North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic

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Following his "Arctic dreams" that began with a photograph of the haggard crew of the ill-fated ship Endurance, Alvah Simon and his wife, Diana, set sail to winter in the high north. "We call them explorers, but I knew that look in their eyes," Simon writes of the early Arctic adventurers. "They were seekers, and that is a different thing." With self-discovery as a deeper agenda, the couple ventures into Tay Bay of remote Bylot Island; it is their ultima Thule--"the Last Unknown." Their small boat is willingly frozen in the ice. When Diana is airlifted out of the Arctic to tend to an emergency back home, Simon is unexpectedly left in solitude. His journey turns inward as he confronts the "uncomfortable awakening of my spiritual self." In the waning daylight, then total darkness, Simon's days are punctuated by depression and mania, a crackled voice over the radio, Inuit visitors, and hard-earned lessons as he is driven by the forces of the Arctic winter and by "the total loss of the sun." In this elegant, well-paced book, the Arctic darkness becomes a psychological landscape perforated with light and revelation, and Simon's thrilling tale is as captivating as his language. There is a welcome intimacy here as we share the same icy hull, listening close to this searching man. Simon courageously tells us about his darkest moments, dreams, and nightmares, and when the sun emerges, new eyes greet land and relationships. Simon has discovered his ultima Thule. --Byron Ricks

Book Description

In June 1994 Alvah Simon and his wife, Diana, set off in their 36-foot sailboat to explore the hauntingly beautiful world of icebergs, tundra, and fjords lying high above the Arctic Circle. Four months later, unexpected events would trap Simon alone on his boat, frozen in ice 100 miles from the nearest settlement, with the long polar night stretching into darkness for months to come.

With his world circumscribed by screaming blizzards and marauding polar bears and his only companion a kitten named Halifax, Simon withstands months of crushing loneliness, sudden blindness, and private demons. Trapped in a boat buried beneath the drifting snow, he struggles through the perpetual darkness toward a spiritual awakening and an understanding of the forces that conspired to bring him there. He emerges five months later a transformed man.

Simon's powerful, triumphant story combines the suspense of Into Thin Air with a crystalline, lyrical prose to explore the hypnotic draw of one of earth's deepest and most dangerous wildernesses.

Customer Reviews:

remarkable and unforgettable .......2007-09-12

Journey with Alvah as he sails for the Arctic and he will open his world to you as most do only with close friends. Share in his triumphs and struggles through his year in the Arctic. And more than just the physical adventure of a lifetime, Alvah shares the spiritual dimensions of being utterly alone in the most inhospitable of environments, completely engulfed by a harsh and wondrous Artic wilderness. This is a remarkable and unforgettable tale.

Adventure in the Arctic.......2006-09-04

If you like an exciting adventure that you don't want to end and if you enjoy the style of writing that makes you feel you're actually there experiencing what the writer is going through you'll enjoy this book. To gain an understanding of some of the native peoples of the frozen Arctic wilderness and this unique place on earth read this book!

Unbridled narcissism in an arctic setting. ?Spiritual?.......2006-07-07

I could not agree more with every word of Isha Beharim's review. My first impression at the beginning of the book was of the author's extreme self absorbtion, and the impression never left me, and the self absorbtion never left the author either, despite whatever "spiritual" experience he may have had. The book, by the way, never comes within a country mile of anything even remotely spiritual, and I think perhaps the word was used in the sub-title only to improve sales, although, who knows, maybe sadly this sort of stuff passes for spirituality for this guy.

The book was only interesting as the most extreme example of this sort of narcissist-meets-survival writing, which seems all the rage these days, and which also seems increasingly boring to me. I believe this book has cured me of my interest in this entire genre, and for that I suppose I owe a debt of gratitude.

It's more like a 10-star book.......2006-04-06

because it has all the things great books are supposed to have. It's exciting, honest, moving, educational, thoughtful, humorous, philosophical. You'll be different after you read it.

Okay, a husband and a wife and a cat going up into the Arctic to winter-over in a small boat is a goofy idea. The author admits as much and realizes he bit off more than he could chew. It was much worse than he expected, but with grit, resourcefulness, and well, lack of any other choices, he somehow, against all odds, lives to see spring.

That the cat got through the winter is even more astonishing. At one point Simon picks up the cat, and not knowing it's frozen, breaks off one of its ears. (The ear heals -- sort of.)

Simon's wife has to leave before winter sets in, and Simon is left alone with the cat to get through months of darkness and 60-below (F)weather. He goes blind for a time, nearly dies from lack of oxygen and carbon-monoxide poisoning, and loses his mind for awhile. He does endlessly dumb things -- it would be much less of a story if he didn't.

Simon is an astonishingly good writer, his style easy and natural, and his description of the Actic as good as Barry Lopez' best.

A Spiritual Odyssey of Incredible Self-Absorbtion.......2006-02-25

While the descriptions of arctic environment and people encountered in this book was interesting, the prose style of Mr. Simon was completely self-absorbed, dripping with condescension, arrogance, and numerous jagged barbs toward those who do not share his free lifestyle or post-modern worldview.

While he states this was a spiritual Odyssey, the story was all I, I, I, me, me, me, us, us, us. The Inuit accepted US, the wildlife accept ME, the fox that was near my boat had a message for ME, the raven that was a frequent visitor was there for ME, the bear I encountered also had a message for ME. Every piece of landscape, every person, every animal was only important in its relationship to them. That self-absorption got old really quickly.

He states it was a spiritual quest, but repeatedly stated that he needed the experience to "authenticate" himself. He needed to "interact" with the wildlife to "authenticate" his experience. Then, after all this "authentication", what great spiritual insight did he give his readers at the end of his journey? "I entered the abyss in many ways a stranger to myself and emerged intimately familiar with the inner man. I searched the edges of darkness and plumbed the depths of my soul, faced my fears, and uncovered my weaknesses." I, I, I, me, me, me. Please, enough already.

He quote Loren Eiseley, writing, "It is a commonplace of all religious thought, even the most primitive, that the man seeking visions and insight must go apart from his fellows and live for a time in the wilderness. If he is of the proper sort he will return with a message." Too bad Mr. Simon didn't return with one.

I feel sorry for someone so spiritually bereft that he must seek out such hardships in order to "authenticate" himself. And there are certainly better books about the arctic out there that are actually about the arctic and not just about the author. I suggest passing on this one.

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Polar Bridge: An Arctic Odyssey
Richard Weber , Laurie Dexter , Christopher Holloway , and Max Buxton
Manufacturer: Key Porter Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Arctic Adventure: Inuit Life in the 1800s (Smithsonian Odyssey)

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Arctic Adventure: Inuit Life in the 1800s (Smithsonian Odyssey)
Dana Meachen Rau
Manufacturer: Soundprints
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568994176

Arctic Odyssey: Music, Images & CD-ROM from the Northwest Passage

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Excellent Music Compositions

Arctic Odyssey: Music, Images & CD-ROM from the Northwest Passage
Richard Olsenius
Manufacturer: Bluestem Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0960906495

Book Description

Arctic Odyssey is an adventure in book, music and CD-ROM which follows a National Geographic photographer on an incredible assignment through the vast wilderness of the Northwest Passage. The music CD has 40 minutes of original instrumental music.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Music Compositions.......2001-02-01

Presented in an innovative format of book, music, and interactive CD-ROM, Arctic Odyssey was inspired by the journey photographer Richard Olsenius made through the Northwest Passage, a waterway that's still treacherous, mysterious, and alluring to adventurers. It all works very well to capture an authentic feeling for the majesty of the Arctic. The main attraction here is the music, which is beautifully done with a far greater range of melody than I've come to expect from New Age music. Indeed, thankfully it bears no resemblance to that idiotic, monotonous, whiny New Age stuff that makes me psychotic to the point where all I can think about is strangling somebody. The music here is mostly piano-based, and the whole package is well worth seeing and hearing.

James Houston's Treasury of Inuit Legends (Odyssey Classics (Odyssey Classics))

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James Houston's Treasury of Inuit Legends (Odyssey Classics (Odyssey Classics))
James A. Houston
Manufacturer: Odyssey Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 015205930X

Mountains of Madness: A Scientist's Odyssey in Antarctica

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Enjoyable scientific adventure in Antarctica
A Fascinating Read
A Must Read!

Mountains of Madness: A Scientist's Odyssey in Antarctica
John A. Long , and John Long
Manufacturer: National Academy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0309070775

Book Description

Mountains of Madness is a moving tale of science, exploration, and human endurance. It is the story of how real science is practiced in a unique and demanding setting. Rather than a presentation of research findings, this book recounts what life is like in the field, where scientists come close to sacrificing their very lives for the sake of advancing human knowledge. Like the polar explorers from the early 1900s in whose footsteps they follow, this team of scientists face the unknown and the unpredictable in the pure and simple quest for knowledge.

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable scientific adventure in Antarctica .......2007-01-11

_Mountains of Madness_ is an account of two fossil-hunting expeditions to Antarctica by Australian paleontologist John Long. In this entertaining book, Long provides details of what it was like to travel and work in Antarctica, describing what he saw and felt, and also providing details of the results of his expeditions. Long with his colleagues made two trips to the southernmost continent, the first time in December 1988 and the second time in October 1991, though the bulk of the book describes his experiences on his significantly more productive second trip.

Long's 1991 expedition was not one for the faint-hearted. A"deep field" expedition - so-called because it was more than 200 kilometers from base and outside helicopter rescue range - was necessary for Long to reach the target of his fossil explorations, the remote Cook Mountains, part of the Transantarctic Mountain chain (Long dubbed the northernmost Cook Mountains the "Mountains of Madness" after a famous H.P. Lovecraft 1931 tale of a doomed Antarctic fossil hunting expedition).

In order to get to the fossil-bearing strata that was the expedition's target (Long was after fish fossils from the Devonian period, 355-408 million years ago), Long spent eight weeks out in the field on a two man, two woman expedition. Arriving on top of a glacier thanks to a ski-equipped C-130 transport aircraft, the expedition carried all of its supplies (including climbing gear, rations, and geological equipment) on top of sledges towed by snowmobiles called skidoos.

Though they had many advantages over the earliest explorers of Antarctica - notably motorized transport and satellite and radio communication - they were still at considerable risk. Only the thin fabric of their polar tents protected them from the howling, super-chilled winds of Antarctica. Frostbite, hypothermia, and dehydration (Antarctica is the driest continent) were constant concerns. Sudden blizzards could produce whiteout conditions, preventing all movement and keeping the expedition inside their tents for days, even delaying the expedition from reaching food caches and causing them to worry about running low or out of supplies. Glacial crevasses were difficult to detect as well as being deadly, nearly invisible dangers that could swallow up people or even vehicles. Long and his colleagues came up with the term "the A factor" to describe that no matter how well they thought they had planned for something, for various unpredictable reasons they lost about one day in four when working in the field in Antarctica, whether it was due to mechanical failure, waiting for someone or something to arrive, an injury or illness, or the weather.

On Long's first expedition, denied access due to events to prime fossil-hunting locales, the author was able to take in some of Antarctica's amazing sites. He visited the Dry Valleys region, a 1,860 square mile region of exposed rock and sand, an area in the Transantarctic Mountain region that remains free of ice and snow year round because the land is rising at a faster rate than glaciers can encroach on it and the scouring, howling, arid winds make snow and ice buildup impossible. Interesting locales within the Dry Valleys include Lake Vanda (an interesting stratified lake, usually covered by four meters of ice but whose deepest layers of water are considerably warmer thanks to a salty and chemical-rich makeup), the Onyx River (the continent's only river, which flows for a mere 60 days each year at the peak of summer), and seal mummies (half-skeletonized remains of desiccated seals, half buried in sand; it is believed that they are the remains of seals that had an ear infection, became disoriented, wandered inland, and starved to death). Long also visited Cape Royds, where he was able to visit Ernest Shackleton's preserved hut, restored to look as it did when the great explorer was there, and an Adelie penguin colony.

Long provided a little history of fossil exploration in Antarctica. The first fossils found were pieces of fossilized wood from Seymour Island, collected by Captain Carl Larsen, a Norwegian, in 1892-1893. The first major fossil expedition was in 1902 by Swedish geologist Otto Nordenskjold, who collected from the western islands off the Antarctic Peninsula, discovering Jurassic plant fossils, giant penguin fossils, and many fossil shells. The first vertebrate fossils from the Antarctic mainland were Devonian-age fish found in rocks near Mackay Glacier near Granite Harbor in 1911-1912 by Australian scientist Frank Debenham.

The main interest Long had though were his fish fossils. Long sought out what had been dubbed the Aztec Siltstone, fossil-bearing Devonian-age rocks that got their name from their original site of discovery that was a pyramidal mountain in a shape that suggested to the geologists an Aztec temple. The author had long been interested in the Devonian period as that was when fish evolution was at is most exciting and in Antarctic fossils as discoveries there could shed tremendous light on fish evolution in other areas of the long gone super continent known as Gondwana (which at one time was comprised of many now separate areas, such as Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, and India).

Long's second expedition was tremendously successful, resulting in the discovery of five new genera of lobe-finned fish, three new genera of sharks, and one genus of placoderms (an extinct group of armored fish). Long details in the book (published in 2001) how he was still preparing and analyzing specimens, including some as yet undescribed forms of lungfish, placoderms, some new types of acanthodians (an extinct group of spiny fishes), and a new ray-fined fish (ray-fined fish are the largest modern group of fish and include such familiar types as trout and goldfish). Long's fossil discoveries also aided in formulating theories regarding the reconstruction of Gondwana faunas from both Antarctica and other countries and also theories relating to the reconstruction of the geographic position of Gondwana itself.

Long enthusiastically described the fossils he found and their great importance. My only compliant was that there were no illustrations of either the fossils or how the fish might have looked in life.

A Fascinating Read.......2001-09-13

John Long's "Mountains of Madness" tells the story of the author's fossil-hunting expeditions in Antarctica. The book's title comes from H.P. Lovecraft's jarring epic "At the Mountains of Madness" -- a classic novella of science and horror set in the southern continent. The author's references to Lovecraft's terrifying tale effectively convey the splendor and danger of the Antarctic wilderness. Long also writes with a wonderful sense of humour --his warmth and charm draw the reader into a entertaining and informative narrative of scientific discovery and individual experience. This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys stories of popular science and adventure.

A Must Read!.......2001-05-08

Dr. Long's narrative of his expedition to the Antarctic is fascinating and enlightening. One does not need to be a paleontologist or scientist to appreciate or understand the ramifications of the findings made during his expedition. He is also refreshingly honest and forthright with his personal discoveries and the ramifications of those discoveries on his life. If you are interested in the Antarctic, our Planet Earth and adventure, if you are interested in a writer and scientist who is candidly straightforward, especially about himself, this is a book for you!

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Antarctic Odyssey
Graham Collier
Manufacturer: Constable and Robinson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1841191043

Antarctic Odyssey : In the Footsteps of the South Polar Explorers

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Antarctic Odyssey : In the Footsteps of the South Polar Explorers
Graham; Collier, Patricia Collier
Manufacturer: Carroll and Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V2LPU6

Antarctic Odyssey: Endurance and Adventure in the Farthest South

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Book Description
Wonderful to read

Antarctic Odyssey: Endurance and Adventure in the Farthest South
Graham Collier , and Patricia Collier
Manufacturer: Publishers' Group West (Non Returnable)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B00007D035

Book Description

A full-color, beautifully illustrated journey across the icy last continent, the homes of its endangered animals, and the history of its exploration.

It is the most remote and inhospitable, the coldest and driest of the earth's continents. Its bleakly stunning landscapes have attracted the boldest of the heroic age of exploration. Graham Collier tells its story in gorgeous photographs and vivid prose - and how, like Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton, and others before him, he fell under the spell of Antarctica.

Very few people, scientists or explorers, have seen Antarctica as has Graham Collier. He has visited the camps of Scott and Shackleton, reached the slopes of the 13,000-foot volcanic Mount Erebus, and traveled to the unimaginably remote Peter I Island and Elephant Island, where the crew of the Endurance was marooned for four months. He has walked among basking seals, called on penguin rookeries, been dive-bombed by skua-gulls, and admired albatrosses like those in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Following in the footsteps of the great explorers from Captain Cook and James Clark Ross to Shackleton and Douglas Mawson, he re-creates the experience of encountering the "last continent" in all its icy splendor.

In this exquisite book, Collier attempts to answer polar explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot's question, "Where does the strange attraction of the polar regions lie, so powerful, so gripping that on one's return from them one forgets all weariness of body and soul and dreams only of going back?

Customer Reviews:

Book Description.......2001-12-29

It may be a perfectly wonderful book but reaching the slopes of Mount Erebus is no feat since it is right outside of McMurdo Station. As a person who has spent time working at all 3 Antarctic Station, I find the book description overblown. I'm sure the book itself is full of wonderful photos as Antarctic is truly a stunning place. However, if someone is looking for an adventure story, I doubt if this covers it.

Wonderful to read.......2000-02-03

This book is enjoyable and at times profound. It is a nice introduction to the continent. My only wish is that the book had more pictures since I will never see the antarctic. I especially wish more pictures were taken of the exployers' huts.

Arctic Quest: Odyssey Through a Threatened Wilderness

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Get the Arctic Quest CD to see much more about the quest
Self-indulgence, thy name is Chad
Arctic Quest
A thrilling adventure tale - exquisitely written
The first couple of pages are good, the rest is rather bland

Arctic Quest: Odyssey Through a Threatened Wilderness
Chad Kister
Manufacturer: Common Courage Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1567512372

Book Description

Chad Kister takes you on a riveting 700-mile journey by raft and foot. See the Arctic Refuge beauty first hand through the dangers Kister survives. A broken backpack-repaired with caribou antlers-pales against the spirited chase by security guards trying to stop his discovery of what big oil is doing to this fragile land.

"I was grabbed from the first page. Few young whippersnappers can pull off an adventure this thrilling with such charming and refreshing naivete and later write about it like an old pro. His masterful story telling ability riveted me to the book. But by the end I realized I had gained so much insight into the politics of oil exploration in this contended wilderness. I can't wait to see what's next from this new young writer."-Bernd Heinrich, -author of The New York Times bestseller Ravens in Winter and A Year in the Maine Woods

After the 700-mile journey through the Arctic Refuge in 1991 that is the subject of this book, Chad Kister lobbied the U.S. to do more at the Earth Summit with a week-long fast in front of the White House, and went on a speaking tour about the environment throughout Japan in 1993. He returned to the Arctic in 1993 to climb Misty Mountain. Kister organized numerous political walks from 70 to 849 miles long, and is now the coordinator of Dysart Defenders, a group working to save one of the last ancient forests in Ohio. He is also the coordinator of the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign and has personally lobbied Senators and Representatives with his first-hand experiences of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and thousands of petition signatures.

Customer Reviews:

Get the Arctic Quest CD to see much more about the quest.......2006-02-10

Two of the reviews were likely from oil industry bought-off paid liars. The last one, questioning my books facts demands my response. Anyone questioning any facts in the book need only talk to one of the scores of people I encountered, interviewed and included both the first and last names of.

If anyone further doubts any fact, they should order my CD,which has hundreds of photos of my journey, documenting unquestionably the adventure I went through. The CD goes along well with the book.

And as to showing that I am an amazing person rather than dealing with the issue of drilling in the refuge, the idiot Shep in his review forgets to mention the naivete I showed as I nearly burned down a cabin and nearly died several times by making poor decisions (being 20 and 21 years old, I thought I could survive anything).

But it certainly does not make me look the best as I make poor decisions that threaten my life. Also check out my second book, Arctic Melting and my new film, Caribou People. I also tour near constantly around the North America continent doing powerpoint presentations and taking thousands of questions. So if anyone questions any fact, just let me know (chadkister@gmail.com or (740) 707-4110))

Chad Kister
chadkister@gmail.com
www.chadister.com
www.arcticrefuge.org

Self-indulgence, thy name is Chad.......2004-08-04

Make no mistake, this book is not about the Alaskan wilderness. This book is about Chad Kister. The sole purpose of this turgid tome to demonstrate what an amazing person Chad is. If you believe any of these tall tales, I've got some beachfront real estate in Arizona that you might be interested in.

Arctic Quest.......2004-06-09

Kister has written one of the best travel/adventure books I have had the pleasure to read. I believe it to be as good as Eric Newby's, "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush." Looking beyond just his writing, his adventures in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are inspiring to all of us who wish to be better friends, caretakers, and participants of the environment. We will hear much more from this talented young man that is working determinedly for a better tomorrow.

A thrilling adventure tale - exquisitely written.......2004-04-12

This book is remarkably written - I couldn't put it down. While some may disagree with the environmental message, it makes you keenly aware of the fragile ecosystem in the Alaskan wilderness. Prior to reading the book I did not have an appreciation of the beauty of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Chad Kister's survival skills are incredible. His ability to navigate flood-stage rivers, find food - cooking lousewort, and fish were amazing. His night of hypothermia after his raft overturned and how he overcame it is a lesson for all who who might have a wilderness experience.

The first couple of pages are good, the rest is rather bland.......2004-02-25

The author shares his haughty opinions on the following:
1. How the Alaskan wilderness is dying off.
2. How the US government and oil companies are such evil monsters.
3. How to disobey authority in any given place, especially ecologically-threatened places.
4. How to live in your own little unrealistic world and write a book about it.

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