Customer Reviews

The Navigator of New York

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Johnston's latest novel is an excellent reconstruction of the era of the great explorers -- with all its back-biting and egotism -- as well as a very fine description of New York as it turns into a world capital. Add to that is usual sensitive account of small town Canada and you get a wide-ranging, subtle and fascinating taleof hope and loss. recommended

Some of the reviews here have been focussing on this book as a "revisionist history" re Peary and Arctic exploration, but that part of this book is secondary. The real focus of the book is Devlin Stead's life and discoveries about his family, whose story changes through several revelations throughout the book (maybe too many times would be one criticism of this book). Generally well-written and a good description of turn of the (20th) century New York and pre-Canada Newfoundland, recommended if you like a good historical read.

The book captivated me early on with its historical setting. It's beautifully written, a joy to spend time with. Unfortunately, I feel that the story could have unfolded differently.

The main aspects of the story are young Stead trying to navigate late Victorian uptight society while discovering various aspects of his infamous explorer family, and the attempt to be the first person to the North Pole. The exploration stories play out well, and one wishes even more time had been spent on them. Nonetheless, he is nothing but a passenger on these explorations, and is taught none of the vital technical skills required for navigation and discovery.

The family story is essentially the meat of it, yet it ends up being told in a clumsy matter....how he can still trust his father by the end is unfathomable. There seem to be these soap-opera revelatory moments when yet another confession changes everything. Some detective work or other means of discovery might have been more interesting. Very regularly Stead is confronted with yet another true version or account of the same story. His social skills develop much more quickly than his exploration skills, even for a humorless, self-conscious and charmless character like him and his father.

Ultimately, the story was not satisfying, but it was written well enough that I would recommend it anyway.

This is a great book for those who like a sense of time and place. It was interesting to read Wayne Johnston's take on those infamous explorers Cook and Peary and their rivalry. It is still being debated today who got there first if at all. I was surprised that this book was not mainly about exploration but focused more on a young man's relationship with his father and about how who he thinks he is often defines how he behaves. I found this book to be little too melodramatic at times but I enjoyed the sense of time and place and the style in which it was written. I'd give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

very well written and researched story. the relationship that develops between devlin stead (the protaganist) and his benefactor Dr. cook is unique and fascinating. sadly, i think some reviewers on this site have missed the point; the sections of the book devoted to polar exploration are compelling, but they are framework for a more compelling story about relationships. If you enjoy this sort of story i highly recommend his earlier memoir baltimore's mansion.

For me Wayne Johnston has successfully relayed the central theme of this book. Many may think of the physical ventures and quests to places unknown for exploration. However I interpreted this excellent writing of the quest for exploring life, our origins, our destiny and everything we can fit inbetween to have a radically fullfilled life. This is very good reading. I would suggest a very similar book with the adventure which I actually enjoyed more, SB: 1 or God, subtitled Everyone has the Hidden Question, by Karl Maddox.

I chose to read this book based on it's wonderful reviews. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high. While I enjoyed the exploration adventure of the story, the poorly veiled "intrigue" did nothing for me. Each time the story was becoming unbearably boring, new, previously unrevealed information would be unveiled by the superficial Dr. Cook. I made myself finish this book, but was extremely disappointed by the ending, which after a long struggle through, culminated in about 20 pages. Good thing I got this for free....

I enjoyed this book. I loved the flow of the story. He did a wonderful job in developing the Dr. Cook character to be likeable although many of his actions were unlikeable. I thought this book was the best book that I have read so far this year. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading books with some suspense.

After enjoying my first exposure to Wayne Johnston with his latest, The Custodian of Paradise, I rushed to the local library to delve into some of his prior works. This one was a mistake. I'm experiencing a regrettable deja vu in The Navigator of New York, with the plot device of a teenager discovering, via surreptitiously conveyed and lengthy letters, that his parentage is not what he thought. What is Johnston's fixation with women marrying men they do not love because they're carrying another man's child, and then the child discovering years later, from the sperm donor, in the most convoluted and protracted manner imaginable, that he/she is being observed or protected by his/her actual father? This one cannot sustain my interest - been there, done that.

Can a story get any slower? I kept waiting for something exciting to happen and finally gave up after almost 200 pages. The characters are just plain strange and pathetic. The initial meeting between Devlin and Dr. Cook, which should have been exciting, was very anticlimactic....probably because Dr. Cook seemed a little kooky! And if he repeated the story of his past to Devlin one more time, I would have lost my mind. It was repeated at least twice - once in a letter and then again verbally when they met. It was all just plain dull!
On a positive note, I thought the author had a beautiful writing style and I enjoyed his use of words and expression of thoughts. I think that those who enjoy quality literary style would find Mr. Johnston's written words enough to keep reading (the reason for 3 stars).
Definitely too slow for me and not enough action to keep me interested past the halfway point. Also, despite the female figure on the cover, this felt like a "guy's book" to me - a topic men might find more interesting.