The Cage

This is a wonderful novel! Nice work Ms. Schulman. The story: A photgrapher gets a contract to go to the Artic and photograph polar bears from inside a cage. The bears are fiercely predatory of course. And it is cold. Very cold. I don't think this book is strongly feminist, but I was certainly aware of the female perspective and authorship (I'm a male). Regardless, the book works . . . for ALL readers. Wonderful development of and faithfulness to the characters, perfect pace and level of detail, plots and sub-plots, a little romance but not unrealistic or vulgar, and - best of all - Schulman did her homework in spades regarding the polar bears and human arctic survival issues. I look forward to reading Schulman again. And for the rest of my life I will pause, watch and imagine when viewing a polar bear.

The Cage is a chillingly toothy book about disaster, survival, and human nature. Beautifully written. Audrey Schulman is my hero. Beryl is a woman whose smallness has always been seen as a vulnerability and who has often treated her "own body as the enemy." Yet it is her very size that lands her a job as the still photographer for a Natural Photography trip to the arctic to photograph polar bears. The coordinator of the expedition explains to her: "You are the only one able to fit into the cage with any reasonable safety factor." He then adds that he hopes she appreciates this opportunity. The opportunity is a risky one and Beryl soon finds herself with two other photographers and a guide taking close ups of polar bears in their natural habitat. Between the trips out to take shots of the bears, Beryl forms friendships with a local policewoman, Maggie, and Jean-Claude, the young half-Inuit guide. The final third of the book takes place in the middle of the tundra, where the seemingly well-equipped expedition becomes stranded. The Cage is ultimately a book about survival and ends on a note that, while moving and still hopeful, may be uncomfortable for some people. Schulman is completely unsentimental about the lives of her characters. Sometimes terrible things happen to good people. The writing is intriguing and feels honest: Maggie tells Beryl about her encounter with one of the bears that dragged her, ripping her cheek apart. "The strange part was, she said, when the bear had reached forward with its mouth open for the front of her parka, she'd relaxed. Like the bear was going to give her a backrub. Her muscles just loosened. She'd felt the pressure, the tugging, but she'd been peaceful, very aware and far away. She ran her hand round the edge of her bandages and said, 'You're going to think this is really weird of me. But it was one of the best moments of my life.'" As a naturalist, I've spent large amounts of time working with and observing animals, and Schulman's unvarnished look at Nature, both the beautiful and the grotesque sides of it, really hit home. And Beryl is believable as a woman who feels she is stronger than other people believe, and finally finds herself in a situation where she must use that strength.

I was engrossed in this book as soon as I began reading the first sentence. As the reader procedes, she in informed of the multiple metaphorical cages that Beryl, the main character, lives in. While the man vs. natural elements is not new by any means, Schulman masters this aspect of the story in a refreshing way that captures the adventure, the fear, and the excitment that feed the suspense. Not only is this a great adventure novel but one that dives into the heart of many modern young woman's insecurities. A must read.

This is an excellent adventure that brings the cold of the Arctic into your living room. Most of us have heard about the annual polar bear migration to Churchill, and this well written novel describes the beauty and the terror of that event. For a period each year its like aliens have landed and you must be constantly alert or suffer tragic consequences. The expedition of the media people is fascinating and terrifying. Why hasn't this author written another book? I'm certainly ready for it.

I not only felt the polar bear's breath, but the arctic cold chilled me to my bones. If you don't feel you are there then it is because you are dead and really should not be reading at all.