Customer Reviews

Voyage to the North Star

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

 

 

Like Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, Voyage to the North Star is an adventure story written at a deep heartfelt level. Nichols's epic story of sailor Will Boden chasing his dreams on a whcko yacht in the arctic goes just as deep. And, with a crew of tragic, lucky and unlucky misfits who all seem wonderfully real and well-drawn, I was taken all the way with them. It's a wild ride. The descriptions of the fogbound arctic seas and tundra landscape are terrific. A great read for the armchair adventurer.

Nichols is a writer who does not intrude upon the telling of his tale. And oh, what a story he tells. The prose is quiet, yet powerful, capable of provoking a visceral response in the reader. More than a good read; an experience for the reader.

This is a thoughtful book by a man who both loves and understands the sea -- and its risks. Peter Nichols tells a deeply ironic but beautiful story of a wild adventure in the northern reaches of the Atlantic on and around Baffin Island, which is north of Labrador and west of Greenland. In some ways Nichols seems too enamoured with death. Nevertheless, his tale is both exciting and moving and demonstrates a deep understanding of the sea, ships, and the men who sail them. Highly recommended.

At least I enjoyed the first half of this book. The story moves along nicely, and some of the characters are quite interesting- leading man WIll Boden, Moyle, the taciturn old salt, and Gar Chamberlain, a young kid out to see the world. But others are as flat as comic-book villains- like nouveau riche industrialist and white hunter wanna'-be Carl Shenck, or Percival, the stuffy and stern English sea captain with a dark secret.

As the lavishly appointed "Lodestar" ventures into the arctic north, the tale grows increasingly wild. Ernest Shackleton meets "Heart of Darkness". I challenge the reader to locate another book in which death comes in the forms of polar bear attack, serial killer, and harpooning by an Eskimo lynch mob. What a mess; I mean, a serial killer! ... I felt the novel really lost its focus.

In the sprit of being constructive, I feel that any of the following books would pose a superior alternative for the reader interested in Arctic voyages: - Christoph Ransmayr's "The Terrors of Ice and Darkness" - Sebastian Junger's popular title, "The Perfect Storm" (fishing on the Grand Banks, close enough) - Barry Lopez, "Arctic Dreams" (not much sailing, but excellent, worth reading for the chapters on Narwhals and Polar Bears alone) - Alfred Lansing, "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" (which takes place in the Antarctic, but it's as harrowing a tale as you'll ever find, and entirely true)

Fantastic book and a great gift. Wished it didn't end. Nichols writes beautifully.

As a sailor myself, I can tell you that Peter Nichols knows his stuff. He weaves a good yarn and keeps you reading. His portrayal of both Schenk and Boden was exciting and believable. (I am also a professional novelist and critique manuscripts regularly.) However, the book ends in such hopelessness and for no good reason that I actually slammed the book down in . . . well, hopelessness---so disgusted that I'd just wasted my valuable time. I guess I'm just the old-fashioned type and want a ray of hope in this world of gloom and doom.

Although Peter Nichols attempts to create a compelling almost thought provoking thriller about man's greed and the dark animal instincts that lie benieth the skin where the heart does not reach, his depression era piece falls flat or rather "sinks" below the weight of poor uncrafted prose, confusing rather confusable and uninteresting characters and a disapointing ending preceded by a climax that leaves something to be desired. In short, I'd rather walk the plank!!!

This book took forever to start, the word is Prologue not Prolong. Normally I don't cut a book that much slack. But the story seemed to have merit.

Once they finally started the Voyage to the North Star things got better a lot better. There are a few things to look forward to just gotta get past the first 100 pages.

For 332 pages Peter Nichols takes us on a rare and beautiful, then at times horrifying adventure during which we get very well acquainted with about eight characters. Boden, Shred and Moyle were men I had to admire, and for all the right reasons.

Nichols made sure we would despise the wealthy and despicable Schenk - accidentally rich during the depression of the thirties, and wildly amused as so many of the old-guard wealthy went down in financial flames. Nichols made certain we would loathe Schenk's harlot of a daughter Harriett, the quietly brutal Joey and that detestable Captain Percival. The harrowing story was well told - credibly told by a man who knows the sea and ships - and it looked like we were on a voyage that HAD to have a rewarding ending.

And so it went, until the final two pages, where Nichols sticks a knife in our guts, seemingly gleeful over our duplicity, our trust in him. An act of savagery by Joey two-thirds into the story ultimately leads to the revengeful killing of our heroes Boden and Moyle just when it looks like they're going to get rewarded for their strength of character and grit displayed throughout the adventure, and for their heroism toward the end that saves the others from certain doom. Then in the book's Epilogue, he gives another twist to that knife in our bellies. He describes how the characters he led us to hate live even more happily ever after, and more prosperously. All, that is, except Joey, who would have been only a bit player if his acts were not of such disastrous consequences.

What in the world was Peter Nichols thinking of? If writers stray so foolishly, don't editors today dissuade them - especially new writers like Nichols - from such folly? If they can't dissuade, they can make demands. Famous authors have been induced to make serious changes in plot: "We won't publish it like it is," is an ultimatum that has been heard by many writers. The fiercely obstinate and already famous Paul Gallico's epic "The Snow Goose" had a slant that the editor would not accept: Gallico's essence of the story that Frith and Philip had developed a romantic relationship had to go or ELSE!, said the editor. Gallico grudgingly accepted the editor's demand, which was essential to the credibility of the story.

That should have been done here, and a fine book would have been the result.

There was a time in this country when self-made millionaires were almost given the status of diety, so great was the chasm between the moneyed classes and the common man circa 1932. Carl Schenck is just such a millionaire, a braggart intent upon the collection of successful "kills" to document his arrogance. He takes his fully staffed custom-made luxury yacht to the Arctic in search of indigenous big game. Accompanied by his wife and daughter, the party also includes a sea captain in disgrace, Boden, who signs on as a stoker. Against the stark beauty of the ice floes, such excesses are reached by Schenck as to disgust even the avid hunter. Boden, who loves the harsh beauty of the Arctic and respects the inherent dangers, is forced to witness atrocity after atrocity, as Schenck falls victim to a blood lust that endangers everyone. Boden finds himself unable to help his crewmates who are sacrificed along the way in Schenck's pursuit of bloody prowess. There is constant collision between good and evil, as Boden realizes his folly in joining the ship's crew on this voyage. Shenck, true to form, never has a clue.