Customer Reviews

Vagrant Viking; my life and adventures

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Peter Freuchen, a Danish arctic adventurer, writes with the friendliest style you could possibly imagine while narrating absolutely harrowing adventures he experienced alone in arctic Greenland. He was the first man to cross the central glacier alone--eskimos didn't feel the need--yet the kindliness of his style makes you feel that you could have attempted the feat yourself. Maybe you could, now, with the help of his insights... and a few years in Thule with an eskimo wife. But his insights would be no less necessary after such experience.
Humans learn best from stories told by their loved ones, these stories will be useful to those who brave the arctic and you will love Peter Freuchen like a grandfather after reading this book.

There are few books like this one, high sprited autobiographies that have a new danger on every two pages. You will read of death, murder, cold, sleepless weeks, long journeys across ice fields, starvation, rescue, strange food, odd social customs, everlassting friendships.
Freuchen, a Dane, begins his tale at his childhood - and one is instantly captivated with his humor and adroit prose style. His story is interesting from the first page to the (all too soon) end of the book. Thankfully he has written others, so the joy of reading more continues.
As a young man, Freuchen makes his first trip to Greenland - and falls in love with the place and the people. The native people teach him there is humor in tragedy, survival in death, human dignity wherever there are humans. Sometimes a bear in the cave with you in the middle of a storm. Sometimes you freeze your foot off. Sometimes you are offered the wife of a friend, for a night - and then his other wife has a snit and one must spend another night in the igloo just to make amends. A great story.
That is the first 200 pages.
Then comes 200 pages of Freuchen's life as an author, trader, film actor, farmer, sailor, lecturer, journalist, world traveler and screen writer. This is interesting - but not as much so as the first half of the book.
Then comes the last seventy pages - and it really picks up. We see Freuchen as saboteur, spi, courier and refugee (also refugee helper). He and his family evade the Germans (WWII) and blow things up and hide people and get arrested and escape and have a harrowing time running guns here and there - hot stuff. The center section of this book lags in excitement, although the man's life is never dull.
He meets famous people (kings and notables). Named Thule Greenland.
Returning in old age to his adopted Greenland, Peter has last words with family and friends - lamenting the loss of primitive life in the arctic but rejoicing in the progress of mankind.

incredible book, much better than most fiction, really keeps one enthralled. the translation from the original danish by johan hambro is crisp and clear. the best part is the author wrote 4 more books all translated to english. they are eskimo, arctic adventure, it's all adventure, and the law of larion. together these 5 volumes represent a vast storehouse of true information about a part of the world few travel to. great reading too!

This book is a fascinating biography about one of the world's true adventurers. I read it 15 years ago and plan to read it again. This book would be wonderful for young and old to read as it displays the power of the human spirit.