Rating: 
Summary: Love It/Hated It
Review: As a compelling new study of potential causes for the failure of the Franklin expedition, I could not put the book down and quite enjoyed it. The experience was marred, however, by constant irratation at the grammatical and stylistic flaws (for instance, after repeatedly explaining scurvy as a vitamin C deficiency-caused disease, it at one point ungrammatically states that ship's biscuit causes scurvy). The author also has tendency to indulge in melodramatic speculation (a captain leaving his ship with a tear in his eye, etc.) into the actions and emotions of people who left no record of such. I felt this in particular weakened the work as a whole, undermining it as a legitimate piece of academia. Additionally, archaic lingual affectations (i.e.; "sore afraid") further distance this work from serious scholarship. Lastly, the conclusions tend to be highly redundant and overstated, as though the work had not been sufficiently proofread or edited. Overall, I think a thoughtful edit would have improved the texture of the work, although I did still find it quite engaging and thought-provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Suggestive but overwrought
Review: Cookman has certainly done some worthwhile new research; his study of Goldner and his patent canning factory is well-documented and backed by suggestive (though far from definitive) evidence. Goldner's tinned foods, supplied to the ill-fated Franklin expedition to the Arctic in 1845, certainly contributed to the disaster (they have already been fingered for causing lead poisoning).Cookman, however, rushes breathlessly past all other factors that might have contributed to Franklin's failure, and ends up damaging his case by overstating it, and by expecting that his one explanation -- botulism -- will solve all the mystery and tie up all the loose ends. Cookman's lurid prose doesn't help matters, portraying the admittedly callous and greedy canner Goldner as an evil maniac of unintentionally comic proportions -- right up there with Lex Luthor. There is some good and valuable research in this book, and in places the Franklin saga is ably retold, but the mixture of morality play and science lecture ultimately becomes rather tedious.
Rating: 
Summary: Suggestive but overwrought
Review: Cookman has certainly done some worthwhile new research; his study of Goldner and his patent canning factory is well-documented and full of suggestive (though far from definitive) evidence. Goldner's tinned foods, supplied to the ill-fated Franklin expedition to the Arctic in 1845, certainly contributed to the disaster (they have already been fingered for causing lead poisoning). Cookman, however, ruses breathlessly past all other factors that might have contributed to Franklin's failure, and ends up ruining his case by overstating it, and by expecting that his one explanation -- botulism -- will solve all the mystery and tie up all the loose ends. Cookman's lurid prose doesn't help matters, portraying the admittedly callous and greedy canner Goldner as an evil maniac of unintentionally comic proportions -- up there with Lex Luthor. There is some good and valuable research in this book, and in places the Franklin saga is ably retold, but the mixture of morality play and science lecture ultimately becomes rather tedious.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: I recently was referred to this book about Franklin's search for a northwest passage. The story of the men against the elements is a compelling read. Cookman has told a fascinating story.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I recently was referred to this book about Franklin's search for a northwest passage. The story of the men against the elements is a compelling read. Cookman has told a fascinating story.
Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC
Review: I was flipping the channels on early Sunday morning when for some reason I stopped on Book TV on C-Span 2 and caught Scott Cookman talking about the search for the Northwest Passege. It was the Apollo mission of its time. I have read a number books over Sir John Franklin Polar Expedition and this one by far is the best. Polar Exploration the 1800's was pretty dicey, even today it is. If you have any interest Polar Expedions and true mystery this is your book and it all rally happend.
Rating:
Summary: A Fast (but forgettable) Summer Read
Review: If you are interested in books about polar exploration, this is a quick summer read. The author presents his hypothesis as if it were fact. While I found it enjoyable, if you are looking for a more memorable read, check out "Endurance" and "The Worst Journey in the World".
Rating: 
Summary: The Artic Tragedy
Review: In Ice Blink, the reader will find that all that is wrong with the world today also existed 150 years ago. From the extremely questionable decision to place Sir John Franklin in charge to the cost-cutting measures used by the Royal Admiralty and food supplier, in hindsight it seems everyone knew this mission would likely fail. This book is not for the squeamish. The author's accurate description of the effects of scurvy and frostbite, his depiction of the living conditions aboard the ship, his portrayal of the food the men were provided and what it really consisted of will make your stomach churn. It is, however, an accurate depiction, and you'll find yourself rooting for the survival of these crews despite already knowing the eventual outcome. Each chapter brings about more hardship and discomfort, and despite the failure of this mission, you will end this book with a belief that the men involved were heroes, who endured conditions brought on by the region and their own country that were simply too formidable to overcome.
Rating:
Summary: A Fair Read
Review: Knowing how little there is in terms of historical fact to back this book up from the onset, the author can be excused to a certain extent from "excerpting" facts from other arctic voyages for the sake of comparison. If you have read "Endurance", "In the Heart of the Sea", or other factual books on exploration you may get annoyed by frequent references to other expeditions and tragic voyages. If you are new to the genre then you will find that the author does a wonderful job at building his case through comparative research. Aside from that, the book has done for my home canning what the movie Jaws did for swimming on the Cape.
Rating:
Summary: Too Thin to Withstand the Arctic Cold
Review: Living in Barrow, Alaska, the farthest north community in Alaska, I love to curl up in our little house with a book such as "Ice Blink" during a nasty Arctic storm and read away. But this latest in a series of books about the famous failed Franklin Expedition to discover the Northwest Passage did not warm me up very much. There is one paragraph on p. 71 where veteran explorer Sir John Ross raises significant questions before Franklin and his 134 men sailed: "Why so many men? (including eight stewards to serve the officers)"Why such big and heavy ships to navigate winding and often shallow high Arctic waters? "Why no contingency plan in case the ships got stuck in the ice?" Author Scott Cookman, like the British Admiralty, never answers such questions. I could ask a few more. Why didn't the British ever learn from the Native Inuit and use dogs to pull light sleds, instead of seamen to pull extremely heavy sledges? Why not hunt and fish for food and use Native-type clothing? There is some interesting background to the expedition, including diagrams of the ship's interiors and photos from Shackleton's Antarctic expedition to show how Franklin's ships might have looked as they were hopelessly trapped in heavy ice. Buy the book if you must, but you could keep warmer with a caribou blanket, and learn more about the Arctic by talking with an Inuit or Inupiat elder, or reading one of their biographies, including "Sadie Brower Neakok --An Inupiaq Woman," by Margaret Blackman. Earl Finkler Barrow, Alaska
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