The Voyage of the Narwhal [Paperback]

Andrea Barrett (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr; Lrg edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786217529
• ISBN-13: 978-0786217526
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,151,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrea Barrett was born in Boston, MA in 1954 and grew up on Cape Cod. She studied biology at Union College, in Schenectady, NY and started writing fiction in her twenties, after several brief stints in graduate school. She lived in Rochester, NY for many years and now lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, photographer Barry Goldstein. She's the author of six novels, most recently THE AIR WE BREATHE, and two collections of stories: SHIP FEVER, which received the 1996 National Book Award, and SERVANTS OF THE MAP, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful descriptions of Arctic life. Weak characterization, February 28, 1999

By 

[e-mail]) (Australia and the USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Voyage of the Narwhal (Hardcover)

This is about human endeavour and evil, initially set in the hostilities of the Arctic. The first 2/3 of the book is brilliantly written and researched. The semi-historic descriptions of an ill-fated exploration into the depths of the Arctic is fast-paced. Ms Barrett writes clearly and beautifully. I could envision life in that hostile locale, during all seasons; and almost wanted to be there, too. Normally, I am not a reader of such historic novels. She created excellent suspense, too. The last 1/3 revealed the author's weakness. Despite her extensive research into Esquimaux culture, the story plods to an end. I feel that this is due to her inability to develop characters convincingly. She describes events, geography, climate and "history" wonderfully. Much less convincing are the people central to the story. Most are either weak and without usual human passions, or purely evil. She had difficulty concluding the story that became somewhat ponderous, considering the writing skills well demonstrated at the beginning. Humans and their behavior are not her descriptive strength. I really recommend the book. It was a different reading experience for me. I re-read many paragraphs just to let the prose sink in. She understands and describes great beauty in it's many forms. Her knowledge of evil, fundamental to the story, is more conjectural. Very well done, none-the-less!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Put Down (as a book and as a critic!), December 21, 2000

By 

Baddyo - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Voyage of the Narwhal (Hardcover)

If you've never read anything about arctic exploration in the 19th century, this book could be for you. "Voyage of the Narwhal" is a bona fide page turner that demands to be read in as few readings as possible; there never seems to be a convenient place to put the book aside 'until later.' I was always looking forward to the next page.

I knew little and had read even less about this fascinating era of exploration. This book has inspired me to search for more. I disagree with the criticisms of "weak characterizations:" I found the characters very intriguing. I learned to despise Zeke; side with Erasmus; and empathize with Alexa. The subordinate characters came across very well, also.

From a pure entertainment standpoint, I judge the success of a book based on whether or not I could visualize it on the big screen, and, if I could, would I enjoy it. Barrett painted a beautiful film with this book complete with breath-taking action and real live characters that I could see and feel.

Bravo

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, but..., November 2, 2001

By 

Mark Wiklund (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Voyage of the Narwhal (Hardcover)

The Voyage is a 19th century story told with a 20th century sensibility and style. Written a hundred years ago, the hero would have been Voorhees, the explorer stranded in the arctic and returned a public hero. Instead, today's hero is the Naturalist Erasmus who sees Voorhees for a vain and arrogant fool but is uncomfortable in his own skin, who simmers inside about morality buts commits no action until the tide has turned, who resents the falseness of the world but will take no step to remedy it. Ned and Alexandra were the real heros (in either century!) but they are not the center. Written a hundred years ago, the story would have been a rich, swashbuckling yarn, but in today's style, it is lean and understated and ultimately disappointing. I so much wanted to walk away wow! It seems so many writers would rather we admire their artful minimalism than participate as equals in their real feelings!