North to the Orient

NORTH TO THE ORIENT, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

I found this book at the local second-hand shop, the only 'bookstore' in town. It's the original 1935 hardback edition, albeit the 9th printing, and in surprisingly good condition, from a time when book makers took pride in their work - thick paper, tight binding. The story itself is pretty straightforward, presenting Anne's memories and impressions from a long over-the-top-of-the-world flight she made with her famous husband, from late July through September of 1931. They took off from our East Coast, flying from Long Island to D.C., then up to the family home in Maine. From there across the frozen wastes of northern Canada and Alaska to the Kamchatka (in Siberia) and down to Japan and over show more to China. Anne documents her early anxiety about being the flight 'radio-man,' struggling with her still-new knowledge of radios, radio procedure, and Morse code, and trying to stay in touch with far-flung remote stations in places like Point Barrow, Nome, and fog-bound, mountainous northern Japan. She admits being terrified more than once during the flight. But the bulk of her narrative is about the people she meets - the Anglican Parson and the Catholic Priest in Baker Lake (Canada) who don't speak to each other in the tiny community of barely a few dozen souls. The Russians in tiny Karaginski village, exclaiming over the photos of Anne's baby. Anne's story is an intimately human story. She is always more interested in the people she meets and interacts with than she is in the technical parts of the flight or even its perhaps history-making significance. She is a gifted writer, and brings these people in isolated primitive places vividly to life.

The trip Lindbergh describes here happened barely six months before their baby was kidnapped and murdered, a case which made headlines around the world. The book was not published until 1935, yet there is no mention anywhere of their personal tragedy. The book was a bestseller however, going through multiple printings, partially, I suspect, because of that notorious case and a public hunger for more information about the Lindberghs. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was obviously not interested in feeding that hunger, only in recording her memories - good ones - of that perilous yet obviously rewarding air voyage she made with her husband in a happier time. Eighty years later, this is still a lovely and entertaining read. show less

Until I saw a Smithsonian exhibit a few years ago, I never realized that Anne Morrow Lindbergh flew with her husband on various trips, acting as his radio operator, navigator, & general Jack (or Jill) of all trades.

This is her account of their trip of trying to map new routes to Asia by flying northward. It's not so much of a technical account (although there are some technicalities discussed); rather, it's more of a diary-like smattering of some of her impressions of places they visited, people they met, & the landscapes they saw. She has a particularly beautiful chapter discussing rivers -- their importance to pilots, their majesty, their strength, & their destructiveness.

I found it rather bittersweet when A.M.L. talked about some of show more the Russian ladies she met & how they loved the photos of her baby (knowing that less than a year after this particular journey in 1931, the Lindbergh's baby would be kidnapped & later killed).

I have to give props to Charles Lindbergh too for being ahead of his time (imo), being willing to have his wife as his 2nd in command, deferring all questions re: radio operations & such to her, as well as for reminding some naysayers ("I wouldn't take my wife there") that she was not just his wife but also his crew.

This is a small, nice, & inspirational glimpse of their trip. I will definitely be looking into more books & accounts of the travels & lives of both of the Lindberghs.

The appendix includes various equipment lists, as well as their itinerary. I wish the itinerary had been included in the front. A map or maps marking their route would have also been most welcome (though Google came to the rescue as I was busy looking up the stops she discussed). show less

I was interested in reading this since I have lived close to Little Falls, MN in the past. I was wondering how much you could write about flying over frozen snowy ground for such a long ways, however I found it informative in lovely entertaining way. I also could never imagine truly how scary and dangerous the Lindbergh's trip was.

Strangely disappointing. Condescending with a sort of faux poetry - almost precious. Every time I actually wanted to know more - oh! we're off on another leg!

Nice little travel story about going over the North part of Alaska from N.Y. to get to Siberia and Japan and China in 1931. I like the way she writes.

Very interesting, by the wife and co-traveller of the famous aviator. A fascinating trip through seldom-visited areas, with Anne having to learn both Morse code and operating the primitive plane radio in order to ensure they can get to the next required stop.

North to the Orient is a 1935 book by the American writer Anne Morrow Lindbergh. It is the account of the 1931 flight by her and her husband, Charles Lindbergh, from the United States to Japan and China, by the northern route over Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. It also documented their volunteering flights as relief efforts for the infamous Central China flood of 1931. Tingmissartoq was the name given to a Lockheed Model 8 Sirius the Lindbergh's flew on the trip