The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World

Book Description

The sun never sets, the air is twenty degrees below zero, and the ice is moving at four hundred yards an hour. Welcome to the North Pole. In 2003, environmental reporter Andrew Revkin joined a scientific expedition to one of the world's last uncharted frontiers, where he was the first New York Times reporter ever to file stories and photographs from the top of the world. In his quest to understand the pole, Andrew leads readers through the mysterious history of arctic exploration; he follows oceanographers as they drill a hole through nine feet of ice to dive into waters below; peers into the mysteries of climate modeling and global warming; and ultimately shows how the fate of the pole will affect us all.

Customer Reviews:

terranova.......2007-05-26

timely topic, but book isn't exactly dense. more of a children's primer on Arctic issues.

*'Walking on Water' takes on NEW MEANING . . . *.......2007-01-03

After moving 400 yards an hour on an ice floe at the top of the world for three days, Science Writer Andrew Revkin looks down from a helicopter. He watches the icy expanses recede far below while he weighs questions and answers about global warming, and the challenge of presenting these to young readers who are often lured in other directions by iPods & computer games.

Tomorrow's scientists need to be 'shook up' and know there are still discoveries to be made; they can be the ones inventing new techniques needed to retrieve & examine rock core samples from deep below the ice. (See pictures on page 66). They can be detectives competing with the changing ice for answers to frustrating puzzles about the rising seas, for example.

The editor has used engravings and diagrams along with the latest photographs to give an impressive smattering of the history of arctic exploration. The double-spread of a lone seal on pages 100-101 should have been placed to better advantage, to help make Revkin's point about the loneliness of the Arctic where the silence is often interrupted by questions about the future of mankind. This is a excellent, stimulating book for all ages to read and discuss together.

The polar regions have always drawn explorers and it is our luck that the New York Times sent Andrew Revkin to the North to look for ways of stirring the public. We must each take an active interest and help stimulate youthful curiosity by showing the techniques used today. It is not enough to feel the exhilaration of travel without becoming responsible global citizens. In a recent interview by Gwen Iffel on PBS, Revkin cited the "slow drift" of events that do not receive adequate coverage by the media, as for example the recent announcement that the first whale species in China is now extinct. Consider also the projection that by 2040 the Arctic Ocean could be blue for the first time in a thousand years.

Already the levels of contaminates in the bodies of Inuit persons living in the North is beyond acceptable. The Pole is indeed moving . . . can we be instrumental in putting the puzzle pieces back together and work toward unity for the good of the Earth and our children's future?

We must not lose generations of the ingenuity of bright young minds to Wars and the Pestilence of mediocre minds.

Comments on The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World.......2006-09-18

While intended for a young audience this serves as a very basic introduction to Arctic exploration and scientific study. Scientific and political issues mentioned could have been a good springboard for young adults to understand that scientific methods can serve as a process to follow when trying to answer difficult questions. Additionally, it is unfortunate that Mr. Revkin did not include even a passing mention of Dr. John Rae (Fatal Passage). This is a good book to provoke discussion and does little to answer the "big" questions. Mr. Revkin also might consider using a paradigm from Paracelsus that all substances are toxic - its the dose that differentiates the poison.

By Truck to the North: My Arctic Adventure (Adventure Travel)

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By Truck to the North: My Arctic Adventure (Adventure Travel)
Andy Turnbull , and Debora Pearson
Manufacturer: Annick Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1550375504

Book Description

"A bone-chilling silence filled the truck. We were north of the Arctic Circle on a road made of ice -- not pavement or gravel like a regular road, just a bumpy surface of frozen water. Under the ice flowed dangerous waters, deep enough to drown in -- if the shocking cold didn't kill you first. I glanced out the window and shivered..."

Adventure is just around the corner when you climb aboard an 18-wheeler and join Andy Turnbull on his eye-opening trip to the Arctic. You're along for the ride as he befriends a trucker's dog, views the Northern Lights, gets caught in a whiteout, and explores the ice roads of the Far North. Short sidebars of information that accompany Andy's story reveal what's inside a truck's cab, why camels once carried goods through this part of North America, what kids love about live in the Arctic, and much more. Colourful maps (essential traveler's tools) help you follow Andy's route chapter by chapter!

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The demise of a people
The Snow Walker
quick yet profound stories, eh? [no spoilers]
Not Mowat's best book
A northern light.

The Snow Walker
Farley Mowat
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Snow Walker
Never Cry Wolf : Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves
Lost in the Barrens
People of the Deer (Death of a People)
The Boat Who Wouldn't Float

ASIN: 0811731464

Book Description

Central to Farley Mowat's writing is his quest to understand the often-forgotten native people of the vast arctic wilderness. In this moving collection, he allows these people to describe in their own words the adventures they experience as they struggle to survive in an isolated, untamed land. Stories of survival and courage, of superstition and fate, of uncompromising loyalty to family and tribe are presented here; offering a vivid portrait of a people whose existence is often beyond the comprehension of modern man. Inspiration for the major motion picture from Infinity Media and First Look International

Customer Reviews:

The demise of a people.......2006-11-12

Mowat is, once again, critical of government agencies and organizations in the mandatory relocation of natives to an inhospitable location and failure to monitor the results of the move. Creates a better understanding of how a group of people become extinct. A difficult survival made more difficult!

The Snow Walker.......2006-03-20

This is a great collection of stories in classic Farley Mowat style; compelling. A fantastic movie was made of one of the short stories in the collection and also titled 'Snow Walker', but read the book first. He's written many wonderful books, but my favorite tales will always be of the Inuit where his love of the people and their culture shines through.
Chrissy K. McVay
author of 'Souls of the North Wind'

quick yet profound stories, eh? [no spoilers].......2005-11-29

"The Snow Walker" is a collection of beautifully written short stories centered in the extreme cold artic regions. As an individual who has ventured into the northern lands, Farley Mowat conveys ten compelling tales from natives and their cultural heritage. The narratives range from superstitious to legendary adventure and either inspires the spirit or brings a dark mood to the betrayal faced by the indigenous people by the white man.

Those not fluent with certain acronyms or northern culture might have difficulty understanding small segments of some stories. A detailed map of the significant terrains would have been useful.

Thank you.

Not Mowat's best book.......2003-06-23

I'm a big fan of Farley Mowat, but this is not a book that I would rank among his best. I just couldn't get into it, although some of the stories were entertaining. Nagging questions about the manner in which he may have embellished the stories dogged me throughout.

A northern light........2002-07-24

Canada's poet-biologist-sociologist, Farley Mowat, is the almost invisible traveler in this journey across the snow swept northern barrens. He illuminates a place which most of us will never know. From its land forms to its creatures to the lives and thoughts of its native peoples. An engrossing collection of storytelling that could only be the product of the writers intimacy with place.
Says Mowat, "The northern people are happy when snow lies heavy on the land. They welcome the first snow in autumn, and often regret its passing in the spring. Snow is their friend. Without it they would have perished or -- almost worse from their point of view -- they would long since have been driven south to join us in our frenetic rush to wherever it is that we are bound."

Confessions of an Igloo Dweller: Memories of the Old Arctic

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I couldn't put it down
A really good book
"Yes, but is it Art?"
Gripping, non-judgemental, true-life narrative.

Confessions of an Igloo Dweller: Memories of the Old Arctic
James Houston
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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White Dawn: An Eskimo Sage: An Eskimo Saga

ASIN: 0395788900

Book Description

James Houston lived among Inuit in the Canadian Arctic between 1948 and 1962. He slept in their igloos, ate raw fish and seal meat, wore skin clothing, traveled by dog team, hunted walrus,learned how to build a snowhouse, and raised a family. While doing so, he helped change the Arctic. Impressed by the natural artistic skills of the people, he encouraged the development of exhibits and sales of Inuit art in the south - sales that have brought millions of dollars to its creators. Confessions of an Igloo Dweller, a wonderful piece of storytelling, recounts Houston's fascinating and often hilarious adventures among a confident, smiling people who spoke no English. Taking readers into the heart of Inuit culture, it joins the tradition established by Fridtjof Nansen, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, and Farley Mowat. A book full of adventure and anecdote as well as the delights of art and the hazards of cold, it is illustrated with forty drawings by the author.

Customer Reviews:

I couldn't put it down.......1999-12-03

This book was a delight to read. Mr. Houston's admiration for the Inuit culture is evident on every page. Many of the passages and stories are thought provoking and educational. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of bewilderment turned to enlightenment by such unassuming teachers.

A really good book.......1999-09-09

Really enjoyable. This man's interraelationship with a disappearing culture and the hurdles he faced in the Arctic wilderness are tangible and detailed. Mostly this book is about a youth (his own) - lost but still remembered. I read Joseph Conrad's Youth at the same time and the themes were quite similar.

"Yes, but is it Art?".......1997-08-15

First this is a book about art. If you have ever wondered how those most beautiful Eskimo sculptures and prints have found their way to your local gallery; this book tells you how.

Mr. Houston was the first artist to recognize and search out the Inuit artforms and to deliver them to the art markets "outside". In every detail, name by name, you can read about the Inuit art culture from the very first stone figures and bone scluptures, to the latest prints.

Second this is a book about Arctic. Adventure on a epic scale. Mr. Houstons' honeymoon was one of the very few trips from east to west across Baffin Island by sled. Mr and Mrs. Houston spent years in the Arctic living in the Inuit way; both their sons spoke Inuktitut in preference to English and preferred raw seal meat to... well that was all there was to eat.

Sadly there are in this book no prints of the Inuit art, nor photos of the artists, nor any example of the art described in the text. For all the journeys by sled, boat, plane, and on foot there are no suitable maps. For a book about a culture that is so completely linked to geography, there are no maps for the reader to follow nor plates for the art lover to love.

The most astonsihing event of the book occurs on page 9. A very young Mr. Houston steps off of a plane in the Hudson's Bay Arctic, looks around, and flatly refuses to live any place else; He stays for 15 years.

You can add Mr. Houston to the list with Barry Lopez, William Vollmann , Farley Mowat, and John McPhee; thoes writers that get the Arctic Expericence

Gripping, non-judgemental, true-life narrative........1997-06-12

This is one of the finest first-person, historical narratives I've read for many years. Mr. Houston provides a unique, non-judgemental series of observations and first-hand stories about the Inuit and his own experiences living among them and working with them and, most importantly, learning from them. He is very honest in relating his own foibles and potentially life-threatening mistakes. His style is very easy to read and personal and I could not put this book down after starting it. Mr. Houston lived a highly privileged and unique life among a pre-literate but very evolved group during a crucial turning point for their culture. This is a rare and wonderful narrative.

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Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights
Debbie Miller , and Debbie S. Miller
Manufacturer: Walker Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802796362
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Book Description

Imagine a land where the sun rises at 1:58 a.m. in the summer and shines for less than four hours on a winter’s day. The animals in the wilderness near Fairbanks, Alaska, witness some of the world’s greatest temperature extremes and light variations ever year. At an average low of -16 degrees Fahrenheit, the winters may be unpleasantly frigid, but the light shows are always glorious!

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Arctic Tundra
Donald M. Silver , and Patricia Wynne
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 007057927X

Book Description

It’s a land of riddles, where a winter night can last for weeks and where the ground is full of water though it rarely rains or snows. Bears, hares, wolves, and foxes roam the ice-crusted earth, as flowers follow the sun as it moves across the sky. Young readers may never come to the Arctic tundra, but now it can come to them—in a book chock full of fun-to-do experiments and activities for children ages 6 and up that help them to solve some of the mysteries of this strange and forbidding world. Arctic Tundra includes a picture field guide, a glossary-index, and a resource list.

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Arctic Thaw
Peter Lourie
Manufacturer: Boyds Mills Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1590784367

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Sure to become a classic
beautiful and touching

The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale
Lydia Dabcovich
Manufacturer: Clarion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights

ASIN: 0395975670

Book Description

A lonely old woman adopts, cares for, and raises a polar bear as if he were her own son, until jealous villagers threaten the bear's life, forcing him to leave his home and his "mother," in a retelling of a traditional Inuit folktale.

Customer Reviews:

Sure to become a classic.......2000-12-19

I rate childrens books on how much I enjoy reading them the 2nd, 12th, and 500th time. Based on this criteria, this book is a winner! The story is simple and universally appealing. It touches on the themes of the stupidity of violence and anger, and the transcendence of love and loyalty, and provided a good starting point for discussions about these themes with my 5 year old. The resolution of the story is very reassuring, even inspirational, so it also rates high in my comfort book collection (along with classics such as the Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon, I Love You This Much, and the Little Bear Books.)

What really makes this book a pleasure to come back to again and again is the illustrations. They are simple but suggestive, rich in emotion, and just plain beautiful. I pored over each picture for a long time, soaking in their atmosphere and emotions which are conveyed sweetly, gently, and strongly. The book gives one a flavor for this distinctive culture while being universally appealing.

Get a copy of this book and snuggle up with a favorite child!

beautiful and touching.......2000-12-17

This is a stunning book. The story is simple and universally appealing, dealing with themes of love, loyalty, and mothering that any young child/caregiver will identify with. The pictures are absolutely beautiful - they are simple, yet convey strong, and universal emotions. As I read the book the first time, I savored every page of evocative illustrations, and couldn't wait to start reading it again.This is an incredibly appealing book that , while rich in ethnic/local flavor, could appeal to anyone who experiences basic human emotions. I read the book over immediately, and will enjoy reading it over and over again.

Book Description

In 1886, the Ihalmiut people of northern Canada numbered seven thousand; by 1946, when Farley Mowat began his two-year stay in the Arctic, the population had fallen to just forty. With them, he observed for the first time the phenomenon that would inspire him for the rest of his life: the millennia-old migration of the Arctic’s caribou herds. He also endured bleak, interminable winters, suffered agonizing shortages of food, and witnessed the continual, devastating intrusions of outsiders bent on exploitation. Here, in this classic and first book to demonstrate the mammoth literary talent that would produce some of the most memorable books of the next half-century, best-selling author Farley Mowat chronicles his harrowing experiences. People of the Deer is the lyrical ethnography of a beautiful and endangered society. It is a mournful reproach to those who would manipulate and destroy indigenous cultures throughout the world. Most of all, it is a tribute to the last People of the Deer, the diminished Ihalmiuts, whose calamitous encounter with our civilization resulted in their unnecessary demise.

Customer Reviews:

Concept is correct.......2005-08-20

The concept is correct anyway. These people were led to their demise by three factors: the church, commercialization (HBC), and the Canadian government. Mowat claims he spent two years living among these people. This is doubted by some. I've traveled in some of the areas that this book takes place. Not everyone has great things to say about this author. One person I talked to called him a historical novelist. He has other nicknames.

But while it is questionable that all the events described in this book and its' successor (The Desperate People) actually took place, at least he got the main theme correct.

The worst book EVER..........2004-06-07

What ever you do, do not waste your precious life reading this book...

Yes! A life-afirming wonderous book!.......2001-08-04

This book is magic. You will never think about a small band of Indians as statistics again. This book does volumes to make people of our society really feel what goes on in traditional societies. To feel jealous of their solidarity. To feel unloved by our own. It's great! READ IT.

Remarkable first book from promising author!.......2000-04-04

First published in 1947 and available in a wide variety of editions since then, Farley Mowat's first and most distant book is still remarkably readable in the world of the 21st century. It concerns one of the stranger human sagas of the last century, that of the discovery and destruction of a remote Inuit society, the Ihalmiut, in Canada's north. The setting of the book is far enough away in time for us to marvel at how little things have changed since. The contemptuous attitude of European man for the aborigine seems hardly to have altered over the years. We are still hard put to understand the needs of the first peoples and how to answer them.

Farley Mowat has combined a fine sensitivity for the natural environment with a sharp eye for the details of man's place within it. It must be exceedingly rare in the history of anthropology that such an inexperienced investigator has taken such pains to get to the source of his information. Mowat lived among the Ihalmiut for over a year to write the book. During that time he witnessed the rapid deterioration of the small group which remained, and tried to examine the causes of their decline. With very deft prose for such a young writer, he points out the difference between the intentions and the actions of the European discoverers of The People (as they refer to themselves) and the consequences of such disparity. The Ihalmiut were exploited in much the same way as any other tribal band found wandering by the early explorers. However, as Mowat points out, this was an exceptional group which had survived the extreme rigours of a barren land (known to us simply as The Barrens) for so many generations, only to be felled by contact with the very race which might have provided them with so much assistance.

The Ihalmiut are long gone from their homeland but their story serves to remind us of our often difficult relationship with the land and the people on it. Perhaps, as a race of city-dwellers, we need to consider our place in the natural environment more than ever. Mowat's work is a just accounting of where we stand in relationship to nature. Nor does he suggest that we should all go and live in the tundra. Yet People of the Deer is a source of considerable inspiration for those now ready to reflect on the unbalancing effect of contemporary values.

People Of The Deer.......2000-02-03

A truly insightful story of the inland eskimo people of the Canadian Arctic. It details not only their day to day survival in a harsh land, but also tells of their myths, legends, and history. It also tells of the whiteman's interference with their culture and how that affect may ultimately lead to their extinction. The book sincerely takes the reader into the lives of the People of the Deer.

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Intriguing and Intensely Detailed Story of the Far North
flight of the soul.....
Two Tin Tallin's Fly Away
A beautiful, well-written story
Beautiful & Moving Story ....

Flight of the Goose
Lesley Thomas
Manufacturer: Far Eastern Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Deeper Sleep: A Kate Shugak Novel (Kate Shugak Novels)

ASIN: 0967884217
Release Date: 2005-02-12

Book Description

In a remote Inupiat Eskimo village in 1971, the friendship and love between a young female shaman, a traditional hunter and a draft-dodging ecologist leads to tragedy.

Customer Reviews:

Intriguing and Intensely Detailed Story of the Far North.......2007-09-30

Lesley Thomas detailed this book so intricately that it seems real. I was most especially fascinated by the character of Kayuqtuq "Gretchen" Ugungoraseok, who is an orphan Native American adopted by the Inupiat, which means real people.

Kayuqtuq is a young woman living in a subsistence culture with roots that extend thousands of years into the past. Her observations of people, including naluagmiu (white man) Leif Trygvesen, are from the perspective of her culture. I was completely fascinated.

Though Kayuqtuq is already a young woman in this story, which is set in 1971, emotionally she is dealing with trauma from her childhood; perhaps she is also dealing with the continuous trauma of harsh life in the Arctic. The result is that Kayuqtuq's story is frequently more like a coming of age story than the story of a person who has already reached adulthood.

Part of Kayuqtuq's coping strategy is to become an angutkoq, or shaman. Regardless of whether Kayuqtuq has shaman powers or is incredibly intelligent, her insights and visions of events are remarkably accurate and frequently prescient. Unfortunately, her visions and insight fail to give her enough clarity to prevent tragedies.

This novel is primarily the story of Kayuqtuq "Gretchen" Ugungoraseok and Leif Trygvesen. The story is partially about the clash of cultures, but also about how Kayuqtuq and Leif react differently to the situations around them because of their cultures. Kayuqtuq and Leif's perspectives allow us to see how Inupiat culture views various situations in comparison to European culture.

Shading and complicating the cultural differences between Kayuqtuq and Leif is that each is multicultural in their own way. The Inupiat adopted Kayuqtuq, but she is Native American. European and Viking culture strongly influenced Leif's mother and father, but Leif is from the United States. Adding even more complexity is that each is an outsider in their culture. Kayuqtuq is trying to learn to become an angutkoq, which Inupiat elders forbid, and Leif is an environmentalist and against the war in Viet Nam, neither of which made him popular with "The Establishment" in 1971. It was probably inevitable that the two outsiders found kindred spirits in each other and came to love each other. Perhaps the tragedies that followed were just as inevitable.

Lesley Thomas's writing reminds me of the detail that Charles Dickens put into his novels. I like Dickens' writing very much and I am unable to recall any modern author to whom I have been exposed that writes with such intricacy and precision. However, Lesley's writing is so clear and organized that even with the complexity of the story I never got lost or had to re-read a section. This book is such a literary achievement that it has received awards from The National Federation of Press Women, The Alaska Press Women, and The Washington Press Association.

This book is neither a light read, nor is it a book that you will forget any time soon. I will admit that my eyes were moist as I finished Lesley Thomas's story of Kayuqtuq and Leif. Lesley's writing pulled me so deeply into the characters that they seemed real to me. Just as in real life, what happened to them can not be undone, no matter how we might wish otherwise. Even now, several days after finishing this novel, I wish I could undo what happened, but then Lesley's message would have been diluted, and I, and future readers, would have been less affected.

The awards this fictional novel has won are well-deserved. This book is one of the best modern novels I have read. It is truly a great novel. If you enjoy stories about the conflict in cultures, if you have ever liked Dickens, if you want to read about the effect modern culture has had on the Inupiat and the environment of the far north, or if you just want to read an incredibly well written book, get this one.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

flight of the soul............2007-08-26

I'm happy to recommend this intricate and poetic novel to those looking for more than a quick read or an easy story: looking for something more soulful, something that leaves the heart transformed.

Much has been written about the hundreds of cultures destroyed by Christian missionaries, whether they carry bibles or rifles or deeds or broken treaties. The setting of this drama is a small Alaskan village trying to hold itself together in the aftermath of partial colonization. But Lesley Thomas does not return preaching for preaching. Instead, she draws upon her own life experience to show the reader exactly what life there looks like detail by detail one conversation at a time, all of it set against an Alaskan landscape so searing and mysterious that it too becomes a character.

In this setting two people try to find each other: an Indian woman whose English name is Gretchen, and the biologist she calls the Birdman. Again and again they miss each other, only to be brought back together by a passion deeper than words: a fine demonstration of how much hurt can be inflicted on a budding romance to the extent lovers try to protect themselves from each other. There is a lovely byplay in which Gretchen sneaks into the biologist's camp to read his very personal journal, which he conveniently leaves under his pillow. How badly these two want to talk to each other, and how hard they find it to do so, is a tension behind the subplots playing out between Inupiat villagers, visiting whites, orphaned Gretchen, and a very confused but sensitive scientist suddenly exposed to a wider world than was dreamed of in his philosophy.

A complication: Gretchen is a practicing shaman who does not fully understand what she's doing. Her struggles are consistent with how other cultures understand shamanism (as opposed to New Age workshop "neoshamanism" bent to the agenda of self-improvement), including her spells of dissociation and the terrifying images she encounters. It's gratifying to read an author who has done her homework on this topic, especially at a time when so much Native lore has been appropriated, adulterated, and sold to people who don't know any better.

As a reader who teaches a graduate-level myth class, I appreciated the mythological references, quotes, stories, legends, all lightly touched on without interfering with the pace of events. A good question for the reader to wonder about while reading: What myth are the lovers caught up in, and what are their options for finding each other from within it? (The old Norse saying that starts the Prologue puts it well: "How can anyone know what is possible for those in love?")

Another dimension to this novel is the ecological, particularly as people on the scene (including the biologist) note the climate changes and business decisions that threaten the Alaskans. The ultimate fate of everyone in range--and nowadays we are all in range--is clear: "The animals are sickening and we are told not to eat them, nor nurse our own babies. Soon we must leave our home, retreating from the rising waves. We will join the saddened animals and wander, hoping for mercy from strangers." It would seem to be a law of history and psychology too that those who experience themselves as perpetually angry exiles and outcasts tend to inflict displacement on other creatures unless a way is found to bind up the original wounds and find a sense of homecoming.

Many poignant episodes appear throughout the story. One occurs about two-thirds of the way through when Gretchen, who thinks of herself as ugly, is finally able to experience some of her own inner and outer beauty by trying to retrieve the soul of the man she loves and yet torments.

Mental health professionals in the U.S. have been slow to realize that not all psychological anguish arises from within. What happened to both Gretchen and the Birdman to make them both so guarded and so easily injured has roots in the shadows and pathologies of their cultures. Part of the difficulty of healing and connecting involves their attempts to shoulder what are actually historical-colonial legacies of wounding playing out in personal relationships.

To end these terrible legacies: how to do that? What will it take to make the dominant culture less lethal to itself, to Earth, to people it regards as Other? The myths of many times and this novel offer a hint: the story must be rewritten from within it, starting with many small and large acts of sacrifice carried out in love strong enough to fly like the goose into the heavens.

Two Tin Tallin's Fly Away.......2007-08-22

What a cosmic, karmic, seismic shift the elders in Lesley Thomas' excellent epic, centered in the 1971 Alaskan Arctic, have endured in their lifetimes. This haunting book is a love story, a paean to survivors, an ode to a land and civilization literally melting - disappearing while the Bush/Cheney/Coleman Global Big Oil Band plays on.
Lesley's lovely book is wonderfully written, but yet, at least for this reviewer, sometimes difficult to read. I find myself feeling like Billy Jack in the ice cream store: 'I try. I really try' not to let the [bad guys] get me down and 'then I think of ... this idiotic moment of yours and I Just Go Berserk.'
Please read this book, and pass it on to all your sane friends and relatives and maybe, just maybe, if enough of us on this Group W Bench (listen to Alice's Restaurant again) band together, we can stop the insanity!
... cue Jinx Dawson and Coven o/~ One Tin Soldier Rides Away o/~
/TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

A beautiful, well-written story.......2007-08-17

I can't pretend and say that I know a whole lot about shamanism and indigenous culture in general because I don't. When I read Lesley Thomas' FLIGHT OF THE GOOSE, I initially thought she was part of the indigenous culture that she writes about in her novel. Lesley really dives into every minute detail about the daily lives of the indigenous people in Alaska and their culture including their language. I was wrong. Judging by the text, the author really did her research on the language, spirituality, and the mundane every day life of the indigenous natives in Alaska. There is even a glossary of Inupiaq in the back of the book that defined certain words that she used in her story. The authenticity of Lesley's novel alone gets major kudos from me.

The story of FLIGHT OF THE GOOSE is told from two different perspectives...Gretchen, a young solitary Inuit who is teaching herself to become a shamaness, and Leif, a biologist who is trying to avoid the draft. Their romance certainly plays a big role in Lesley's novel but the author also addresses other issues like war, the environment, and the clashing cultures of the older and younger Inuits without coming off as preachy and sanctimonious.

I am normally not a big fan of romance novels. I find them rather unrealistic and phoney but Lesley Thomas's novel is anything but unrealistic. What I really liked about the book was the authencity of the book. The amount of research that Lesley invested into her book really shines through especially when she describes the uneventful daily lives of Gretchen and her people.

I loved reading FLIGHT OF THE GOOSE. Lesley Thomas has a wonderful gift for storytelling. She has made a new fan out of me who rarely reads fiction nowadays.

Beautiful & Moving Story ...........2007-08-09

I just finished this book five minutes ago and scores of thoughts and images are floating through my mind right now. It is hard for me to figure out what to say in a review that hasn't been said already and how to convey the thoughts I'd like to share. It is an incredible book and one that I would not hesitate to recommend to any book club or anyone else to read.

First off, it's very lyrical. I can actually see the tundra and the sea breaking loose from the ice after a long hard winter. I can actually see the tent in the middle of the marsh. I can see the love shining in a young Indian's eyes, the fear and the impotent rage. I can see how love triumphs over bitterness and the very humanness of being human and scared. It is also a very lush novel ~~ lyrical and lush, my two favorite types of descriptions when it comes to reading. It is not a book to put down at a whim ~~ no, it's a book to savor and re-read over and over simply because of the beauty of language and description.

Secondly, I have always loved reading about different cultures. Perhaps it's because it's so different from my own life (which seems to be very much a white-bread and butter type in comparison to this novel's people). Whatever the reason is, I enjoy reading about it. Thomas does a great job of carrying me across the whole nation into a different world ~~ a world of ice and beauty, fraught with danger and redemption. It is not just a love story, it is about a disappearing way of life that makes your heart sad because once a way of life is gone, there is no way of reclaiming it.

Thirdly, it is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. It's not your typical bosom-heaving type novel ~~ no, it's about a real love story of two star-crossed lovers. It's beautiful and real. A young man lost in the anger of his failed relationship with his father, grieving over the death of his brother, avoiding the Vietnam war finds love with a young girl, who is an orphan and a shamaness, wild at heart and unable to give away her heart. This book shows that love conquers all, even death.

In all honesty, you cannot pick this book up and read it, then forget about it. There are too many rich details in this book that throughout the course of the day, you'll be doing something, then you'll be reminded of something else in the book. This is a book that you will want to read again in a few years. And again. It is one of the most beautiful story you'll ever want to read.

Pick up this book and soar into a world of beauty that you will never forget.

8-9-07

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