The Magnetic North: Travels in the Arctic - Couverture souple

Wheeler, Sara

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0099516888 ISBN 13 : 9780099516880

Editeur : Vintage, 2010

Synopsis

Unusual book

A propos du livre

Quatrième de couverture :

'Sara Wheeler is the literary maestro of the earth's frozen regions... The prose is startling and sharp-edged as the icy landscapes themselves' Financial Times, 'Travel Books of the Year'

Smashing through the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, herding reindeer across the tundra with Lapps and shadowing the Trans-Alaskan pipeline with truckers, Sara Wheeler discovers a compex and ambiguous land belonging both to ancient myth and modern controvery. The Magnetic North is a spicy confection of history, science and reflection in which Wheeler meditates on the role of the Arctic: fragmented lands which fed imaginations long before the scientists and oilmen showed up (not to mention desperado explorers who ate their own shoes). The Magnetic North tells of all this, plus gulag ghosts, old and new Russia, colliding cultures and bioaccumulated toxins in polar bears.

'A wise, provoking and zestful chronicle, poetic, often tragic and always engaging... the finest book on the Arctic since Hugh Brody's The Other Side of Eden' Rory MacLean, Sunday Times

'Wheeler is an excellent narrator, intelligent, amusing, poetic and down to earth' Literary Review

'Wheeler writes about travel so well because she delights in travelling. Her adventurous spirit, tireless intelligence and joy shine through even the saddest page of The Magnetic North... she has a rare and precious talent ' Scotsman

'Wheeler's beautiful language and riveting narrative add up to a powerful account of what is at stake and what has already been lost' Irish Times

'A stylish and engaging account of some of the world's most mysterious, unknowable spots and, like the best travel writing, is infused with the writer's reflections on growing up, life and death' Daily Telegraph

'Irresistibly attractive ... a coddling hoosh of personal travelogue, historical anecdotage and speculative thinking' Will Self, New Statesman

Présentation de l'éditeur :

'Sara Wheeler is the literary maestro of the earth's frozen regions... The prose is startling and sharp-edged as the icy landscapes themselves' Financial Times

Smashing through the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, herding reindeer across the tundra with Lapps and shadowing the Trans-Alaskan pipeline with truckers, Sara Wheeler discovers a complex and ambiguous land belonging both to ancient myth and modern controversy.

The Magnetic North is an adroit combination of history, science and reflection in which Wheeler meditates on the role of the Arctic: fragmented lands which fed imaginations long before the scientists and oilmen showed up (not to mention desperado explorers who ate their own shoes).

The Magnetic North tells of all this, plus gulag ghosts, old and new Russia, colliding cultures and bioaccumulated toxins in polar bears.

'A stylish and engaging account of some of the world's most mysterious, unknowable spots and, like the best travel writing, is infused with the writer's reflections on growing up, life and death' Daily Telegraph

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Vintage
• Date d'édition: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0099516888
• ISBN 13: 9780099516880
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 368