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Loading... The Voyage of the Narwhal (1998)by Andrea Barrett
 CookieDemon | Apr 11, 2012 |  This book definitely sparked an interest in the "Northwest Passage" and the Franklin Expedition. For months I had lots of these sytle of books on inter library loan, trying to find out more of the history. Nothing satisfied my curiosity as much as this novel did, and yet it left so much unanswered. It took awhile for me to get into the writing style. I would love to own it and re-read it one day. (  ) BigNess | Jan 31, 2011 | Barrett's trademark historical scientific fiction heads to the great white north in this story of an Arctic expedition gone terribly wrong. (  ) wanack | Jun 30, 2010 | Talking grew difficult; their beards froze to their neckerchiefs and saliva sealed their lips. The wind tore tears from their eyes and froze their lids together. Thus is the atmosphere in The Voyage of the Narwhal, an historical adventure novel by Andrea Barrett. It is set in the mid-nineteenth century; the Narwhal is a whaling ship that has been outfitted for an Arctic voyage. The mission is to find out what happened to the Franklin expedition, apparently lost some years before exploring the Arctic. It is a bit of a race, as other expeditions have also set out to find Franklin’s ship. The Narwhal’s naturalist and the book’s main protagonist is Erasmus Darwin Wells. He is the voice of reason on the voyage, compared to the commander, Zechariah Voorhees (Zeke), who is young and daring and doesn’t give much thought to the consequences of his actions. He puts his crew at risk on a number of occasions. He is the commander only because his father funded the expedition and built the ship. Though I haven’t read many adventure stories, there are some elements here one would naturally expect – daring, danger, hardships, near death experiences, an unhappy crew, an unreasonable commander, and so on. Barrett's brilliance lies in her descriptions of the atmosphere and settings: ...any acknowledgment of sickness made the men nervous. So did the darkness, and the daily task of scraping from bunks and bulkheads the frost that formed from their breath while they slept. It was disturbing, Erasmus thought, to watch the air that had lived inside their lungs turn into buckets of dirty ice. Tossing the shavings over the side, he felt as if he were discarding parts of himself. Waiting at home for the return of the Narwhal are Lavinia – sister to Erasmus and fiancé of Zeke – and her companion during the men’s absence, Alexandra. We are privy to their lives as well. They set to work hand coloring plates for an entomology book Lavinia’s two other brothers are publishing. Lavinia uses the work to fill her time, but Alexandra takes to the work and begins drawing illustrations for another book. She is the strong independent one and introduces the theme of women’s rights and abilities into the story. She and her family are abolitionists. This novel holds adventure, intrigue, mystery, and a bit of magical realism right alongside issues of human rights – treatment of and attitudes toward the indigenous people of the Arctic, the Esquimaux, are explored. Highly recommended (unless you’re trying to keep warm in frigid temperatures!). (  )13  teelgee | Feb 9, 2010 | very interesting and keeps your attention ( ) CynthiaScott | Feb 9, 2010 |
 Barrett's marvelous achievement is to have reimagined so graphically that cusp of time when Victorian certainty began to question whether it could encompass the world with its outward-bound enthusiasm alone -- when it started to glimpse the dark ballast beneath the iceberg's dazzling tip.  It's been a long time since an American novel appeared that's as stately and composed as Andrea Barrett's "The Voyage of the Narwhal," the fictional account of a 19th century Arctic expedition and its aftermath that doubles also as a meditation on the nature of adventure and the scientific mind. In "The Voyage of the Narwhal," she has shaped a compelling narrative around the golden age of Arctic exploration, written in the spirit, if not the length or the exact style, of a 19th century novel -- solid, unhurried, reflective and totally wedded to plot. Barrett tells her story through multiple voices -- Erasmus, Zeke, their colleagues, the crew and the women waiting patiently at home -- but "Voyage of the Narwhal" is her own creation, marvelously imagined and beautifully told. A first-rate novel and a welcome, old-fashioned read. Like "Ship Fever," "Narwhal" showcases Ms. Barrett's gifts for extracting high drama from the complex world of science and natural history and for placing her characters in situations that reveal their fundamental natures. Indeed, "Narwhal" is an adventure story in the way that Conrad's "Lord Jim" and "The Nigger of the Narcissus" are adventure stories: the story's extreme conditions and harrowing experiences, which make for such gripping reading, are actually moral and spiritual tests that strip away the characters' public masks and expose their innermost drives and fears.
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And what of the women left behind? Lavinia knows little of the dangers of ice (though she's well schooled in isolation) and lives only for Zeke's return. Her companion, Alexandra Copeland, is less sanguine. Even after she's been given a secret career break--ghosting for an ailing engraver--she knows how invisible she is and how threatening her family's "dense net of obligations" will always be. Though they get less page time, Barrett is in fact as concerned with these women as she is with her seafarers. Like the heroines of her National Book Award-winning Ship Fever, who bump up against science and history in which only men's triumphs are written, they must somehow escape social tyranny or retreat into the consolations of storytelling or silence.
There is tyranny on board the Narwhal as well, as Zeke alternates between good will and paranoia, his closest companion an arctic fox he has "civilized" and who sits on his shoulder "like a white epaulet." (Alas, Sabine, like many of the men, is not to survive the journey.) Encounters with the Esquimaux--who might know more about the lost expedition than they're willing to share--not having gone according to plan, Zeke determines in late August to head for Smith Sound rather than home, despite the crew's protests. By mid-September, however, the craft is ice-locked, and it's clear they'll have to "winter over." At first the men make the best of their situation, magically sculpting cottages, castles, palaces, even a whale--and offering informal seminars in butchery, Bible studies, and basic navigation. However, as the weather worsens and Zeke grows increasingly despotic, morale plummets.
Barrett excels in both physical and social description, writing with a naturalist's precision and a passionate imagination. With quick strokes (backed up by intense research), she can fill us in on some sensible but threatening Esquimaux footgear: "All five were dressed in fur jackets and breeches, with high boots made from the leg skins of white bears. The men's feet, Erasmus saw, were sheltered by the bears' feet, with claws protruding like overgrown human toenails. Walking, the men left bear prints on the snow." The author also shines in panoramic scenes--her descriptions of the Arctic can only be called magnificent--and in small, precarious, personal moments. When Erasmus eventually returns to Philadelphia, minus his toes and his future brother-in-law, a grieving Lavinia takes to her bed. Eventually, however, she relents: "Lavinia stared straight ahead. Straight at Erasmus, her right hand tucked in her lap while her left turned a silver spoon back to front, front to back, the reflections melting, re-forming, and melting again.... Lavinia said softly, 'I forgive you.' Everyone knew she was speaking to Erasmus."
The Voyage of the Narwhal is full of blood-freezing surprises, a score of indelible characters, and heart-stopping mysteries. As Erasmus watches Alexandra draw landscapes he has seen before but missed something in, each pencil stroke is "like a chisel held to a cleavage plane: tap, tap, and the rock split into two sharp pieces, the world cracked and spoke to him." Readers of Andrea Barrett's novel will experience this sensation again and again. Packed with harsh truths about the not-always-true art of discovery, it is also among the most emotionally wrenching, subtle works of the century. --Kerry Fried
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:00:07 -0500)
An expedition by sea to the Arctic in 1885 to search for the explorer, John Franklin. The protagonists are two men from Philadelphia, the dynamic but foolhardy organizer and his companion, a naturalist who considers himself a loser. The loser lives, the dynamo dies. By the author of Ship Fever.… (more)
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I have had this book sat on my shelf for what seems like forever, so I'm pleased I eventually got around to reading it. Actually, I don't know why I didn't get around to it sooner- I think I'd been avoiding it because it was a bit of a long book on what I suspected might be quite a dry subject matter. Despite an admittedly slow start and some peaks and troughs in the middle however, this was actually a really absorbing read.
Set during the 19th Century, the novel follows the expedition of the crew of `The Narwhal,' on their journey to the polar north and their quest to try to find out the fate of vanished explorer, Sir John Franklin. On board with this motley crew is the headstrong, voyage leader Zeke, as well as naturalist Erasmus. Erasmus longs to visit the north to catalogue flora and fauna and gain a wealth of knowledge of a culture and terrain very different from his own, but it appears that Zeke's motives for the journey are somewhat questionable...
I think for me, one of the stronger aspects of this novel was the relationship dynamics portrayed between the two lead characters- Zeke and Erasmus. Both are very different individuals and their underlying conflict and tension is clear from the beginning of the book and I enjoyed seeing this played out as the story progressed. The secondary characters too, are well written- from Joe with his leanings towards the Arctic lifestyle, to the much underused Dr Boerhaave and ships cook, Ned. As much of the book is set aboard the ship and time ticks by very slowly, the characters have to be strongly developed, otherwise the novel will become too dull, but they carried the plot well with all of their little quirks and foibles, even lifting it unexpectedly in places as they tried to make the best of their new surroundings.
Another device used is women waiting at home for their men to return from sea, a common theme in this type of book, but one that I think is used to great effect here. I appreciated Alexandra as a character and as a person who tries to make the best of things, but I found Lavinia to be incredibly vapid and a bit one-dimensional and I didn't like her at all. I also have to say, that I did sense the twist that was coming towards the end, and for me, the book troughed a little once the explorers were on dry land, though this was to be expected of course.
The story is rife with details of life on board a ship and society at the time as well as looking at the Esquimaux culture, but thankfully the authors research does not come across as reading too much like a history textbook and is instead conveys a wealth of interesting information to the reader. I feel that I actually learned something in reading this book and it has piqued my interest in reading more books in this genre in future.
By one token a gripping adventure story, yet on the other hand a great tale of human insight and character study, this is a book I am pleased that I eventually gave a chance. I would recommend this if you enjoy well written historical fiction or have an interest in maritime history. (