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dhrakhon's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
4.0
An account of the voyages of Willem Barentsz to the North Pole, at an age where polar exploration had not yet entered into the public consciousness.
Seeking a trade route to China, the newly founded Dutch kingdom sent Barents on 3 expeditions to try and find a fabled Northern route towards Asia. It was the time believed that the polar sea should be ice-free due to the constant sunshine during summer. The Dutchmen went totally unprepared. There no heavy winter clothing, no preparations to ward off scurvy, which was the scourge of sailors at that time, and certainly no preparations for wintering over the Arctic circle in perpetual night during Barentsz third and final expedition.
Seeking a trade route to China, the newly founded Dutch kingdom sent Barents on 3 expeditions to try and find a fabled Northern route towards Asia. It was the time believed that the polar sea should be ice-free due to the constant sunshine during summer. The Dutchmen went totally unprepared. There no heavy winter clothing, no preparations to ward off scurvy, which was the scourge of sailors at that time, and certainly no preparations for wintering over the Arctic circle in perpetual night during Barentsz third and final expedition.
me_haugen's review against another edition
5.0
Goodreads, you honor me by publishing my words. so humbled to be doing another review for your fine site. I read this one while I was waiting for my Youtube video to load. My internet has been very slow lately ever since Comcast sent me a nasty letter saying they had to give me less internet because I was downloading too many big pictures of whales for a collage I was making of the gentlest giants in the sea. I guess the pictures were taking up so much space that no one else in the apartment building could get internet and my neighbor missed the deadline for their clay massaging class which is where I guess you work the clay on a wheel but never make any pottery. Anyway, I get less internet now and I didn't even end up making the collage cause my roommate told me orcas aren't even that gentle of a giant and are actually sort of dicks. My Youtube video did eventually load though and I did get some tips for getting salt water taffy out of my mustache so that turned out nice. This book was good.
miguelf's review against another edition
4.0
The detailed reporting on events that happened 400 years ago is fairly astounding at times. Minor criticism is simply the tale is so typical of those trapped near the North or South pole and grim tale of survival that seems to be such a common trope. One does learn specifically to never eat polar bear livers, or for that matter be in or around polar bears if one can possibly avoid doing so.
pharmdad2007's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting early explorer tale about one of the many attempts to find a northern passage around the world. Extreme conditions!
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Long before the "heroic" British exploration of the Canadian Arctic in the 19th century, followed by the Americans and others getting in the game, there was an earlier era, part of the old Age of Exploration, looking for a mythical Northwest Passage, followed by looking for its Northeast Passage counterpart.
The Dutch, not yet free from Spain and not yet fully organized as a nation, jumped in. That's where William Barents comes in
That said, this is light, in part because we don't have nearly as much info about these trips as we do about the likes of Franklin. But, also, pre-Barents information is taken lightly, Hugh Willoughby visited half a century earlier and is mentioned just once. It wasn't just, or even primarily, Russian sailors that visited earlier. Wiki notes Russian hunters were there 500 years earlier.
Speaking of, as other reviewers have noted, the number of polar bears encountered was interesting. But, was it really more than early European explorers of the Canadian Arctic saw, as in Frobisher, etc., or even the 19th century resurgence?
The Dutch, not yet free from Spain and not yet fully organized as a nation, jumped in. That's where William Barents comes in
That said, this is light, in part because we don't have nearly as much info about these trips as we do about the likes of Franklin. But, also, pre-Barents information is taken lightly, Hugh Willoughby visited half a century earlier and is mentioned just once. It wasn't just, or even primarily, Russian sailors that visited earlier. Wiki notes Russian hunters were there 500 years earlier.
Speaking of, as other reviewers have noted, the number of polar bears encountered was interesting. But, was it really more than early European explorers of the Canadian Arctic saw, as in Frobisher, etc., or even the 19th century resurgence?
sealyon's review against another edition
5.0
An insane look at polar exploration. Vivid story-telling at its best. Such a underdog tale that you can’t even begin to imagine going through yourself.