Charles W. Johnson (1)

What's that you say? You have a yen for tales of endurance set in the frozen polar wastes? Well, hunker down, armchair adventurers, have I got a book for you ...

Charles W. Johnson's painstakingly-assembled history relates the late 19th and early 20th century voyages of the Norwegian "Ice Ship" Fram. This vessel, the main character of the book, was built for a very specific reason: moody young scientist and arctic expert Fridtjof Nansen had a crazy-sounding theory that currents existed in the show more northern polar ice cap which could carry a vessel, while locked into the ice, across the roof of the world -- *if* that vessel could be built sufficiently strong to withstand the incredible pressures.

Fram was that vessel.

As is typical with books like Ice Ship, the devil (or angel, as the case may be) is in the details, and the reader gets plenty of engaging detail here -- much of it about Fram herself, but also about the remarkable men who formed her crew and about the forbidding regions they explored. These details are relayed by words and by scores of evocative photographs, enough to make this a splendid "coffee-table" book as well as a book to hold in one's clenched hands, reading reading reading.

Johnson does an admirable job with the 1st voyage, the one for which Fram was built: the multi-year journey through the ice of the north polar ocean. Admittedly it is an uphill battle in that it is a slow, passive journey, headed up by a rather gloomy explorer, Nansen. In Johnson's hands it becomes a spellbinding story of a journey almost too weird to be true (I admit that, fond as I am of polar exploration tales, I did not know this one at all).

The 2nd and 3rd voyages of Fram take her first with eccentrically-bearded Otto Sverdrup to the islands of arctic Canada (making the longest polar journey ever in the process) and then with Roald Amundsen toward what would become the race for the South Pole (which Amundsen, of course, won handily).

Ice Ship is adventure, history, shipbuilding miracle and great character tapestry all rolled into one extremely appealing book. The only caveat I might throw potential readers is that animals (wild and comparatively domestic) come in for some rough treatment here -- as is often the case in sagas of this type. Harsh environments beget such stuff, since -- for one thing -- more animals become food than would ordinarily be the case. Otherwise, though, get this book.

If you can make it to Norway, incidentally, you can visit Fram in her very own museum. show less

I just realized (by looking over my wins from the Early Reviewer program) that I'd never posted my review of this book. Ice Ship is non-fiction, and I got it through Early Reviewers. I do love me some polar exploration, for some unknown reason. I can't swim, I have no interest in frozen tundra and many animals are always killed on these expeditions, so it seems less than obvious that it'd be a topic I keep returning to. But still, it is. This was a bound hardcover, which was nice because show more there are a lot of photographs. In fact, it looks more like a coffee-table book than a regular non-fiction read. That made it a little unwieldy for having so much text, but I still think it was the right choice. Anyway, the "hook" is that the book is centered around the ship rather than the crew or expedition leader of a specific journey, which means that we get to talk about Fritdjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen both, since they each took the Fram on different trips. It's a good premise, and there's a lot of interesting information along with the aforementioned photographs, but the writing is not stellar. Still definitely worth checking out if you're interested in the subject matter. show less

I give this book 5+ stars for content. Incredible detail, clearly presented, fabulous collection of photos. I have a moderately large collection of "polar books" and this is one of the best in terms of research and the volume of photos and illustrations. Where it lacks is in the quality of writing. Here's one sample sentence – "Having been chastened by the incident of the bear coming on board without their awareness, much less their permission, by their ill-preparedness for such a close show more call, and by what happened to Hendriksen, the men from then on carried their guns, affixed with bayonets, whenever they went outside venturing." How many commas was that? I had a hard time plowing thru the narrative, and that's why I knocked off a star from my review. show less

I am very fortunate to have received a copy of "Ice Ship: Voyages of the Polar Adventurer Fram." by Charles W. Johnson. Even in his title Charles Johnson refers to the Fram as a "Polar Adventurer" almost making the vessel human. As I read through the book I developed an attachment to the ship and thus understand the author's reference in the title.
I have found this book one of the best I have read on the subject of polar exploration in that era. It Ties all the explorations together, and show more gives a personal accounting of all those involved. The author shares information about the characters involved in the exploration. You come away with an understanding of who they were, and what drove them before, during and after the exploration.
I would highly recommend this book to any one remotely interested in this era of history. Craigeri show less