A major novel by the author of Ship Fever, winner of the 1996 National Book Award for Fiction. Part adventure narrative, part love story, this unforgettable novel captures a crucial moment in the history of exploration, the mid-nineteenth-century romance with the mystery of the Arctic. Combining fact and fiction, Andrea Barrett focuses on Erasmus Darwin Wells, a scholar-naturalist accompanying the expedition of the Narwhal. Through his eyes we meet the various crew members and the expedition's blustery commander, obsessed ...
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A major novel by the author of Ship Fever, winner of the 1996 National Book Award for Fiction. Part adventure narrative, part love story, this unforgettable novel captures a crucial moment in the history of exploration, the mid-nineteenth-century romance with the mystery of the Arctic. Combining fact and fiction, Andrea Barrett focuses on Erasmus Darwin Wells, a scholar-naturalist accompanying the expedition of the Narwhal. Through his eyes we meet the various crew members and the expedition's blustery commander, obsessed with the search for an open polar sea. And through his eyes we experience the wild, disturbing beauties of that last unexplored region. In counterpoint to his views are those of the Esquimaux, witness to the expedition's exploits, and of the women left behind in Philadelphia, who can only imagine what lies beyond the north wind. Together, those who travel and those who stay weave a web of myth and history. In the real nineteenth-century expeditions, explorers' documents always cast the writer as hero. But what really happened up there, in the long winter darkness, entrapped in ice? On the Narwhal, everyone is frightened, nothing is certain, and heroes emerge in unexpected guises. Barrett's explorers discover-as all explorers do-not what was always there and never needed discovering, but the state of their own souls.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover.
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Seller's Description:
Very good in fine dust jacket. Ex-library. jacket in plastic library cover, flaps taped to copy; copy has minimal library markings, very small stain on upper text block. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 399 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade.
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Seller's Description:
New in new dust jacket. inventory reduction. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 399 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. Acceptable dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
The biggest reason I picked up this book, is the gorgeous cover. It's a great addition to the bookshelf, but after starting it, I don't feel too guilty that that is where I left it for so long. At almost four hundred pages, the ship's cabins are an awfully small space for the reader's mind. With some snipets going back and forth with the women waiting, and some interaction with the locals, most of the story takes place on the ship. It is a geniune feel, the restlessness, the dreams that don't live up, the deceit of leadership and crew mates. I would recommend this book for people interested in northern geography and ship lore, but not for the casual reader.