Afterlands
by Steven Heighton
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Description
This gripping novel of Arctic survival, brilliantly written by an author who has been described as "a young Ondaatje," is based on one of the most remarkable events in polar exploration. In 1871, off the coast of Greenland, nineteen men, women, and children, voyaging on the Arctic explorer USS Polaris, were cast adrift on a large ice floe as their ship began to founder. Afterlands is the story of this small society of castaways--a white and a black American, five Germans, a Dane, a Swede, an show more Englishman, and two Inuit families--as they try to survive a six-month winter ordeal, struggling with the harsh elements and with one another, the group splintering into factions along ethnic and national lines. Steven Heighton provocatively fills in the blanks of the documented history of this event by focusing on the suspicions, the hunger-induced delusions, and the unrequited longings among three members of the group: Roland Kruger, an educated, witty, rebellious German seaman; Tukulito, or "Hannah," the party's Inuit interpreter; and George Tyson, the American ranking officer, who later wrote an account of the experience that solidified his reputation as a hero while casting Kruger as the villain. Throughout the novel, Heighton incorporates actual passages from Tyson's contentious account, then daringly imagines the aftermath of the ordeal, following Kruger, Tukulito, and Tyson as they attempt to move beyond their searing memories and resume their lives in the larger world. Combining the high drama of Arctic survival and the psychological intensity of modern theater, this beautifully written novel powerfully addresses themes of belonging, nationalism, and love in times of crisis. Steven Heighton's first novel, The Shadow Boxer, was chosen as a 2002 Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly and has been published in five countries. He is also the author of several books of poetry and short fiction. His work has received awards in Britain and Canada, has been translated into eight languages, and has been internationally anthologized. He lives in Kingston, Ontario. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A strange novel grasping after something that it knows it cannot catch: history, the suppressed voice of an indigenous woman surrounded by white culture, things that melt like ice floes. The strangeness of life on the floe, laid down in wrought language, stays with me.
I love novels that draw on historical facts. This one is a rich tale following the incident of Arctic survival of the Polaris in 1817; crewmembers and passengers were stranded on an ice flow for six months and the book is about not only what goes on then, but also what takes place in their lives later on. Beautiful, suspenseful, harsh at times; lots of imagery.
Since I have more interest in polar exploration, & none at all in the Spanish-American war, which is what the majority of this book pertains to, I did not even finish reading this book. I found the title, cover, & marketing of this book very misleading, & the book itself extremely boring.
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Explorers in fiction
31 works; 3 members
Evergreen Award™ Winners and Nominees 2005–2024
200 works; 3 members
Author Information
25+ Works 502 Members
Steven Heighton is the author of six previous books, including the award-winning story collections Flight Paths of the Emperor and On earth as it is, which appeared to great acclaim in his native Canada and, with Granta Books, in Britain, Holland, and Australia. His work has appeared in Heinemann's Best English Short Stories, Best of the Best show more Short Stories 1986-1995, Best Canadian Stories, Agni, the Literary Review, Northwest Review, and Europe. The Shadow Boxer is Heighton's first novel. He lives in Kingston, Ontario show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Suspense & Thriller
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PR9199.3 .H4443 .A68 — Language and Literature English English Literature English literature: Provincial, local, etc.
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 136
- Popularity
- 239,658
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.25)
- Languages
- Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- UPCs
- 2
- ASINs
- 5
