Download The Ice Master Jennifer Niven 9780330391238 Books
Download The Ice Master Jennifer Niven 9780330391238 Books
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The Ice Master Jennifer Niven 9780330391238 Books Reviews
- I usually enjoy books like this one. This was OK, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I've enjoyed almost all of the other books that that I've read about similar subjects. The fact that the author was factually wrong when it came to her account of the Voyage of the USS Jeanette, (She wrote that the Jeanette's crew all died before reaching land even though most of the made it to the Lena Delta and some of them got back to The United States.) made me question her how much research she actually put into this volume. The fact that many if not most of the crew members of this ship weren't very likeable didn't do much to pull me into the story.
Not a bad book, but I've read quite a few books like this that thought were far better. - I am going to disagree with many of the reviewers here and say that while I liked this book and would probably recommend it I would also say that it is about 100 pages longer than it needed to be. There is a lot of detail from the men's journals and it is interesting to a point but as the book moves into the last 2 months of these peoples ordeal it just begins to repeat itself over and over again. I guess that makes sense but I started skipping pages at the end up until the actual rescue as nothing new was to be learned from this story of survival. I thought it might have been interesting to know more about what happened to the expeditions leader in the aftermath. He should have been sent to prison! But maybe nothing was there because nothing of consequence happened to him. Very little is said about this subject at the end of the book.
- It's the second time I've read this book. First time in hard copy, second time in . One must also read the other book by Jennifer Niven as well Ada Blackjack. These farcical polar 'explorations' IF they can be called that, takes place years apart, Ada Blackjack polar debacle toom place after the Karluk debacle. Both being 'lead by" the infamous Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Anyone who hitched their wagon to Stefansson was a doomed person. He was the epitome of ego and vanity. The tragic stories laid out in this book (the doom of the Karluk) and the later book (Ada Blackjack, sole survivor of the Wrangel Island farce) are excellent. Both are great books. Don't miss reading Jennifer Niven's "Ada Blackjack". One poor schmuck who survived the Karluk actually signed up for the Wrangel Island debacle (Ada Blackjack book) and died on that last fateful "exploration". Mind you, Stefansson was no where to be seen. He SENDS people to die. He doesn't actually GO with them. And SPOILER ALERT when he DOES GO, he abandons his crew to die, and saves himself. Yeah, true.
- There is an exciting story and a portrayal of a real hero, the Ice Master, and the book thoroughly covers the scurrilous actions of V. Steffanson both in negligent preparation and in deserting "his" expedition.
Interestingly, Steffanson seems to have escaped retribution for this, as he ended up in a cushy job at Dartmouth College / CRREL.
Too bad the TV show, in which this author features, doesn't cover Steffanson's treachery at all. - "The Ice Master" was a joy to read and this reader was sad to see it end. It is an exciting story, very well-written and told in such a way that this reader was surprised when, at one point in the book, certain crew members did not survive. In 1913, famed explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson took the fishing ship Karluk, captained by Robert Bartlett, an Eskimo family and the largest scientific crew to date on a quest to find an undiscovered continent to the north. Stefansson was impatient to leave and did not worry about The Karluk being ill equipped to handle ice nor did he bother with making sure proper provisions were acquired or that all the pemmican supply was tested. While the Karluk was stuck in the ice, Stefansson took several crew members and abandoned the ship to look for his continent leaving Capt. Bartlett and a crew inexperienced in Arctic conditions on a ship destined to sink. What followed was a story of defiance, perseverance, suffering, death, deception, mystery, and survival.
Jennifer Niven did an excellent job with the sources to reveal the personalities of the officers and crew members. Some were painted in a very bad light. Stefansson, in particular, was not respected by Capt. Bartlett and much of the crew and seemed to regard the lives of his party as secondary to his goals. Several scientists had little respect for Bartlett and created their own clique that would eventually leave the rest of the crew and go their own way. When Bartlett left for Siberia to find help, he put in charge an officer described as very lazy with a lack of leadership skills. With the captain gone, discipline sometimes broke down. Some crew members stole food from others--even from the little Eskimo girls. There was even a possible murder. Much was written on scientists Bjarne Mamen and William McKinlay due to their large contribution to the source material. They, along with Capt. Bartlett, were the most likable of the story; however, much of the story was told from their point of view.
As another reviewer noted, a factual error is found in this book regarding the lack of survivors on the Jeanette which, in the late 1800s, had taken a similar route as the Karluk. The diary of the Jeanette's captain George Washington De Long was eagerly read by the scientists who decided to break away from Bartlett and his party. An incorrect name is used at the top of page 343--"Maurer, Chafe, and Templeman" should be "Maurer, Munro, and Templeman." One other criticism is the repetition throughout the book in both content and style. Many times Niven used the phrase that a crew member would pray something would happen or would not happen, sometimes in the same paragraph. She sited many times that Mamen did not know how their situation would end and then, on page 250, she wrote "for the first time [Mamen] truly could not imagine how it would all end." Specific hardships of the crew were also repeated many times. The repetition did, however, prolong a book which this reader looked forward to opening from beginning to end, so a star will not be deducted from the score. - This story while not as widely known as Shackleton's adventure in the Antarctic is just as engrossing. The author does a fantastic job and it's hard to imagine someone doing a better job of tying together multiple sources to weave a story that makes you feel like you were there with this group. I felt emotionally invested in the outcome and identified with the characters within this crew. This is a rare accomplishment to not only tell a story, tell it well but also to care about the events as they transpire. One of the best books I've read in a very long time (would also include "Frozen In Time" in this). It was surreal reading this book on vacation in Key West! Kudos to the author to transforming a massive amount of research into a compelling story. The author's dedication to the subject matter comes shining through - excellent work!
I don't believe I can add much to the other previous reviews but this is my take on this great book.
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