Download Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure Exploration and Arctic Life Peter Stark 9781592281367 Books
Download Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure Exploration and Arctic Life Peter Stark 9781592281367 Books
Download As PDF : Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure Exploration and Arctic Life Peter Stark 9781592281367 Books
Well into the nineteenth century, Arctic explorers believed that they needed only to smash their ships through a ring of ice encircling the top of the globe, and from there they could tack easily on soft breezes to the North Pole. Acting on this belief, these adventurers were crushed by ice, wasted by scurvy, and frozen to death on the ice floes.
This European notion of the Arctic as a ring of ice surrounding a void not only lured countless sailors to their deaths, but also had the effect of drowning out the voices and the visions of the native Arctic people. Now this vibrant collection celebrates both the unheard voices of the Arctic peoples and the trail of words left by the Europeans who pushed forward to fill the hole in their knowledge of the world.
Spanning the years from 1741 to the present, RING OF ICE presents many such works, including the story of Captain Tyson and his crew who, marooned by their own shipmates, were forced to float precariously on a tiny iceberg for five months before being rescued. And the tale of Duncan Pryde, a fur trader employed by the Hudson's Bay Company, who finds himself unwittingly caught up in the Inuit tradition of wife exchange.
Juxtaposed with these European tales are stories of survival, skill, and daily life among the Inuit, as told through dozens of native poems and legends, as well as by some of today's best writers, including Finn Lynge and Rachel A. Qitsualik.
RING OF ICE is a comprehensive and altogether unique anthology presenting the colorful history of the monochromatic Arctic landscape.
"If you are intrigued by the allure that the Arctic has for some people, or are yourself unable to resist subzero weather at the top of the world, then Ring of Ice is a must. Stark has collected a truly diverse range of stories beginning with the comedy of errors endured by Georg Wilhelm Stellar, the German-born scientist aboard Vitus Bering's 1741 Russian expedition to the North American coast, and ending with the luminous prose of modern Artic explorers such as Barry Lopez.
Stark's informative introductions to each essay are both helpful and amusing. He has also sought to balance the primarily European writers and their points of view with those of the native Inuit people by preceding each essay with an Inuit poem. "The poems emphasize the Inuit ethic of sharing, egalitarianism, and incessant hunting, as well as the simple joys and fears of life." They are, of course, in sharp contrast to the accounts of the European explorers, who sought to conquer rather than work with nature, and usually perished as a result.
The book is divided into 4 sections (called books), but the progression of pieces is linear. The 1998 piece entitled "Tale of a Hunter's Daughter," is so pignantly written and captures the feeling of both the land and the woman struggling to make her way in it, that it is worth the price of the whole book. Of course there are other stand-outs, including "How Dr.Hayes Learned to Love Seal Blubber," "Nansen Strolls Farthest North," and "Cold Oceans: By Sea Kayak to Greenland."
Oddly enough, the poetry, which I thought was an excellent idea, is made inaccessible and difficult to read by the fact that it has been set in a script font that is too small to read comfortably. As a result, your eyes naturally gravitate towards the correctly sized, regular fonts used in the essays. This is really strange, given the time and effort that obviously went into the rest of the book, and I hope that Stark has made a very loud stink. It's hard to make yourself work at reading the poetry, which by its nature takes a little bit of work to appreciate. Otherwise a fine collection."
Tags : Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure, Exploration, and Arctic Life [Peter Stark] on . <DIV>Well into the nineteenth century, Arctic explorers believed that they needed only to smash their ships through a ring of ice encircling the top of the globe,Peter Stark,Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure, Exploration, and Arctic Life,The Lyons Press,1592281362,2152285873,Arctic peoples;Social life and customs.,Arctic regions;Description and travel.,Arctic regions;Discovery and exploration.,Arctic peoples,Arctic regions,Description and travel,Discovery and exploration,Essays Travelogues,Polar Regions,Social life and customs,Special Interest - Adventure,Travel,Travel holiday guides,Travel - Foreign,Travel / Special Interest / Adventure
This European notion of the Arctic as a ring of ice surrounding a void not only lured countless sailors to their deaths, but also had the effect of drowning out the voices and the visions of the native Arctic people. Now this vibrant collection celebrates both the unheard voices of the Arctic peoples and the trail of words left by the Europeans who pushed forward to fill the hole in their knowledge of the world.
Spanning the years from 1741 to the present, RING OF ICE presents many such works, including the story of Captain Tyson and his crew who, marooned by their own shipmates, were forced to float precariously on a tiny iceberg for five months before being rescued. And the tale of Duncan Pryde, a fur trader employed by the Hudson's Bay Company, who finds himself unwittingly caught up in the Inuit tradition of wife exchange.
Juxtaposed with these European tales are stories of survival, skill, and daily life among the Inuit, as told through dozens of native poems and legends, as well as by some of today's best writers, including Finn Lynge and Rachel A. Qitsualik.
RING OF ICE is a comprehensive and altogether unique anthology presenting the colorful history of the monochromatic Arctic landscape.
Download Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure Exploration and Arctic Life Peter Stark 9781592281367 Books
"If you are intrigued by the allure that the Arctic has for some people, or are yourself unable to resist subzero weather at the top of the world, then Ring of Ice is a must. Stark has collected a truly diverse range of stories beginning with the comedy of errors endured by Georg Wilhelm Stellar, the German-born scientist aboard Vitus Bering's 1741 Russian expedition to the North American coast, and ending with the luminous prose of modern Artic explorers such as Barry Lopez.
Stark's informative introductions to each essay are both helpful and amusing. He has also sought to balance the primarily European writers and their points of view with those of the native Inuit people by preceding each essay with an Inuit poem. "The poems emphasize the Inuit ethic of sharing, egalitarianism, and incessant hunting, as well as the simple joys and fears of life." They are, of course, in sharp contrast to the accounts of the European explorers, who sought to conquer rather than work with nature, and usually perished as a result.
The book is divided into 4 sections (called books), but the progression of pieces is linear. The 1998 piece entitled "Tale of a Hunter's Daughter," is so pignantly written and captures the feeling of both the land and the woman struggling to make her way in it, that it is worth the price of the whole book. Of course there are other stand-outs, including "How Dr.Hayes Learned to Love Seal Blubber," "Nansen Strolls Farthest North," and "Cold Oceans: By Sea Kayak to Greenland."
Oddly enough, the poetry, which I thought was an excellent idea, is made inaccessible and difficult to read by the fact that it has been set in a script font that is too small to read comfortably. As a result, your eyes naturally gravitate towards the correctly sized, regular fonts used in the essays. This is really strange, given the time and effort that obviously went into the rest of the book, and I hope that Stark has made a very loud stink. It's hard to make yourself work at reading the poetry, which by its nature takes a little bit of work to appreciate. Otherwise a fine collection."
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Tags : Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure, Exploration, and Arctic Life [Peter Stark] on . <DIV>Well into the nineteenth century, Arctic explorers believed that they needed only to smash their ships through a ring of ice encircling the top of the globe,Peter Stark,Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure, Exploration, and Arctic Life,The Lyons Press,1592281362,2152285873,Arctic peoples;Social life and customs.,Arctic regions;Description and travel.,Arctic regions;Discovery and exploration.,Arctic peoples,Arctic regions,Description and travel,Discovery and exploration,Essays Travelogues,Polar Regions,Social life and customs,Special Interest - Adventure,Travel,Travel holiday guides,Travel - Foreign,Travel / Special Interest / Adventure
Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure Exploration and Arctic Life Peter Stark 9781592281367 Books Reviews :
Ring of Ice True Tales of Adventure Exploration and Arctic Life Peter Stark 9781592281367 Books Reviews
- Excellent collection of short stories and a wonderful bibliography.
- So far,it is a journal of the head of expedition. Starting w1700's forward. A historical account.
- If you are intrigued by the allure that the Arctic has for some people, or are yourself unable to resist subzero weather at the top of the world, then Ring of Ice is a must. Stark has collected a truly diverse range of stories beginning with the comedy of errors endured by Georg Wilhelm Stellar, the German-born scientist aboard Vitus Bering's 1741 Russian expedition to the North American coast, and ending with the luminous prose of modern Artic explorers such as Barry Lopez.
Stark's informative introductions to each essay are both helpful and amusing. He has also sought to balance the primarily European writers and their points of view with those of the native Inuit people by preceding each essay with an Inuit poem. "The poems emphasize the Inuit ethic of sharing, egalitarianism, and incessant hunting, as well as the simple joys and fears of life." They are, of course, in sharp contrast to the accounts of the European explorers, who sought to conquer rather than work with nature, and usually perished as a result.
The book is divided into 4 sections (called books), but the progression of pieces is linear. The 1998 piece entitled "Tale of a Hunter's Daughter," is so pignantly written and captures the feeling of both the land and the woman struggling to make her way in it, that it is worth the price of the whole book. Of course there are other stand-outs, including "How Dr.Hayes Learned to Love Seal Blubber," "Nansen Strolls Farthest North," and "Cold Oceans By Sea Kayak to Greenland."
Oddly enough, the poetry, which I thought was an excellent idea, is made inaccessible and difficult to read by the fact that it has been set in a script font that is too small to read comfortably. As a result, your eyes naturally gravitate towards the correctly sized, regular fonts used in the essays. This is really strange, given the time and effort that obviously went into the rest of the book, and I hope that Stark has made a very loud stink. It's hard to make yourself work at reading the poetry, which by its nature takes a little bit of work to appreciate. Otherwise a fine collection. - This is a wonderful book! Peter Stark has selected an extraordinary collection of vignettes from a wide range of original writings about the Arctic and its explorers. I've read many (but certainly not all) of his sources in their entirety, and enjoyed re-reading extracts of those that I have read before as much as I enjoyed reading for the first time those that were new to me. Stark has a fine eye, an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Arctic and a gift for weaving together these many tales into a fine, telling tapestry of Arctic adventure. Terrific!
- Though I read it several years ago, the impact of this book is still with me. It helps me appreciate the life I have, and inspires me to push harder. The human tales in this book, many culled from actual diary or journal entries, are more gripping than perhaps any fiction I've ever read. If you feel you need a sense of perspective, this is one healthy dose. Reading it was a great way to transport myself from my day to day troubles and experience, again often firsthand, a completely different life situation. Highly recommended.
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