Andrea Pitzer

the first half of this was kind of hard for me and i found my mind wandering a lot. it got much more interesting at the end, when the crew had gotten trapped and had to both survive and get home (sorry crew, but it was so much more engaging). for me what was the takeaway is the disappointing reminder of how much we such as humans. for these dutchmen, who were wholly unprepared for arctic weather, to arrive and immediately condemn the native population as barbarian and subhuman, because they're dressed differently than the dutchmen (they're dressed to live and survive in the arctic), when they live there, ugh it's just our legacy i guess. we did it then (this was in the 1590s) and we do it now. and for their first instincts, when they see the natives and when they see the animals they've never seen before (polar bears, walrus) was to capture or kill them, and these are (theoretically) explorers. i know that most of them were actually just sailors, just men who didn't have what i'd assume would be the explorer's sensibility of wanting to learn and wanting to understand and wanting to see possibilities, but to not want to observe the animals, to just want to kill them - i think our human instincts are going to be our demise.… (altro)

In 1584, Dutch navigator William Barents "prepared to sail off the edge of the known world." Many looked for a shortcut to China to the West, but the Dutch sought the solution to the North. The belief was that there was a direct, open polar sea. The fleet makes its first voyage from Amsterdam to Kildin Island, then to the northern tip of Nova Zembla, aptly named Ice Point. The Sami and Russian trappers disappear into the darkness of the far north. They encounter massive glaciers, and winds that surge the ship. At one point an anchor snapped free and one of the ships "ricocheted" but all survived. They are forced to turn back after reaching impassable ice walls.

In 1595, the Dutch burghers authorized a second voyage, one that would go via the southern tip of Nova Zembla. 6 ships, with William in "The Greyhound" joined by Admiral Nay. They are forced to turn back after 4 drown in a ship collision during a storm, 2 are eaten by a polar bear and more ice. Barents last voyage was in 1596, along with former representative Jan Cornelis Rjip, now fellow captain. Upon reaching Spitsbergen Island, Rjip and Barents would separate, Barents heading back to Nova Zembla, and it would be the last time they ever spoke...

"Icebound" is harrowing and Barents didn't have the macho foolishness of a Magellan or conquistador type. But I couldn't give it a 5, because narratively, it could've been more engaging at times and I think adding more personal details about the crew, including Barents, could've helped. These men were smarter and more conscientious with their supplies. They do their best to stay warm, but also clean and preserve their little energy for emptying fox traps, take turns collecting wood and moving supplies. But despite that, the last voyage is one of the wildest I've ever read and was definitely the best part of the book!… (altro)