Customer Reviews

A Viking Voyage: In Which an Unlikely Crew of Adventurers Attempts an Epic Journey to the New World

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As one directly involved in publicizing the second - and triumphant - voyage of the Snorri, and privileged enough to witness in person, its arrival on the shores of L'Anse aux Meadows, I found the book captivating and could not read it fast enough!

Hodding Carter paints an original and incredibly entertaining picture of the voyage and managed to keep me in suspense the entire time - even though I already knew the outcome!

I was riveted by Hodding's vivid descriptions of the crew's first nights at sea, and touched by his words of devotion to his wife and children.

However, I am a little disappointed that the book does not contain any color pictures of the Snorri at sail or the landing at L'Anse aux Meadows (where hundreds of local Newfoundlanders gathered to greet the conquering crew). Sounds nitpicky, but to see the Snorri and crew at full sail was awe inspiring -- almost relegating Hodding and crew to second billing!

Nonetheless, the book was skillfully written and thoughfully assembled. The only question I am left with is, how in the world was Hodding Carter able to maintain such a detailed account of the journey considering the Arctic conditions?

Finally, a real adventure with a sense of humor and some humility! I just picked up this new book by Hodding Carter and read it straight through. It's the story of Carter's admittedly crazy idea to build a Viking cargo ship ("knarr") and retrace Leif Erikkson's historic voyage discovering North America ("Vinland"). From it's conception as an eccentric lark, born mostly of boredom from working at a post office, to it's successful completion -- Carter raised half a million dollars, built the 50 odd foot boat and sailed all the way from Greenland to Newfoundland over the course of two summers with a mostly inexperienced crew -- the story is hilarious and, at times, moving. Carter's style is uniformly informative, unpretentious and graceful. It was a pleasure to read and got me interested in history in a whole new way! I highly recommend this book. It was especially refreshing to see an addition to the adventure genre completely free from the macho posturing of the so-called adrenaline junkies.

I followed "Viking Voyage 1000" for 2 summers on the Internet, and was delighted that Carter's book is definitely not a duplication. It's more nitty gritty, not quite so clean-cut, and much more into the relationships, often tense, among the crew.

Having spent time in Greenland, in some of the same spots the Snorri sailed, I was delighted to relive the essence of Greenland which Carter magnificently captures -- the rawness of the elements, the tranquility of the vast openness, and how precious people are when so few.

On one level I'm taken back into Viking times in this book, sailing a square-sailed ship that refuses to make progress in a headwind, yet with favourable winds effortlessly skims the waves. Yet we are with thoroughly modern men on this voyage, learning rather painfully how to slow down to the pace of rowing hundreds and hundreds of miles, missing children and sweethearts, and eventually finding contentment in the merciless whims of Frey and Thor.

I was sorry to finish this book, to finish the voyage through these beautiful northern waters. I especially enjoyed Carter's very honest, analytical, and humourous perspectives, and his very easy-going style of writing. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Viking times, or just a good true adventure story.

A thoroughly enjoyable book. This account of a modern day group of (mostly inexperienced) men undertaking to recreate as closely as possible the Viking voyages from Greenland to Newfoundland is written in a mostly light-hearted vein and is liberally sprinkled with bits of Viking lore and history, making it both entertaining and enlightening. Amusing instead of macho. Makes me wish I'd been along on the trip.

Machismo gives way to real actions and reactions as this tale unfolds. Adventure and acrimony abound aboard Snorri, just what you would expect from 9 "goombahs" trying to sail from Greenland to Labrador. History spun in a humorous and enlightening fashion with plenty of room for interpretation. Fun reading.

To some, Americans are best examplified as a people "blundering into success". This book is certain to reinforce that view. Carter relates the assembling of an "unlikely crew" to duplicate a "Viking" voyage from Greenland to North America. The voyage required two attempts [as you learn from the map preceding the text], and succeeded only after hilarious and desperate adventures. But it did succeed.

Carter's account is intensely personal as he explains his motives to duplicate the "Viking" [apparently Carter was never taught the word "Norse"] voyages leading to the "Vinland" landings. Long debated, "Vinland" became a real place with the revelation of a Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland-Labrador in the 1960s. With Norse voyages to "Vinland" recorded in 1000 CE, Carter's target date of exactly one millenium later seemed appropriate.

The only hitches were that Carter didn't know how to sail, didn't know anything about the Norse, their history, their boatbuilding techniques or their navigation methods. A shaky start compounded by a crew of similar qualifications. During the voyages, personality clashes make their inevitable appearance. Although discussions about the route to follow are understandable, the debate over toilet paper use seems almost a diversion. The primary issue of discussion is the rudder - it's shape, use and mounting. That question remains fundamental since the rudder determines as much as the winds which track is best.

By the time you close the final page of this book, it's difficult to avoid feeling emotionally soiled. Carter reaches his thirty-sixth birthday on this voyage. The writing, however, is more in line with that of a sixteen-year old. Carter spends so much time at whingeing about missing his family, self-abasement over his inadequacies as a "leader", recounting the losses of wives and girlfriends by his mates, that reaching the Newfoundland coast seems anticlimatic. That this inept and mismatched team survived a journey that once took countless lives is hardly reassuring. If ever the gods were arbitrary in their machinations, they seemed to have proved it here. That an amatuer crew survived an expedition against all odds is a mildly entertaining read, but hardly an inspirational one. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Hodding Carter's tale of his adventures in building and sailing an "authentic" replica of a viking knarr is a wonderful story of how all one needs for adventure is passion and friends. The very best part of this book is that it truly makes you believe that you could have done it yourself or at least that you can make your own crazy dream come true. Too often, the travel adventure stories we read are written by men with more means or skills than the average man can muster. Hodding Carter had no significant sailing skills or money yet he raised over $500,000 and with his passion and research put together a rag-tag group of viking wannabes and assembled a team committed to building their boat and reliving as best possible a true viking voyage.

Carter's writing style is quite funny and he in fact makes fun of himself at pretty much every opportunity. His dedication to making the knarr, the voyage, and even his attire as historically accurate is truly admirable and makes for a wonderful read.

Why don't my friends ever ask me to go on trips like this?

A madcap adventure, with an interesting and sensitively-drawn subtext. Carter performs some "living anthropology/archaeology" by recreating the voyage of Leif Erikkson, making plausible revisions of the historian's accepted version, but for me the most interesting insight might well be to remind us that someone is at home, holding down the fort (or, in this case, holding twin toddlers and a newborn infant) while the Viking (then, or today) is out making his discoveries.

Once again W. Hodding Carter has written a great read. I read it in practically one sitting - just couldn't put is down. I've sent it three friends already!