766 pages of good reading.

this is a great mid-winter book. at first, i was daunted by the amount of pages and a little bit put off by the historic and nautical context.  once i got started, i was drawn right in.

"the terror" is based on the actual disappearance of two naval ships departing england in 1845, out to find the northwest passage. 129 men were never heard from again and simmons takes a stab at filling in what may have happened to them. 
 
i can't imagine i would have had the same empathetic reaction to the suffering of the characters in this book if i was sitting on a warm beach in aruba.
i certainly can't imagine myself lasting more than a month trapped on a ship locked in the ice at 60 below zero.  i get upset if the heat blanket isn't turned on early enough before bed.
bad food?  a monster?  no thanks.
(thanks to sam, who's on an expedition of his own right now, for the recommendation)

1 comment:

  1. .
    awesome. i'm glad you liked it. i knew the heavy nautical stuff might get a little boring, but the rest was enough to keep me in it... we got back yesterday – amazing trip – just ridiculous... i'll have a picture site up soon and let you know. sam.
    .

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