Customer Reviews

The White Darkness

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fourteen-year-old Symone is obsessed with Antarctic exploration. Ever since the death of her father, she has read every book and watched every movie she can find about Antarctica. She is particularly enamored with Capt. Lawrence "Titus" Oates, one of the explorers lost in the doomed Scott expedition. Titus is her companion and confidante, an imaginary friend who fills in for her grieving family and distant friends.

Outside of Titus, the only person to take an interest in Sym's life is her Uncle Victor, a family friend who has cared for the family since her father's death. Uncle Victor feeds Sym's interest in Antarctica and arranges for a trip to the frozen continent. There, Sym must face the White Darkness, a phenomena of the polar summer where the sun never truly sets and the only indication of night is white, unmarred by shadow.

Sym identifies with the purity, isolation and silence of the white continent. She sees herself as particularly suited to a place that others see as dead:

"God sketched Antarctica, then erased most of it again, in the hope a better idea would strike Him." Sym observes, "At the center is a blank whiteness where the planet isn't finished. It's the address for Nowhere...it mesmerized me. The idea of it took me in thrall. It was so empty, so blank, so clean, so dead. Surely, if I was ever to set foot down there, even I might finally exist. Surely, in this Continent of Nothingness, anything --- anyone --- had to be hugely alive by comparison!"

Sym does not know that she is a pawn in a larger conspiracy, subject to the fanatical beliefs of one man. Uncle Victor is obsessed with his own theories about discovery and becomes unhinged. He is less concerned with their ability to survive than in securing his place in history. Nasty secrets start to emerge as they travel across the ice. Sym must choose between trusting her uncle and listening to the inner voice she has always regarded as imaginary.

THE WHITE DARKINESS is told entirely from Sym's point of view, offering her wry observations of the other travelers and sharing her expertise on the subject of the Arctic. Author Geraldine McCaughrean's biggest challenge is convincing the reader that a smart girl like Sym would be taken in by the suspicious circumstances of her trip with Uncle Victor. McCaughrean succeeds by invoking other polar explorers, many of whom might be regarded as madmen, making discovery at the expense of their own lives.

The juxtaposition of Sym's adventure next to the Scott expedition --- which McCaughrean wisely summarizes in an appendix at the end of the book --- asks if death is too high a price to pay for discovery. The irony of the Scott expedition was that, as they chose to push on to discover the South Pole knowing they were unlikely to return, another explorer, Roald Almundsen, already had beaten them to the Pole by two weeks and lived to tell the tale. Had the Scott expedition survived, they would not have been the first to reach the Pole. They found more notoriety through death than they would have in life.

The Arctic regions are ideal for asking the big questions about ethics and morality because one's decisions, which might be regarded as opinions in ordinary life, hinge on life or death in such a harsh environment. Many 19th century writers were fascinated with the Arctic as a place representing the unexplored regions of the human psyche. In FRANKENSTEIN Mary Shelley sets the final showdown between creator and monster on the polar ice. Henry David Thoreau wrote about the Arctic explorers of his time in WALDEN saying, "...explore your own higher latitudes...there are continents and seas in the moral world, to which every man is an isthmus or inlet, yet unexplored by him, but that it is easier to sail many thousand miles through cold, storm and cannibals...than it is to explore the private sea, the Atlantic and Pacific of one's being alone."

THE WHITE DARKNESS manages to ask some of these big questions without compromising plot or pace. It is a book filled with action, mystery and the slightest touch of the supernatural. Its strange story will be appreciated by readers interested in survival tales and the shadow side of human nature.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

After looking forward to this book for several months, I finally started it...and abandoned it within a day.

The premise, a teenager trapped in Antarctica and facing intrigue and life-or-death situations, was great. The main character's voice at the beginning was great. How's this for a beginning: "I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now--which is ridiculous, since he's been dead for ninety years. But look at it this way. In ninety years I'll be dead, too, and then the age difference won't matter."

I was all set to love the book and its main character, Sym. However, by the end of the first chapter it becomes clear that there's something wrong with her uncle, who is clearly the antagonist. He's obviously lying, perhaps crazy, certainly not a very nice person. Yet Sym doesn't catch on to this for most of the book. She's fourteen, old enough to notice and form her own opinions. When she goes blithely on her way, ignoring the obvious approaching plot of the book, I can't help losing respect for her character. It's like she's sleepwalking or just going according to the script.

When the reader has caught on to something and has to wait around for the main character to catch on too, and it doesn't happen despite ample evidence, it's hard to keep caring. I found myself flipping ahead to see if the book had turned the corner yet...nope...nope, not yet. I checked the ending to see how it came out (pretty much as expected), then regretfully put the book down.

I am really sorry that I experienced it this way, as the language and writing were often thoughtful and beautiful.

Fourteen year-old Sym is a classic young adult protagonist - the partially deaf social outcast who loses herself in intellectual pursuits and gets the boy in the end. Sym is obsessed with the white darkness of Antarctica, which is the favorite subject of her stand-in father, the wannabe adventurer Uncle Victor. Uncle Victor and Sym share a private world of science and history which makes Sym's outward life more bearable, especially after the death of her father.

As the story opens, Uncle Victor surprises Sym with an elite tourist expedition to the South Pole. Victor reveals that he is on a quest for Symme's Hole, a secret, mythical entrance to an underground civilization at the center of the earth. The reader will quickly realize that Victor harms others in his singleminded pursuit of adventure, but our narrator is painfully blind to Uncle Victor's sociopathic behavior. She passively accompanies him without questioning why he stranded her mother at home, destroyed their cell phone, and drugged their friends on the expedition. As the novel unfolds further, Sym slowly realizes how manipulative and deceitful Uncle Victor has been her entire life, and she is faced with life-or-death survival in the company of a maniac.

THE WHITE DARKNESS is an adventure tale, a romance, and a coming-of-age story. The novel is lyrically beautiful on the subject of the South Pole, but the protagonist's extreme passivity and lack of awareness render parts of the narrative slow and frustrating to read. Still, I was hooked by the suspense, and I enjoyed the voyage through this queer, white world.

I am forcing myself to read this book for my job. I'm nearly half way through and i can hardly make myself go any farther. The book has an intersting premise and the author has talent which is made clear buy her engaging style. The characters are just not likeable. The main character Sym comes off as a nut, and her uncle Victor is just creapy. I understand that the whole social outsider thing, i was one myself in school. But come on, a character who is so delusional and obsessed and cripplingly shy has the main character in this book needs professional help. I was quite supprised when this book won the ALA's Printz Award. There have been many more engaging and entertaining books written in Young Adult literature this year. In my opinion, the three other books that were nominated for this award were much better. Check out the Dreamhunters by Elizabeth Knox, One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke, or Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins.

As a Young Adult novel about a fourteen year-old girl with no friends other than her imagination, this story definitely deserves the award it recieved. Sym, a fourteen year-old girl, is obsessed with the Antarctic regions and the story of Captain "Titus" Oates, an Antarctic explorer from the 1800s. Because Sym is socially awkward, Titus has become her constant companion, filling her imagination as he accompanies her everywhere. When Sym's uncle takes her to Antarctica, Sym is thrilled. But she'll soon discover that things are not always as they seem.

This story is a definite must-have. It is a beautiful story of a young, shy, awkward girl coming to terms with herself and growing up. The transition is gradual, but by the end of the story the once-naive Sym has become an independent girl with a head on her shoulders. This story delves into Sym's inner thoughts, and her interaction with Titus is a beautiful way of showing her inner struggles with herself and the way she acts around other people.

Sensitive readers should beware, however, as the topic of sex comes up more than once, and some of the stronger language pops up here and there. Otherwise, the story is absolutely beautiful.

THE WHITE DARKNESS
GERALDINE MCCAUGHREAN
Young Adult Action & Adventure
HarperTeen

Rating: 4 Enchantments

Titus Oakes is a long dead adventurer, having met his maker on a doomed trip to the South Pole. He's funny, witty, charming and lives entirely in Symone's head. Even though he is 125-years-old, he loves Symone and cares for her at times like a big brother and other times like a romantic gentleman.

Our heroine of THE WHITE DARKNESS, Symone, is a shy fourteen-year-old girl. She doesn't like to give speeches and hates to be pestered about her nonexistent love life. In her world, boys are immature and she has no interest in spending any quality time with them. She has Titus; what more could a girl ask for? Why waste time dating younger boys when she has her mature and charming adventurer at her beck and call?

THE WHITE DARKNESS is a story of friendship, adventure, betrayal and survival. Symone is a strong girl, bound and determined follow her Uncle Victor to the ends of the Earth and back. Uncle Victor, an interesting and then suspicious fellow, feeds her sense of adventure as he pulls her down in a mystery so dangerous that they will be lucky to make it out alive. Meanwhile, Titus plays the part of Sym's true friend and confidant, frequently making appearances and helping Sym along the way as they unravel the secrets of The Ice. Two other players, Manfred and Sigurd, show up as father and son, chosen by Uncle Victor to help lead them on this treacherous journey. This new pair brings with them a whole new mystery; one that Symone has to unravel before time runs out.

THE WHITE DARKNESS was a great read. It had a fantastic storyline and was full of sharp twists and turns. The complexity of the characters was just amazing. Geraldine McCaughrean does an amazing job of developing her characters. Symone's mother is really the only character that we didn't get to know very well and she was only present in a handful of pages. McCaughrean lends real-life traits to her characters, making them both legendary and believable. Symone is easy to relate to with her quite nature and yet still has her own quirks that make her unique.

Where I got stuck in THE WHITE DARKNESS was in the flow of the writing. McCaughrean has a habit of creating short sentences or sentence fragments and this slowed me down while reading the story. Don't get me wrong; it was still great, just difficult to read. The discussion between Sym and Oakes as well as Sym and everyone else was differentiated by italicized text, but it was still difficult at times to figure out which parts Sym was imagining and which parts were really occurring. Perhaps this is all part of the story, I'm not sure. Either way, it was a great book, but one that requires quite a bit of concentration and rereading.

Geraldine McCaughrean is an award-winning author with over one hundred and forty books under her belt. She can be found at http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk.

Cinnamon
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
May 2009

in a sentence or so: Sym is a bit socially awkward. that could be because she has an imaginary boyfriend that's been dead for 90 years. or that her main hobby/interest in life is all things Antarctica related. so when her uncle offers her an all expenses paid (and quite suspicious) trip to Antarctica - she's game.

Sym, short for Symone, is a 14 year old who is known by her classmates for her hearing aids and her imaginary boyfriend, Titus Oates. not exactly a social butterfly. often looking inward to hang out with Titus or to reflect with her own thoughts, her efforts to talk to others often involve awkward exchanges and incomplete sentences. Titus hasn't always been a part of Sym's life though. it wasn't until after her father's growing madness and eventual death that Titus became the most real person in her life. that's not to say her mom doesn't love her (she does) or that her Uncle Victor doesn't take care of them (he helps pay the bills).

Uncle Victor (not a real uncle, but the friends-of-the-parents type of uncle) is to be credited for Sym's obsession with Antarctica. it is his life goal to go to The Ice and to take Sym, his right hand girl. so when presented with the opportunity to travel to Antarctica, even though she suspects some weird things are going on, she becomes his traveling companion willingly and enthusiastically. their journey brings them into The Ice with several other travelers, including a Norwegian father and son combo that intrigues Uncle Victor. after mere days of being on The Ice, Sym is resisting suspcisions that Uncle Victor has alternative intentions for their time there. suspicions that turn out to be true.

knowing this was a Printz Award Winner, i had high expectations. i was not disappointed. the plot - past and present, is revealed one layer at a time. some revelations are confirmed suspicions, some were shocks to me. also, the deceit runs thick with these characters. pretty much every character has something to hide - including Sym and her imaginary friend. despite the surface description of Sym, she really grew on me. i viewed her less and less like a weirdo and more like a normal teen as i read on. one of the things i liked the most about Sym was her take on Sigurd, the son of the Norwegian father and son combo. there was no romantic pining, no girlish giggling, no gushy-ness. i really appreciated the refreshing look on relationships and how Sym handled the affections of her constant companion.

this book is bursting with archetypes. most notable are the epic journey through the arctic wilderness, the good natured hero we find in Sym, the deceit running rampant, and how this is most of all a coming of age story. we begin to see Sym more clearly as she sees herself and others more clearly. sometimes that clarity brings pain, sometimes it feels rewarding. overall, a really great read. the descriptions of the arctic were great, the emotions were real, and the writing was solid.

fave quotes: "I like to do my daydreaming when I'm awake; but I didn't say so because that would sound loony. Some nights I don't sleep at all - not from midnight til morning because I'm with Titus and I've got such good imagining going, and, the next day, flashes of delight go through my stomach like electricity - as if something real and marvelous has happened and I've just remembered. But if I admitted to that, Uncle Victor would say that's why I'm so slow witted - because I waste my time and energy daydreaming." (44)

"When the White Darkness sets in, it's such a kindness. All shadows disappear - the sky, the ground - leaving nothing but a milky, trembling nothingness. It's a sweet light, a pleasant light, like lying under a sheet on a summer morning: the presence of light without any of the usual complications - like being able to see. Perfect ignorance was like this, I remember: a feeling of enlightenment without ever quite grasping what was going on. They call it the White Darkness." (305)

fix er up: i felt like it ended a bit abruptly when compared with the journey-tone of the rest of the book.

I read this book last year and still remember many details about it. Sym, a 14-year-old girl, is obsessed and in love with titus oates,the only weird thing about it is; he is dead. Shes never even met him. She talks to him inside her head and believes he can actually communicate with her. She love antartica and knows almost everything about it. Her uncle takes her there and is in hunt of an underground world. She starts to realize that maybe things aren't right with some people around her and starts to see that she hhasn't been living in reality. This book is a must read, but also very weird. Read it and see for yourself.

The White Darkness was purchased for our daughter. This book was on a list as a recommended reading through our daughter's school in which she was required to write a report on during the summer. She thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend this book. The seller provided fast delivery, the product was exactly as described, and I would recommend seller to others.

Fourteen-year-old Sym Wates has withdrawn from the world by creating someone to talk to within her head in an attempt to defend herself from the hopelessness that surrounds not only her school life but also her family. This 'imaginary friend' happens to be "Titus" Oats, of Scott's doomed Antarctic expedition--dead for ninety years, his body never found on the Arctic ice. When Sym's 'Uncle' Victor, the man who looms largest in her life, surprises her with a trip to Antarctica, she gladly springs for the chance to pursue her obsession with the southern continent, despite the sinister dealings that obviously surround the journey.

What started as an amazing opportunity quickly turns into a nightmare. Uncle Victor's suspicious actions are slowly but surely revealed to both the reader and Sym as the result of full-blown madness as he undertakes a run-away expedition to the center of the continent. This, juxtaposed with Sym's own internal problems and knowledge of the sheer insanity of their journey across the ice, makes for a dark but thrilling adventure. Inner demons and the struggle to survive despite all odds vie for attention in the omnipresent Arctic starkness as the reader wonders with growing alarm: will anyone survive this expedition at all?

"The White Darkness" keeps the reader guessing. Sym doesn't let on everything she knows, nor does she attempt to justify her struggles, or angst on despite the burdens she carries. Her attachment to her Uncle Victor, explained and then deconstructed, is a fantastic portrayal of the place a father-figure, however terrible, can play in a child's life. Sym herself is far from perfect: party to deceit and at times willfully ignorant yet other times showing an amazing capacity to understand the underlying implications of what surrounds her, she paints a realistic picture of a world gone mad. Her story is of a girl awakening from the safe haven of detachment she has built deep within herself to face circumstances as harsh as Antarctica itself.

For these reasons I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something completely out of the ordinary. I myself couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Told by an unreliable narrator in a world as fantastic as any found in science fiction, "The White Darkness" is dark, original, gripping, lyrical, and a definite must-read.