|  | Author: Valerian Albanov
Creators: Alison Anderson, Jon Krakauer, David Roberts
Publisher: Modern Library
List Price: $14.95
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Seller: _athenaeum_
Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 120273
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: Expanded
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 067978361X
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.804
EAN: 9780679783619
ASIN: 067978361X
Publication Date: October 17, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: EX-LIBRARY; used item may have library binding and show stamps, stickers or other marks. Items not meeting quality expectations may be returned for refund. Buy with confidence - your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 33
 wow July 26, 2001
sgardner (california)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Of the dozen or so books I have read regarding true artic/sea adventures and of all books I have ever read, this one will always rate at the top!! Albanov, though on the bias side due to his own telling (but understandable and agreeable due to the situation) gives a very detailed account of his travels with an indepth detail of how his mind worked and why various events took place. This is a true roller-coaster, fast pace of a read (and very enjoyable and easy to read)that just when you think events/situations are at a stand still, the ride starts all over again at an unbeleivable pace. I was most impressed with Albanovs writing/telling of the story style in which it appears he took great pains to express his mind and provide details that seem impossible to even think of considering the circumstances. A must for the true adventure reader.
 Russian Navigator's Resurrected Account July 4, 2001
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Russian navigator Valerian Albanov's account of his escape from an icebound ship into the wastes of the Arctic grips and pulls the reader unblinkingly to the end. Much has been made of the recent dusting off of this travelogue, peddled in Russia and France but neglected in the anglophone world. The hoopla is not without its cause. Albanov's prose is refreshingly sparse, taking his theme from the snow-bright landscape which harrowed him for ninety days. His story clips along at a good pace. For Albanov, the action is the thing. Unfortunately, we lose from his writing a sense of the personalities with whom he sailed and hiked the shifting ice floes. Ten crewmembers, including the contentious captain, remain abord the ship never to be seen again. Albanov curiously reports the details of small tiffs he had with the captain, the kindly forebearance and dutifulness of the nurse, and small vignettes from events leading up to the departure of the thirteen. Of the men who travel with Albanov, no physical description is given and only brief life histories outlined after the notation of their deaths or disappearances are given. This lack uncannily adds force to the real protagonist, the land of white death. From the beginning, the reader understands that of the twenty-three who set out on the Russian expedition, only two survive. When Albanov so rarely treats us to a vision of one of his compatriots, we glimpse the pale ghostly silhouette of a man or woman occupied by the everyday while unknowingly standing at the brink of doom. We sense them, and Albanov himself who only outlived his companions by a few short years, forever trapped in that frozen country and we shiver in our beds.
A tale of artic survival from 1912-1914 June 26, 2001
Conrad B. Senior (Easton, CT United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Albanov was a Russian navigator. In 1912 he set sail as second in command of the Saint Anna in the hopes of reaching Vladivostok across the Northeast Passage. His ship was locked in the pack ice in the Kara Sea and drifting northward. After 18 months locked in the ice, with supplies incapable of supporting everyone another winter, he asked for permission to build a kayak and sled to seek land to the south. Others decided to join him, encouraged by the Captain, who with the small remainder of the crew, hope to be spit out of the ice in the Atlantic many months later. They were never found.Thirteen started the perilous journey and two survived. The remainder on the Saint Anna are perhaps still locked in an icy death above the artic circle. The book was written in Russian and later translated to French. Only recently was in translated into English after a copy was found in the Harvard library, unread for 68 years. Albanov's diary, the basis for this later book, describes the ordeal, the wildlife encountered, the snow blindness, and the fatigue that lead to the deaths of many of the men. I found the book to be a quick read. I was unable to put it down until I finished it. Strongly recommended. Conrad B Senior
Facinating account of artic survival June 25, 2001
Conrad B. Senior (Easton, CT United States)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Albanov was a Russian navigator. In 1912 he set sail as second in command of the Saint Anna in the hopes of reaching Vladivostok across the Northeast Passage. His ship was locked in the pack ice in the Kara Sea and drifting northward. After 18 months locked in the ice, with supplies incapable of supporting everyone another winter, he asked for permission to build a kayak and sled to seek land to the south. Others decided to join him, encouraged by the Captain, who with the small remainder of the crew, hope to be spit out of the ice in the Atlantic many months later. They were never found.Thirteen started the perilous journey and two survived. The remainder on the Saint Anna are perhaps still locked in an icy death above the artic circle. The book was written in Russian and later translated to French. Only recently was in translated into English after a copy was found in the Harvard library, unread for 68 years. Albanov's diary, the basis for this later book, describes the ordeal, the wildlife encountered, the snow blindness, and the fatigue that lead to the deaths of many of the men. I found the book to be a quick read. I was unable to put it down until I finished it. Strongly recommended. Conrad B Senior
Conviction or Death June 5, 2001
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Very few books capture me.. I am not a reader. But I came home early on Friday and Saturday nights to read this book, and read it at red lights until horns blew. Not only because of the amazing description of a harrowing journey, but Albanov's conviction and determination are a lesson for our time. He shows that your will determines your future. A must read for any whiner in our victimization culture of today.
Showing reviews 16-20 of 33
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