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Summary: Suspenseful and well told arctic history
Review: This is a well told story of an ill-fated Canadian exploration effort in the Arctic regions just before World War I. Vilhjalmar Stefansson (a polar explorer, anthropologist and author) leads an ill fated attempt to survey the Arctic (1913-1918) in hopes of claiming an Arctic continent under the polar ice cap for the Dominion of Canada. In his rush to be first, Stefansson poorly organizes, proceeds with an ill fated plan (or no plan at all) and eventually abandons one of his three ships locked in the polar ice. This is the true story of the heroic efforts of Capt. Robert Bartlett of the doomed ship Karluk and his struggle to walk across seven hundred miles of polar ice from Wrangell Island to Siberia and his return by ship to rescue the abandoned survivors and crew. There is madness, murder malingering...starvation, frostbite and death. Although, in his time Stefansson somehow managed to receive praise and avoid criticism for the realities of his abandonment of the Karluk, the true story of heroism and leadership is exemplified by Capt Bartlett. This author has done an excellent job in presenting a very suspenseful and thorough factual account of an amazing true tale. Readers of the histories of Shackleton, Amundsen, Scott and other polar explorers will not be disappointed. Readers without any previous readings on Arctic exploration will also be pleased with this amazing history that is capably researched and well presented. Read it near an open hearth fireplace or wrapped in a blanket as you're likely to freeze to death once you become immersed in the book!
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Summary: An Impressive Story of the Will to Survive
Review: On June 17, 1913, the Canadian Arctic Expedition contingent headed by Vilhajalmur Stefansson on board the ship "Karluk" embarked on its mission to find an unknown continent thought to lie somewhere in the unexplored region between Alaska and the North Pole. In mid-August the "Karluk" amid increasingly worsening weather conditions became trapped in the Arctic ice floe and drifted helplessly with the winds and currents. Eventually Stefansson decided to leave the ship and with part of the crew and Eskimo guides work his way toward land. Under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett, the "Karluk" and her remaining crew continued to drift north and west until becomming hopelessly ice bound near Wangel Island north of Siberia. Here the ship was destroyed and sunk by the crush of ice leaving Bartlett and his crew stranded in the frozen wilderness. While the crew struggled for existence at their base camps, Bartlett, the Ice Master, undertook an incredible 700 mile trek through the icy wilderness of Siberia to seek rescue. Jennifer Niven has used diaries, letters, and interviews with survivors and descendants to construct the remarkable details of the crew's fight to live and Bartlett's amazing journey.The events depicted in this book are all the more remarkable because they are true. The ability to cope with suffering, the perseverance in the face of overwhelming hardship, the manifestations of human strengths and weaknesses under pressure, and the overpowering will to live shown by Bartlett and his crew are almost beyond belief. The story ebbs and flows with the fate of the men. Like their unwanted repetitious and monotonous existence, the narration sometimes tends to become somewhat tedous. However, those who like true stories of exploration, adventure and survival will savor this book.
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Summary: Classic adventure tale!
Review: I just finished reading Jennifer Niven's new book, Ada Blackjack, and loved it so much I had to pick up her first one. I read both books in one week, which is a record for me! But I was absolutely gripped from start to finish of each. Ms. Niven has a way with words-- and with the telling of true-life adventure stories. Inspiring!
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Summary: Cold just reading this one!!!!
Review: Ms. Niven has pulled together a wonderful account of the survivors of the Karkuk. This book is simply riveting from beginning to end and a must read for survivalist story fans. The sinking of the Karluk is proven to be just the beginning of the tale, but she never lets us miss a detail of the drifting along the ice for several months. The cracking and crushing of the ice as it works its crushing hands against the ship is described so well, you can almost hear it. These men, stranded on Wrangel Island as their brave captain + Eskimo, lived on mere rations more almost a year and still maintained a sense of hope. The fact that many survived showed that chracter and the will to live can sometimes be much stronger than the perils of starvation and frostbite (May I never find this to be true in my own life....) Each day, is lived in such agony, we the reader, are brought along the journeys with them, and feel as if we are leaving a group behind as the men move about the ice and land. A fascinating book, and well worth reading. After this, I promise you, saying "It's cold in here" will have a completely different meaning.
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Summary: Incredible Tue Survival Story - well told!
Review: I haven't read a book from cover to cover in years. I picked this one up and could not put it down. The other reviews provide a nice summary of the story, so I won't repeat them, but I just wanted to "vote" here to give this my TOP rating. The haunting, cold, survival story has the added dimension that it is a true story - assembled from the diaries and interviews of the actual people who this happened to. This would make for a wonderful PBS movie, or a mini-series
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Summary: An Incredibly Harrowing Story of Survival
Review: After having recently read INTO THIN AIR, I am now drawn into the survival genre. Ms. Niven's account of the KARLUK tragedy chronicles the explorer Stefansson's ill-fated expedition and the overwhelming obstacles the survivors faced in the desolate and inhospitable Artic. Not only do the passengers aboard the ship have to face the elements, starvation, and disease, but they are pitted against each other as well. The mix of characters includes ne'er-do-wells, drug addicts, pathological liars, and a variety of other unstable and often volatile personalities. Yet, above this, we see heroes arise. Captain Robert Bartlett is one of the most heroic, selfless, and honorable men I have ever been introduced to through print and in contrast perhaps Stefansson is one of the most nefarious. The story is a compelling page turner that I finished in a marathon read. I cannot begin to impress upon others how highly I recommend this book.
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Summary: courage and cowardice on the ice
Review: A season in the Arctic is a great test of character. One may know a man better after six months with him beyond the Arctic circle than after a lifetime of acquaintance in cities. There is something--I know not what to call it--in those frozen spaces, that brings a man face to face with himself and with his companions; if he is a man, the man comes out; and, if he is a cur, the cur shows as quickly. -Admiral Peary One's first impulse is to dismiss this book as just another quickie attempt to cash in on the Endurance craze, but the story of the Karluk and its crew is quite amazing in its own right and first time author Jennifer Niven does a terrific job telling it. One year before Ernest Shackleton and Endurance set out for Antarctica, Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, working under the auspices of the Canadian government, assembled an expedition intended to prove that a continent lay beneath the Arctic ice. On June 17, 1913, the H.M.C.S. Karluk, captained by Robert Abram Bartlett, set sail from British Columbia with a complement of 25, including Stefansson, sailors, scientists, and Eskimos (including a mother and two young daughters), plus sled dogs and a cat. Within the six weeks the ship was frozen fast in the ice north of Alaska and Stefansson, taking three men and several sleds with dogs, had abandoned the rest of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, setting out for the mainland to continue his exploration. For the next five months, the Karluk drifted westward with the ice floe, before finally being crushed and sunk on January 11, 1914, just east of Wrangel Island, which lies north of Siberia. With the crew facing the predictable difficulties caused by brutal weather, a diet of pemmican, seal, and the like, snow blindness, etc, and no reason to believe that anyone even knew they were still alive, let alone where they were, Bartlett and Kataktovik, one of the Eskimo guides, set out across the shifting ice for Siberia to get help. Meanwhile, with the departure of Bartlett, the remaining crew splintered into rival camps and added to the struggle with the elements was an atavistic struggle against each other, ending in betrayal, thievery and maybe even murder. The story of who survives and how and of the feats that survival requires, makes for compelling reading. Stefansson is the main villain of the story, his inadequacy as a leader beginning with his purchase of the Karluk at a bargain price, even though it was clearly not suited to ice breaking, and ending with his doctoring reports of the expedition to cast aspersions on Bartlett while portraying himself in a favorable light. Bartlett on the other hand, the Ice Master of the title, emerges as a truly heroic figure. There are plenty of other heroes and villains--one of the more interesting of the former is Seaman Hugh "Clam" Williams, whose nickname is more than justified when he stoically sits through having his frostbitten toe cut off with a pair of shears--and myriad instances of courage and cowardice. The reader can't help being torn between questioning the common sense of the men who followed the obviously incompetent Stefansson and admiration for the fortitude that many of them displayed in the face of disaster. And just as you're coming to grips with this quandary, the author provides a helpful endnote where she reveals that various survivors fought in WWI, returned to Arctic exploration and one even joined a colonization party that Stefansson later sent to Wrangel Island, with predictably tragic results. It all makes for thrilling reading, side by side with alternately troubling and uplifting glimpses of the deeds of which humans are capable when they are pushed to their limits. GRADE : A
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Summary: Incredible Tue Survival Story - well told!
Review: I haven't ready a book from cover to cover in years. I picked this one up and could not put it down. The haunting, cold, survival story has the added dimension that is is a true story - assembled from the diaries and interviews of the actual people who this happened to. This would make for a wonderful PBS movie, or a mini-series
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Summary: You gotta read this book!
Review: I cannot think of a better way to survive a summer heat wave than by reading this book. By the time you're halfway through it, you will be pulling a wool blanket over you and having a cup of hot chocolate. It is that good. Like Shackelton's doom voyage at the South Pole, this is a story of courage, survival and leadership as a polar expedition gets trap in the ice of the Artic Sea north of Alaska. It is a story of hero's and villains, of courage and cowardice, but most of all it is a story of leadership. It is the year 1913 and H.M.C.S. Karluk embarks on one of the last voyages of discovery in the Artic Ocean. The ship becomes trapped in the ice and the expedition's leader, Vilhjalmur Stefansson abandons the ship, and it's crew and the members of the expedition. The rest of the story is a tale of survival as the ship's captain Robert Bartlett leads his men against impossible odds to survive the artic winter. In an age when loyalty wanes, and everyone is looking after their own interest, this is a story of how real leaders lead. The contrast between the two leaders could not be more apparent: Stefhansson who can only think of his own fame and Bartlett who thinks of nothing but his crew. You gotta read this book.
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Summary: Excellent! No other Non-Fiction work like it!
Review: I was mesmerized from the first page. Jennifer Niven's narration and superior writing skills have brought this piece of history alive in this fantastic book. I highly recommend it. I am anxiously looking forward to her sequel.
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