North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic

In sum, his story is a captivating one. You definitely become attached to Alvah, but that doesn't always mean that you like him. Frequently, the author is condescending, unwilling to compromise, cheesy, and generally unpleasant. But through it all, he does remain honest - and this makes this story a worthwhile read. You feel for Alvah as when he is startled by a polar bear, or when he breaks his cats ear, or wakes up blind. You dive into the cold of his boat and the difficulties of day to day life at -30F. Throughout it all, you are thankful that it is he and not you.

I finished this book with an odd feeling of understanding. I was not there, but through his words, the author made me think that I was. I am writing this review months after having finished the book. And yet, I can still picture in my mind the pain and the pleasure that Alvah Simon endured. Very very powerful.


Well-Written & Colorful   July 13, 2000
Allie Kat (Nunavut)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

All too often people with no experience of the Arctic think it'd be a really nifty idea to have an Arctic adventure. If they're climbers or sailors down south, and equipped with enough high-tech gadgets, they can't foresee any problems. After all, or so the reasoning seems to be, the unsophisticated Inuit have been getting by for centuries, and they didn't even have Gore-Tex. The Arctic hates arrogance and if you insist on bringing arrogance with you, it will kill you. Many adventurers don't live to write about their adventures, although their oft-times lugubrious demise does provide a kind of morbid entertainment for the locals. When Northerners tell you you're a fool it's because you are a fool, and not because they're trying to keep all the fun for themselves.

Thus, I had to suspend my judgments of Mr. Simon as not only a fool, but a damned fool. Naiveté not being enough, he topped it off with an unhealthy taste for senseless risk-taking. But perhaps because at heart he wasn't an arrogant fool, the Arctic let him get away with it, so I decided that I could do no less and let his charm beguile me. His story-telling ability is entertaining and his sense of humor rises above the flaws in his common sense. If people did only sensible things then both books and the human spirit would be awfully dull and that has to be admitted when reading any true life adventure book. It's not the readers' job to psychoanalyze the writer, but simply to come along for the ride, and this is a fascinating ride. His spiritual insights develop naturally from his experiences and that makes them more meaningful to me than if he'd set out to look for them, and he succeeded well in making an ultimately uplifting story, despite the bleak situation.

Oh, by the way, if this is an appealing book, a lot of credit must go to Halifax the cat, for her part.


Detail and Honesty Make for a Great Account   June 13, 2000
A. Ross (Washington, DC)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

This tale of a husband and wife who decide to sail far north and spend the winter in the Arctic is a better than average travelogue. From concept to completion, it's quite a page-turner at times as the duo take on all the hurdles in their way, some of which are mere annoyances, and some of which are life-threatening. The details of finding the right boat and provisioning are all quite interesting, as are many of the little tricks of the trade and jerry-rigging that are brought up throughout the course of the book. There's also quite a bit about Inuit (aka Eskimo) life, and the majesty of the Arctic, which at times gets a little much, but isn't as cheezy as some writers get. Things get really interesting when Simon's wife has to be airlifted out in an emergency, leaving him alone with a kitten for almost half a year. Simon's vivid and frank description of his mental state during this time is perhaps the best part of the book. Well worth reading.