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Loading... Into White Silence (2008)by Anthony Eaton
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I loved it. The descriptions of obsession and its consequences in all its manifestations are handled with dexterity and confidence and the narrative is such that the story might really have happened. I hope it wins CBCA Book of the Year. ( ) I loved this book!!! It was such a compelling read that I couldn't put it down but at the same time I didn't want it to end. At first I didn't think I would enjoy it as it read like non-fiction, but after a few pages I was hooked. I was so totally engrossed in Downes' journal as he recounted his involvement in Edward Rouke's expedition to Antarctica aboard the Raven in 1922. With a list of personnel, diagrams of the ship, family trees of Rouke and Downes, and the author's introduction at the beginning of the book I was wondering if this was actually based on a true story or a mix of fact and fiction. Regardless, it was a book full of adventure, intrigue, horror, greed and despair, and could so easily have been true. Eaton's descriptions of the ice, the wind, the climatic conditions and the utter desolation of Antarctica are brilliant. This is a book I'm going to add to my own library at home. This is the story of a fictional Antarctic expedition, which purportedly took place in 1922. The description of this expedition is loosely based on the expeditions of Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen etc. The story begins in modern day, and concerns a writer, Anthony, who is spending a summer at Casey Station in Antarctica. On his first night at the base, he finds a journal written by a returned soldier, William Downes, written in the 1920s. The story then alternates between Anthony's reflections on his modern day Antarctic experience and the increasingly tragic journal entries of William. This fictional account of the ill-fated Polar expedition of the Raven builds into a very realistic story. It would be very easy to believe that it is a true account of the mysterious fate of the 28 men aboard the vessel. The links between past and present are interesting, as is the question about the writer in the story. Is the author of the book the Anthony of the story? The story slowly builds and the possibilities of something unknown happening in this cold, white, alien place maintains the tension until the end. no reviews | add a review
Awards
"During the winter of 1922, the Exploration Vessel Raven became trapped in the Antarctic icepack, entombing 28 men aboard it through the dark, polar night. Into white silence tells their story - a story of a lost past, of a tragic future, of ice, ambition and madness. It captures the terrible, fascinating beauty of Antarctica, both as it was then and is today, and is a journey into the mind of every person who has ever set foot upon those ice-bound shores.'--Provided by publisher. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.4Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Post-Elizabethan 1625-1702LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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