Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was initially excited about this book, and it did have some good features. Like its pictures and descriptions of northern Canada, which I found very compelling. But the premise is dumb (why does he _need_ to go freeze himself into the ice?), and Simon's philosophical babblings get really tiresome by the end. I ended up feeling really sorry for his wife who has to put up with him. I also shared a chuckle with the Inuit, who conned him into going up and mooning a polar bear!
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe 3 1/2.
Review: Read it and decide for yourself. I really enjoyed the book but by the end I found that Alvah Simon's insight, felt more mechanical that emotional. The great detail of Arctic facts and figures, the description of the Inuit culture, the Arctic wildlife and History were very interesting. However, it seems that for all the effort and preparation Alvah and Diana went to, if it weren't for the help and support of many people, Halifax the cat and some spiritual forces, that it would be Diana, his widow, writing this book. Let's face it, Alvah admitted that this entire journey was self-serving from the start. That theme existed for me until the very end, culminating in his standoff with Nanook!
Rating: 
Summary: Most gripping first-person adventure story I've ever read.
Review: A beautifully written account. One page Alvah Simon is hanging off an iceburg by his fingernails, the next page he's chasing his waste bucket in a blizzard. Then there are the polar bears. The absurdity of deciding to DO such a thing as winter in the polar ice in a sailboat notwithstanding, the writing is superb. I'm glad he survived so Jon Krakauer didn't write his story. The book deserves a wide audience. Mr. Simons' keen observations of the native people as well as birds, plants and animals of the Arctic should not be missed by anyone who enjoys adventure stories.
Rating:
Summary: This adventure fuels our minds and our souls.
Review: Alvah Simon invites you into his adventure.Page by page you are experiencing every gust of wind, you feel the pain,the despair and the joy. This adventure gives us all hope, that we too can seek out the adventures in our mind and make them real. No matter of time or money. Alvah and Diana are true adventurers, following their needs to find inner peace. I look forward to experiencing their next adventure, if only through their words. Their words are my eyes.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, multi-facted work from a natural storyteller
Review: "North To The Night" is a grand story of husband and wife adventurers facing relentless danger and surmounting internal struggles. From the outset to the introspective conclusion - this is a good read. I felt I was a witness to the disciplined preparations, the dangers, the fun, the arctic beauty, and the friends gained. This is a deeply moving, honest, informative, and rewarding story of a journey taken by Diana and Alvah Simon. Take the opportunity to ride along on the trip north of the Arctic Circle and spend the lonely winter without sunlight. You will remember the Roger Henry and its crew's story for long, long, time.
Rating: 
Summary: I had a feeling North to the Night would be special.
Review: I had a feeling North to the Night would be special from the moment Alvah Simon appeared in my office doorway, a complete stranger bearing an early draft of a true story--his story, and his wife Diana's. They had sailed to the high Canadian Arctic in a small boat, he said. They allowed their boat to freeze into the ice north of Baffin Island, 100 miles from the nearest Inuit village. They wanted to experience the Arctic winter together, but events beyond their control left Alvah alone through four months of night and blizzard, fighting a solitary battle for life and sanity.I listened with growing excitement. "Why?," I asked him. "What made you go there?" He fumbled with his reading glasses, then looked for a telling passage in the manuscript. "Death is only one of many ways to lose your life," he read, as if that were all the answer needed--and to him it was. Very soon I learned that such pronouncements from Alvah had nothing to do with affectation; they were statements of core belief. Although I thought from the beginning that this story was extraordinary, new revelations kept unfolding as editing progressed: haunting landscapes, the struggle of the human spirit in hostile circumstances, and an emerging view of life shaped by numerous brushes with death. It's only fitting that we should be grateful for the singleminded men and women who go where we would not go--who drag themselves beyond the limits of endurance, behold wonders, and survive to bring us back the tales. I hope you enjoy North to the Night as much as I have.
Rating:
Summary: Reviews in the national press available to date.
Review: Library Journal: With no daylight and temperatures as low as 60 degrees below zero, Bylot Island in Canada's Northwest Territories, across Baffin Bay from northern Greenland, seems an unlikely place to spend the winter,especially alone in a small boat frozen in the ice. Simon, a wandering American with many nautical miles behind him,and his wife, Diana, a well-travelled New Zealander, planned to share the experience. But when her father's illness called Diana home, Simon stayed on alone with only a cat and occasional curious wildlife for companionship. Reading about so much darkness and ice and the hardship and introspection brought about by them sounds grueling, but Simon can write. When not sharing his inner reflections, he provides interesting observations about the Inuits of the region. The experience, combined with Simon's fine narrative, make this book a good choice for larger public library travel sections. Harold M. Otness, Southern Oregon Univ.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book,gripping to the last moment.
Review: Alvah Simon has an incredible way with words. He brings the reader right into the scene with him, seeing, feeling and experiencing the arctic world as if you were there. His insights into the culture and environment of the North are unsurpassed by any other book on the arctic I've ever read. This is one book you won't be able to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Enter the Mind of the Arctic
Review: There is no doubt that Alvah Simon is a gifted, driven, and highly unusual individual. By embarking upon his "Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic" he tested the strength of his boat (the Roger Henry), his love (Diana Simon), and his mind. By writing about it he has allowed us cold-fearing readers to live through the short days and long nights of the North. In sum, his story is a captivating one. You definitely become attached to Alvah, but that doesn't always mean that you like him. Frequently, the author is condescending, unwilling to compromise, cheesy, and generally unpleasant. But through it all, he does remain honest - and this makes this story a worthwhile read. You feel for Alvah as when he is startled by a polar bear, or when he breaks his cats ear, or wakes up blind. You dive into the cold of his boat and the difficulties of day to day life at -30F. Throughout it all, you are thankful that it is he and not you. I finished this book with an odd feeling of understanding. I was not there, but through his words, the author made me think that I was. I am writing this review months after having finished the book. And yet, I can still picture in my mind the pain and the pleasure that Alvah Simon endured. Very very powerful.
Rating:
Summary: I got frostbit just reading it
Review: Except for the silly mystical BS found here and there (what the author calls a "guiding hand" dishing out luck to him), this is a very good "read." It deserves a place on the bookshelf next to the other great books about Arctic adventures.
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