Cold Winter Book
Saturday, February 16th, 2008Killigrew and the North-West Passage by Jonathan Lunn
One can tell from the three-masted ship listing on pack-ice on the cover that this book is set away back in time - specifically in 1852, back before GPS, Photos of the earth from space and other modern marvels we take for granted - like knowing the shapes of the continents, for one thing.
Still, it’s a good book, with well-fleshed-out characters, not all of them stereotypical. The one female character is not a delicate, fainting type, the Inuit who signs on for the quest is neither savage nor saintly, and the sailors, even the minor players, feel genuine both in their diverse backgrounds and peculiar superstitions. And the polar bears that plague the party are not portrayed as cute and cuddly, nor given human-like personalities, which was refreshing.
In that era, sailors were still hoping to find the fabled “North-West passage” that would let them sail from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans without having to sail all the way down to the bottom of South America, and treacherous Cape Horn. Any schoolchild now could look at map of the world and tell you that it’s not possible, but back then, we didn’t know.
This novel is excellent, gripping, and gives you a real flavor for both the time period and the struggles explorers went through. I couldn’t put it down, and was quite pleased that, after the novel itself ended, there was a several-page “Afterward,” telling “The Truth about Polar Bears and Other Matters.” I recommend this to anyone who likes “exploration” or “historical” fiction. It feels absolutely real.
It was one of the cold, bright New England days today, so I figured this was a good book to review today. After reading, I gave it to my brother, who lives in a “snow belt” section of upstate NY!