Antarctic Navigation

Colonialism, war, ecology, science,history, feminism, human relationships - Sounds like several novels, and, on some levels Antarctic Navigation is. Somehow Arthur manages to tie all of the above subjects together into a fascinating, adventurous, educational work of fiction. Aside from a few contrived additives to the plot to make everything work, Arthur does a wonderful job in this highly descriptive and literary narrative of drawing you into an adventure which is used as a metaphor for life itself.I found myself limiting the number of pages I would read per day toward the end of the novel, because I didn't want it to end.

The story of Morgan Lamont and her obsession with and journey to Antarctica left me breathless. I read it almost non-stop.The characters were well-developed, and I was enthralled with the mini-biography of Robert Scott. I have a whole shelf of books about the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, thanks to Elizabeth Arthur's book. You must read it.

When I found this book on the shelf, I had no idea that it would live up to the challenge of portraying the antarctic continent in a way that captured the expansiveness, the beauty, and the fascination of this remote place. Elizabeth Arthur beautifully articulates a parallel exploration of the character, Morgan Lamont. It was refreshing to see the continent through Morgan's eyes. Having spent 2 "summers" in McMurdo as a LC-130 polar navigator, Elizabeth Arthur gave me an unexpected return trip to the continent, and what a pleasure it was. Her writings remain true to the details and to the spirit of the people who desire to travel to this end of the world. This book was really hard to put down. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Prior to picking up Antarctic Navigation I had virtually no interest in the antarctic. While I can't say I'm ready to catch a flight south, this novel's challenging portrayal of that mysterious continent as a menacing character, an ultimate goal, and an other world captured my attention from first page to last. Now I feel I must read Cherry-Gerard's The Worst Journey in the World.

One of the survivors of Scott's ill-fated South Pole expedition called it The Worst Journey in the World. In Antarctic Navigation, Elizabeth Arthur introduces us to a young woman obsessed with reproducing that journey as completely as possible. It is a journey to a harsh and seemingly alien landscape, "the highest, driest, coldest place on earth," yet home to unique wildlife and a wild beauty. Morgan Lamont tells her story from its very beginning, with her birth and the childhood that led to her consuming passion with Antarctica and Scott. These early chapters are heartbreaking and peopled with quirky, fascinating characters who later share her South Pole expedition. Along the way we're brought into many of Morgan's pursuits and opinions, from quantum mechanics to the remake of "The Thing." While much of the journey is exquisitely rendered, the author, like her protagonist, makes choices that make the trip longer and more difficult than it has to be (at nearly 800 pages). But the complex and flawed Morgan Lamont is well worth knowing, and the effort of the journey is amply rewarded.