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The Quickening: Antarctica, Motherhood, and Cultivating Hope in a Warming World
An astonishing, vital book about Antarctica, climate change, and motherhood from the author of Rising , finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.
In 2019, fifty-seven scientists and crew set out onboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer . Their destination: Thwaites Glacier. Their goal: to learn as much as possible about this mysterious place, never before visited by humans, and believed to be both rapidly deteriorating and capable of making a catastrophic impact on global sea-level rise. In The Quickening , Elizabeth Rush documents their voyage, offering the sublime--seeing an iceberg for the first time; the staggering waves of the Drake Passage; the torqued, unfamiliar contours of Thwaites--alongside the workaday moments of this groundbreaking expedition. A ping-pong tournament at sea. Long hours in the lab. All the effort that goes into caring for and protecting human life in a place that is inhospitable to it. Along the way, she takes readers on a personal journey around a more intimate question: What does it mean to bring a child into the world at this time of radical change? What emerges is a new kind of Antarctica story, one preoccupied not with flag planting but with the collective and challenging work of imagining a better future. With understanding the language of a continent where humans have only been present for two centuries. With the contributions and concerns of women, who were largely excluded from voyages until the last few decades, and of crew members of color, whose labor has often gone unrecognized. The Quickening teems with their voices--with the colorful stories and personalities of Rush's shipmates--in a thrilling chorus. Urgent and brave, absorbing and vulnerable, The Quickening is another essential book from Elizabeth Rush.
In 2019, fifty-seven scientists and crew set out onboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer . Their destination: Thwaites Glacier. Their goal: to learn as much as possible about this mysterious place, never before visited by humans, and believed to be both rapidly deteriorating and capable of making a catastrophic impact on global sea-level rise. In The Quickening , Elizabeth Rush documents their voyage, offering the sublime--seeing an iceberg for the first time; the staggering waves of the Drake Passage; the torqued, unfamiliar contours of Thwaites--alongside the workaday moments of this groundbreaking expedition. A ping-pong tournament at sea. Long hours in the lab. All the effort that goes into caring for and protecting human life in a place that is inhospitable to it. Along the way, she takes readers on a personal journey around a more intimate question: What does it mean to bring a child into the world at this time of radical change? What emerges is a new kind of Antarctica story, one preoccupied not with flag planting but with the collective and challenging work of imagining a better future. With understanding the language of a continent where humans have only been present for two centuries. With the contributions and concerns of women, who were largely excluded from voyages until the last few decades, and of crew members of color, whose labor has often gone unrecognized. The Quickening teems with their voices--with the colorful stories and personalities of Rush's shipmates--in a thrilling chorus. Urgent and brave, absorbing and vulnerable, The Quickening is another essential book from Elizabeth Rush.
- GenresNature
424 pages, Paperback
Published August 13, 2024
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2288 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 19, 2025
This is a brilliant and moving book.
As I think about my (soon!!!!) plans to try and get pregnant, I will carry the lessons I learned from this book close to my heart. Belief in a better world isn’t foolish, it is the only thing.
Beautiful and honest and scary and hopeful and wonderful.
As I think about my (soon!!!!) plans to try and get pregnant, I will carry the lessons I learned from this book close to my heart. Belief in a better world isn’t foolish, it is the only thing.
Beautiful and honest and scary and hopeful and wonderful.
September 27, 2024
There were some incredible parts of this book that really were good, and then there was a lot of this book that was fluff, and then there was a lot of talk about should she have a baby and the world the baby will live in.
While I can understand the authors life choices and decisions being heavy, I felt that it took away from the book itself.
I think without the fluff, and if this solely focused on the trip to Antarctica, this would have been a great read.
While I can understand the authors life choices and decisions being heavy, I felt that it took away from the book itself.
I think without the fluff, and if this solely focused on the trip to Antarctica, this would have been a great read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews