and over terrain that makes the moon seem civilized that makes this book so special. Paulsen finishes the race, and we find out he runs it again. But in the end he is advised "You'll have to lead a normal life". A line on the final page sums up what the Iditarod and this fine piece of writing is all about. Gary says "How can it be to live without the dogs?" For those who love animals, have had a chance to work and play with dogs or for those who just like a good book written from the heart and soul, Winterdance is a must read.
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Summary: Winterdance Review
Review: Winterdance is a book about a crazed fool who tries to run the Iditarod without any real knowledge of the race and very little experience with running dog sled teams. This makes Gary Paulsen's trip across Alaska hilarious and entertaining. One example of this is toward the beginning of the book when he falls off his sled during training. His snow hook catches in his boot and the dogs drag him around. During the turns the dogs crack the whip, and he "established intimate relations with trees". Paulsen talks you through his entire trip across Alaska in this same funny way.Winterdance is told through Gary Paulsen's eyes but is not limited to him as the main character. Some of the other main characters include but are not limited to Cookie, his female lead dog, Devil, his crazy mean male dog that eats anything that moves or at least takes a bite out of it, and Max, male his weakest link. Normally I only read fantasy books, but I found that Gary Paulsen's Winterdance both funny and entertaining enough to please me.
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Summary: A Good Adventure Story by a Great Author
Review: Winterdance is filled with adventure and fun. I enjoy novels about sports and animals. Some of my favorite books are The Contender and Where The Red Fern Grows this book is up there with them. I found it very funny. It deals with Gary Pulsen description of preparing and running the Iditarod.
The story starts out with Paulsen and his favorite dog, Cookie. Paulsen describes his search for dogs and training them and himself for the iditarod. Along the way he finds some interesting ways of doing this. Paulsen ends up hitting a lot of tress while being dragged by his dogs, and that's just the beginning. The race tended to be even funnier. Winterdance kept my interest in different ways. It was hilarious and I always wanted to find out what happened next. Paulsen was in the middle of the race when the snow picked up. The next thing he knew he was in the middle of the snowstorm. He went in his sleeping bag. When he woke up the next morning, Paulsen found out that he was covered in snow. When he stood up to go to the bathroom, he was surprised and you will be too. I think Winterdance would be a good book for anyone into adventure books with lots and lots of laughs.
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