Antarctica

Fiction: Mikko Lensu: Varatohtori Virta Etelänavalla (Teos, 2006) This the sequel to Mikko Lensu’s first polar children’s book, Varatohtori Virta Pohjoisnavalla. Although this book suffers from the usual sequel problem of recycled jokes, it was more fun to read. The fantastic parts didn’t seem quite so forced and the general Continue Reading

Fiction: Marie Darrieussecq: White (Faber & Faber, 2006) One of the rare Antarctic novels I’ve read that’s proper, high-brow literature and not a genre excercise. It’s a slim, compact novel, a simple love story with a very effective, stream-of-consciousness voice. It’s about the weight of the past and deals with Continue Reading

Film: John Sturges: Ice Station Zebra (U.S.A. 1968) A Cold War thriller about a secret mission to the North Pole on a nuclear submarine. The underwater imagery of the sub is cool,  and it looks like a big budget production for its time. Unfortunately, it feels like the people who Continue Reading

Fiction: Mikko Lensu: Varatohtori Virta Pohjoisnavalla (Teos, 2005) A children’s book about an expedition through the polar sea. The author makes an effort towards whimsy, but his style doesn’t really stretch that far. It reads like someone in the natural sciences trying to be lighthearted and failing. On the upside, Continue Reading

Fiction: William Dietrich: Ice Reich (Warner Books 1998) A competent thriller / love story set during the second World War, Ice Reich takes as its starting point the historical Nazi Antarctic expedition. Dietrich has chosen to discard all historical detail except the name of the expedition ship, Schwabenland. It may Continue Reading

Poetry: Chris Orsman: South (1996/1999, Faber and Faber) A New Zealand poet, Orsman travelled to Antarctica in 1998. He has a tenuous (but funny) family connection to Robert Falcon Scott, and this poetry collection is about Scott’s ill-fated expedition to be the first to the South Pole. The poems never Continue Reading

Non-fiction: Robin Burns: Just Tell Them I Survived! – Women in Antarctica (Allen & Unwin, 2001) A scholarly book about the experiences of women at Antarctica. The author is Australian, and the focus of the book is on the experiences of Australian women within the Australian Antarctic program. This is Continue Reading

Fiction: Auden Bailey: Drifting at the Bottom of the World (Bella Books, 2002) The second lesbian Antarctica book I’ve read, this is a novel written by a writer who has spent a number of seasons working in the Antarctic. First the good: the book has good detail, and has the Continue Reading

Non-fiction: John C. Behrendt: the Ninth Circle (2005, University of New Mexico Press) Behrendt is a researcher who has worked in the various American Antarctic programs since the Fifties, and as such his writing about the actual scientific work on the continent is very interesting. His earlier book, Innocents on Continue Reading

Non-fiction: Sarah Moss: Scott’s Last Biscuit – the Literature of Polar Exploration (2006, Signal Books) This is a book which analyzes interesting and relevant questions posed by the wealth of Arctic and Antarctic literature. I’ve read so much trivial and willfully boring literary analysis that its good to have a Continue Reading