Skating to Antarctica

"Antarctica. And along with it a desire as commanding as any sexual compulsion that Antarctica was what I wanted, and therefore I had to have it." So writes Jenny Diski in her strange, humorous and often painful memoir cum travelogue to the bottom of the world. "The Arctic would have been easier, but I had no desire to head north. I wanted white and ice for as far as the eye could see and I wanted it in the one place in the world that was uninhabited."Ms. Diski weaves two voyages into one here - the longed for trip she made a few years ago to the white land of snow and ice and a parallel journey into her own heart, soul and past. Her descriptions of her fellow travelers, boredom, group activities and various ports of call are often quite witty and caustic. Her take on the natural world, elephant seals, variety of birds, penguins, and the barren landscape in different shades of white are vivid and, at times, haunting.Also explored in "Skating to Antarctica" is Ms. Diski's past - her suicidal and abusive parents, stays in psychiatric institutions, an almost lifelong estrangement from her mother and her own search of her "memory-hardened heart." The reader is saved from depression at these revelations through the author's extraordinary use of humor at her desire to bury her childhood memories under, literally, tons of snow.Diski's writing style is spare, clipped and very effective. Given some of the painful content it might sound ridiculous to write that I "enjoyed" the book - but I did. Her descriptive narrative of the trip to the world's southern-most continent are fascinating - not just another travel book, and her personal revelations are striking in their honesty. JANA

How long is too long to dwell on something painful? If it is a tragedy that has left your soul in shambles it may be hard to simply turn the memory away. In Jenny Diski's intensely personal tale, Skating to Antarctica, we read of the author's search into her broken past, and the journey she must travel to unveil the truth behind her tragic childhood. In this fascinating memoir Diski ventures to Antarctica to escape the realities that plague her heart. In an "all white, solitary and boundless" land Diski discovers that if she has the will, she can overcome her painful past and begin to experience the future (7). Skating to Antarctica is a brutally honest account of one women's exploration into a cold place; a land few choose to visit, a place too many ignore. Published in 1997, Diski's memoir became a means of expression for her dispirited voice. Skating to Antarctica is the author's experience, a tale of her liking. "There are infinite ways of telling the truth, including fiction, and infinite ways of evading the truth, including non-fiction" (229). Diski reveals only what she wishes to reader, and we are therefore reminded that the book is an individual's report. Her story is unusual; however, her quest for truth in a world of uncertainty is common. Diski's bare writing exposes the significance of our childhoods and their effect upon our lives. Facing "intolerable blankness" Diski addresses the period in her life where she endured the storms of depression, and touches upon a condition that is prevalent in our society today (190). Every person who picks up this book may not have been diagnosed with depression, but all have experienced feelings of utter loneliness at one time or another. Diski's vulnerability is revealed when she shares early on her desire to head north. She discloses a real helplessness in her opening paragraphs, and does not hold back or conceal these hopeless emotions. Instead, in her completely barren state, Diski shares her feelings and the reader begins to see how she pursues a controlled and simultaneously wavering lifestyle. This memoir is far-reaching and impressive because it is truthful writing. Individuals who have fought depression or experienced broken childhoods will understand Diski's struggle to confront her past. By viewing this book as an honest report of one women's struggle to find answers, we can admire the author for her honest writing. "The choice on offer is the assumption that for thirty years I repressed curiosity about my mother's existence because thoughts of her were intolerable, or that, all unknown to me, I was contentedly, not to say harmoniously, living out a recognized phenomenon of the known physical universe" (24). It is with Diski's open tone that the depth of her pain is revealed, and the reader becomes involved. One very impressive trait of Diski's style is her direct voice. Because the book examines intense and personal themes: painful memories, depression and guilt, hu

William Richards 1-18-04Review of "Skating To Antarctica" In "Skating To Antarctica" author Jenny Diski weaves a transfixing memoir of her journey to Antarctica with her thoughts and memories of childhood to create an original masterpiece. Diski grew up with abusive and suicidal parents who fought constantly and provided little support or love to their daughter. Jenny struggled with depression as a teen and slipped in and out of psychiatric wards. When Jenny was eighteen years old, living in a foster home, her father died and soon after her mother vanished never to contact Jenny again. Diski learned to cope with her depression and became a successful writer and a mother. Diski chose to lock her past away but when her daughter, Chloe, becomes interested in her grandmother, Diski is forced to relive her past. Diski writes to the rhythm of her thoughts not following a pattern but allowing her hand to flow freely. When reading this memoir you seem to be within Diski's head following the thoughts of Diski as they bounce around. Longing for an "unpeopled", "white", "empty" landscape we set off with Diski as she travels from London to Antarctica. Along the way we flash back and forth between her present escapade and her dark past fueled by the interest that her daughter has in her grandmother. Diski paints vivid descriptions of her human comrades on this Antarctic voyage from the self-conscious Big Jim to the shrewd Roth couple. She writes of her human interactions with humor, honesty, and familiarity that create a feeling of being at the scene observing the stranger. She intricately describes one man as, "an eager-faced graying US citizen with a touch of the shy but not so simple Ernest Borgnine about him". Diski has an inherent mistrust of people stemming from her troubled human relationships of childhood. When she meets someone who she happens to have a distant connection with, she is "slightly annoyed, since my Antarctic dream had not included pointless coincidences that would make anyone feel we had something in common. It was already not solitary enough". Diski writes with an unwavering honesty and precision that I find invigorating. Although you may disagree with her ideologies at times I don't think that you can question her courage to write what enters her mind, however coarse it may be. Diski's voice is honest, confident, and vulnerable throughout this memoir and follows the familiar wavering pattern of human emotion. Diski writes with a confidence about her past saying, "The past can still make me shiver, but no bones are broken". However, one night considering genetics Jenny is flooded with despair, "My parents suddenly seemed inescapable, and I was caught up in the melodrama of feeling doomed". Diski, by so intricately explaining her emotions allows you to ride the waves of emotion that she experiences and you become enthralled in the moment. What many people take for granted Diski critically analyzes. When on the island Grytviken, Diski

I did like this book. It deals with a fairly harrowing subject - childhood abuse - both emotional and the hint of sexual. The latter is not dwelt upon, and this is in no way a "victimology"In Diski's journey inside herself, and her physical journey, there is much to admire. I found myself gasping a couple of times at her reactions and descriptions about herself. Whilst I can share her love of indolence, and can happily spend a week's holiday in bed reading (!) I just cannot imagine the 30 years of lack of curiosity about her mother's whereabouts! What a very (to me) peculiar family! But then, Diski has brought it so evocatively to the page.The scenes where she is finding out about her childhood from the three elderly women ('and the one remaining husband') who lived in her block of flats are fabulous - very witty. It takes a deft touch to write with such humour about events which were pretty monumental!The physical journey - the travelogue - is beautifully written too, and is one of the more interesting travel stories I have read. In the observations about her companions it reminds me of Paul Theroux at his best.

Despite the tantalising title, I wouldn't have guessed how fascinating this book would be, even thought I've read some of Diski's excellent novels in the past. The author embarks upon a voyage to Antartica which turns out to be a journey into her own personal history. What could have been an painfully honest and difficult autobiography to read, the reading of this book is tempered by the delightful travel observations of someone who would have been happier staying in her own armchair at home. Although this sounds like a "women's" book, I am definately not of that gender, and truly enjoyed every chapter.