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Author: Sara Wheeler
It is the coldest, windiest, driest
place on earth, an icy desert of unearthly
beauty and stubborn impenetrability.
For centuries, Antarctica has captured
the imagination of our greatest scientists
and explorers, lingering in the spirit
long after their return. Shackleton
called it "the last great journey";
for Apsley Cherry-Garrard it was the
worst journey in the world.
This is a book about the call of
the wild and the response of the spirit
to a country that exists perhaps most
vividly in the mind. Wheeler spent
seven months in Antarctica, living
with its scientists and dreamers.
No book is more true to the spirit
of that continent--beguiling, enchanted
and vast beyond the furthest reaches
of our imagination. Chosen by Beryl
Bainbridge and John Major as one of
the best books of the year, recommended
by the editors of Entertainment Weekly
and the Chicago Tribune, one of the
Seattle Times's top ten travel books
of the year, Terra Incognita is
a classic of polar literature.
From Publishers Weekly
Journalist Wheeler (Travels
in a Thin Country, on Chile) spent more than two years researching
and organizing a seven-month journey to Antarctica, becoming the first
foreigner to join the American National Science Foundation's Antarctic
Artists' and Writers' Program. Her wry, lucid account of that journey juxtaposes
the epic exploits of heroic early Antarctic explorers (Robert Scott, Ernest
Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, Douglas Mawson, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, et al.)
with her own adventures. She offers a critical survey of the literature
of Antarctic exploration and provides as well insights into the historical
and cultural impact of Antarctic exploration on the British and Norwegian
national consciousnesses. While the hardships the intrepid Wheeler suffered
are a faint echo of those endured by polar pioneers, there's still a wealth
of absorbing detail to make the point: use and operation of toilets in
subzero; foodstuffs and their creative preparation; transportation, be
it dogsled, skis or snowmobile; proper layering of protective clothing;
the leisure activities and quirks of the varied scientists and support
crews ("Frozen Beards") she encountered. Along the way, she offers
a rare woman's view of a thoroughly male place, tolerant of women in most
cases but downright hostile in some (as in the U.K. zone). Wheeler writes
elegantly and movingly about the unearthly landscape and its effects: "The
twin peaks... were backlit against a pearly blue sky.... Ribboned crystals
imprisoned in the ice glimmered like glowworms. It was swathed in light,
pale as an unripe lemon. The scene said to me, 'Do not be afraid.' It was
like the moment when I pass back the chalice after holy communion." Her
book, fascinating reading for any explorer, armchair or otherwise, concludes
with the recipe for her renowned "Bread-and-Butter Pudding (Antarctic
Version)."
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
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$12.95 (softcover)
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