Customer Reviews

My Arctic Journal

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Josephine Peary was a clever writer who stood at the beginning of an historic road that led to the North Pole. Her husband and the man she fondly calls "Matt" are here just starting out an what will be their 18 years of arctic education in hunting animals weighing 800 to 4,000 pounds that fight back when shot at. They must master speaking Inuit to learn the secrets of living, working, and traveling in the coldest region on earth. Her book takes us back to the time before the Inuit were overwhelmed by modern civilization, when she could sew furs with them while they told stories about their husbands, and about their fears. The Inuit men and women were like curious children sampling her tea or coffee with sugar. Magazines caused them to stare at the pictures for hours. Josephine saw their confusion between a past of brutal survival and the arrival of tall white men with firearms and ships who wanted walrus ivory, narwhal tusks, polar bear furs, musk ox steaks, etc. She loved the raw nature of Arctic Greenland with its glacier melt streams in summer that made fields bloom with delicate flowers and mosses. This book has so many photos, illustrations and maps that it is also a visual treat. Pass this one on to your friends and children. A nicely restored edition of a worthy classic. Recommended.