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 enlarge | Author: Alvah Simon
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $14.94 (100%)
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Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 84305
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 328
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 076790446X
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.804
EAN: 9780767904469
ASIN: 076790446X
Publication Date: September 14, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
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| Customer Reviews:
 It's more like a 10-star book April 6, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
because it has all the things great books are supposed to have. It's exciting, honest, moving, educational, thoughtful, humorous, philosophical. You'll be different after you read it.
Okay, a husband and a wife and a cat going up into the Arctic to winter-over in a small boat is a goofy idea. The author admits as much and realizes he bit off more than he could chew. It was much worse than he expected, but with grit, resourcefulness, and well, lack of any other choices, he somehow, against all odds, lives to see spring.
That the cat got through the winter is even more astonishing. At one point Simon picks up the cat, and not knowing it's frozen, breaks off one of its ears. (The ear heals -- sort of.)
Simon's wife has to leave before winter sets in, and Simon is left alone with the cat to get through months of darkness and 60-below (F)weather. He goes blind for a time, nearly dies from lack of oxygen and carbon-monoxide poisoning, and loses his mind for awhile. He does endlessly dumb things -- it would be much less of a story if he didn't.
Simon is an astonishingly good writer, his style easy and natural, and his description of the Actic as good as Barry Lopez' best.
 A Spiritual Odyssey of Incredible Self-Absorbtion February 25, 2006
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
While the descriptions of arctic environment and people encountered in this book was interesting, the prose style of Mr. Simon was completely self-absorbed, dripping with condescension, arrogance, and numerous jagged barbs toward those who do not share his free lifestyle or post-modern worldview.
While he states this was a spiritual Odyssey, the story was all I, I, I, me, me, me, us, us, us. The Inuit accepted US, the wildlife accept ME, the fox that was near my boat had a message for ME, the raven that was a frequent visitor was there for ME, the bear I encountered also had a message for ME. Every piece of landscape, every person, every animal was only important in its relationship to them. That self-absorption got old really quickly.
He states it was a spiritual quest, but repeatedly stated that he needed the experience to "authenticate" himself. He needed to "interact" with the wildlife to "authenticate" his experience. Then, after all this "authentication", what great spiritual insight did he give his readers at the end of his journey? "I entered the abyss in many ways a stranger to myself and emerged intimately familiar with the inner man. I searched the edges of darkness and plumbed the depths of my soul, faced my fears, and uncovered my weaknesses." I, I, I, me, me, me. Please, enough already.
He quote Loren Eiseley, writing, "It is a commonplace of all religious thought, even the most primitive, that the man seeking visions and insight must go apart from his fellows and live for a time in the wilderness. If he is of the proper sort he will return with a message." Too bad Mr. Simon didn't return with one.
I feel sorry for someone so spiritually bereft that he must seek out such hardships in order to "authenticate" himself. And there are certainly better books about the arctic out there that are actually about the arctic and not just about the author. I suggest passing on this one.
 I got frostbit just reading it December 29, 2004
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Except for the silly mystical BS found here and there (what the author calls a "guiding hand" dishing out luck to him), this is a very good "read." It deserves a place on the bookshelf next to the other great books about Arctic adventures.
Breathtaking -- in both scene and spirit November 20, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Undoubtedly one of THE best books I've read in my 30+ years - Alvah Simon paints a brilliant, raw picture of adventure and challenge in the grip of the Arctic. His storytelling is as riveting as his story, and I sacrificed many many things for reading time with him.
Searching for one's soul December 14, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Magnificently written, Alvah Simon's riveting account of an Arctic winter spent alone is a wonderful demonstration of the strength of man's will when put to the test. With only a kitten as a companion, Simon delves into the deepest reaches of the human psyche in his search for spiritual meaning and definition. Simon delivers a compelling tale of encounters with monstrous blizzards, temporary blindness, polar bears, and the inspirational Inuit people, all the while slowly creeping towards insanity. His survival and salvation lie with the sole desire to see his wife, Diana. A pleasure and thrill to read, Simon reveals his personal philosophy on the meaning of life, parting the Arctic night with only a 36' sailboat, a cat, and his inner being.
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