Kolbert, Elizabeth: The Ends of the Earth
The Ends of Earth: An Anthology of the Finest Writing on the Arctic and the Antarctic
Edited by: Elizabeth Kolbert & Francis Spufford
Genre: Nature/Travel/Essays
Pages: 424
So shockers of all shockers, I finally finished this book. It took me three weeks, but I finished it!
I've been meaning to start reading about the Arctic/Antarctic for a while. My research has been hampered by the fact that I didn't know where to start (despite the Idiot's Guide sitting on my bookshelf) and just plain laziness. But when I saw this book in Barnes & Nobles' Holiday Catalogue, I knew I had to have it. I marched to the store, found there only copy, and then debated: it's a hard cover, do I really want a hard cover? Then, a magical thing happened: I flipped the book over, and there was the cover again. Wait, what? So I flip the book over AGAIN, and finally understand: one half of it is devoted to the Arctic, then you flip it over for the Antarctic. It's a flip book!
Well, that lovely gimmick sold me right then and there. And the reason I started reading it right away was because I'm doing research, and reading about other peoples' experiences (real or fictional) in these kinds of conditions would be a vast help.
It was. But let's focus on the book. It's a mix of travelogues, essays, short stories and novel excerpts, some fiction, some not. One thing I would like to note right away: in Amazon's product description, which comes from the publishing company's product description, it's mentioned that there's writings from Jon Krakauer and Ursula K. LeGuin. This is not true, so I'm really puzzling at who wrote this and why it's posted there. Behind the cut, I've listed the authors who contribute to the book so that if you're interested, you'll know exactly what you're getting into.
Obviously, some chapters were dryer than others, but the interesting thing is that the Arctic section really seemed focused on the people, particularly the culture of the Eskimo, whereas the Antarctic section was really focused on the expeditions. From this collection, it sounded like travel in the Antarctic was far harsher than in the Arctic, and that may be true, or it may be a case that the essays selected for the Arctic simply weren't as harsh. Overall, I found the Arctic section to be far more intriguing, though the latter chapters of the Antarctic half were very engaging. Those chapters that were diary excerpts detailing expeditions were sad to me in a way that I couldn't articulate. Something about man's need to claim uncharted land for their countries just irks me, but that didn't diminish the overall enjoyment of the book.
Coming from someone who hasn't done a great deal of research--nor traveled to--either of the poles, I was glad to find that this book makes for a great starting point. Some excerpts were enough to make me look up the original books on Amazon, and now I've got a handy list for even more research, and that's something I look forward to, even though I'm really not sure when I'll get around to it.
So if the polar regions interest you, give this book a go. The cover art provided really doesn't do the cover justice: the actual cover (which I can't find online to save my life) is actually white with blue-green detailing the compass rose. I think the print is positioned differently as well. Just so you know. ;)
The Arctic
John Franklin
Elisha Kent Kane
Chauncey Loomis
Andrea Barrett
Jules Verne
Fridtjof Nansen
Salomon August Andree
Robert Peary
Hinrich Rink
Knud Rasmussen
Rockwell Kent
Gontran De Poncins
Tete-Michel Kpomassie
Jack London
Valerian Albanov
Halldor Laxness
Barry Lopez
Gretel Ehrlich
Marla Cone
Elizabeth Kolbert
The Antarctic
Frederick A. Cook
Louis Bernacchi
Edward Wilson
Ernest Shackleton
Nobu Shirase
Aplsey Cherry-Garrard
Roald Amundsen
Robert Falcon Scott
Francis Spufford
Douglas Mawson
Richard Byrd
H.P. Lovecraft
John Langone
Diane Ackerman
Bill Green
Jenny Diski
Sara Wheeler
Nicholas Johnson
Kim Stanley Robinson
Next up: Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans