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Circling the Midnight Sun
Over the course of three years, Jim Raffan, seasoned traveller and bestselling author-circumnavigated the globe at 66.5 degrees latitude: the Arctic Circle. Armed with his passion for the north, his interest in diverse cultures and his unquenchable sense of adventure, he set out to put a human face on climate change. What he discovered was by turns shocking, frustrating, entertaining and enlightening. In Circling the Midnight Sun, Raffan presents a warm-hearted, engaging portrait of the circumpolar world, but also a deeply affecting story of societies and landscapes in the throes of enormous change. Compelling and utterly original, this is both an adventure story and a book that will transform the way we think about northerners and the north.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2014
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147 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 6, 2015
Based near Kingston, Ont., James Raffan has built a career writing and lecturing on Canadian wilderness travel. He has written more than a dozen books in this vein, including the bestsellers Wildwaters (1986), Summer North of Sixty (1990) and Bark, Skin and Cedar (1999), a cultural history of canoes.
In 2007, Raffan set himself a larger canvas, writing a biography of Sir George Simpson, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1820 to 1860.
While researching that book, Raffan was intrigued to learn that Simpson had made an around-the-world tour in 1841-42, visiting the Arctic Circle in Russia. Later, Raffan was invited to attend a 2010 conference in Iqaluit on the issues facing the Arctic, whose delegate list was "heavily skewed towards non-indigenous men and women, like me, with addresses in the middle lattitudes."
After decades visiting the North, Raffan wanted to know how climate change and industry was affecting the land. But he also realized that many southerners knew nothing about the North, a point driven home when he saw tourists on weekend jaunts to Santa's Workshop theme parks in Finland and Alaska. He also noticed how fluffy polar bears had become the face of climate change for organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund.
As Raffan argues in his introduction, the North is more than Coca-Cola's advertising campaigns have made it out to be: "there are people who live in the Arctic, four million of them, in eight countries, speaking dozens of languages and representing almost as many indigenous cultures."
As such, Circling the Midnight Sun documents Raffan's three-and-a-half year circumpolar journey, visiting indigenous communities in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
But make no mistake. With the exception of a long and bone-shaking ride to visit a Siberian shaman, where the driver blasted Russian techno-pop and smoked incessantly, and a fishing trip in Iceland that includes dolphin, this book is not adventure travel of the traditional sort.
Raffan spends much of his time in the book in transit, to and from his home, to and from remote Arctic communities.
The majority of Circling the Midnight Sun's pages, in fact, are devoted to histories of the peoples he meets.
More importantly, it also details contemporary attempts by indigenous peoples to gain any kind of sovereignty over their traditional lands, given the influx of industry, the new shipping lanes from China, Singapore and Korea, and the changing winds of politics.
Along the way, Raffan meets with political leaders, reindeer herders, activists, spiritual leaders, museum curators, artists and engineers.
Thankfully, Raffan is a careful and sympathetic tour guide to all these varied communities. What's more, he always seems aware that his is the perspective of a white southerner, that there is more to knowing a place than canoeing its rivers, so he spends most of his time listening.
One of the most memorable moments in this book comes when Raffan is served baby horse in a Siberian restaurant.
When asked by the chef, Igor Makarov, if he likes it, Raffan says, "We have horses at home. My wife and daughters are competitive riders. They are horse-lovers. Horses are a big part of our family's life as well. But I'm not sure how they will react when I tell them that I enjoyed a meal of foal here in Yakutsk."
The chef's answer encapsulates everything that Circling the Midnight Sun attempts: overcoming culture shock, deepening our ideas about indigenous peoples, and beginning a north-south dialogue.
"Here in Sakha, horses are sacred," replied Makarov. "They are a part of who we are. They have been a part of Sakha culture as long as anyone can remember. And, for my part, I can't imagine loving a horse and not eating them."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 1, 2014
In 2007, Raffan set himself a larger canvas, writing a biography of Sir George Simpson, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1820 to 1860.
While researching that book, Raffan was intrigued to learn that Simpson had made an around-the-world tour in 1841-42, visiting the Arctic Circle in Russia. Later, Raffan was invited to attend a 2010 conference in Iqaluit on the issues facing the Arctic, whose delegate list was "heavily skewed towards non-indigenous men and women, like me, with addresses in the middle lattitudes."
After decades visiting the North, Raffan wanted to know how climate change and industry was affecting the land. But he also realized that many southerners knew nothing about the North, a point driven home when he saw tourists on weekend jaunts to Santa's Workshop theme parks in Finland and Alaska. He also noticed how fluffy polar bears had become the face of climate change for organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund.
As Raffan argues in his introduction, the North is more than Coca-Cola's advertising campaigns have made it out to be: "there are people who live in the Arctic, four million of them, in eight countries, speaking dozens of languages and representing almost as many indigenous cultures."
As such, Circling the Midnight Sun documents Raffan's three-and-a-half year circumpolar journey, visiting indigenous communities in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
But make no mistake. With the exception of a long and bone-shaking ride to visit a Siberian shaman, where the driver blasted Russian techno-pop and smoked incessantly, and a fishing trip in Iceland that includes dolphin, this book is not adventure travel of the traditional sort.
Raffan spends much of his time in the book in transit, to and from his home, to and from remote Arctic communities.
The majority of Circling the Midnight Sun's pages, in fact, are devoted to histories of the peoples he meets.
More importantly, it also details contemporary attempts by indigenous peoples to gain any kind of sovereignty over their traditional lands, given the influx of industry, the new shipping lanes from China, Singapore and Korea, and the changing winds of politics.
Along the way, Raffan meets with political leaders, reindeer herders, activists, spiritual leaders, museum curators, artists and engineers.
Thankfully, Raffan is a careful and sympathetic tour guide to all these varied communities. What's more, he always seems aware that his is the perspective of a white southerner, that there is more to knowing a place than canoeing its rivers, so he spends most of his time listening.
One of the most memorable moments in this book comes when Raffan is served baby horse in a Siberian restaurant.
When asked by the chef, Igor Makarov, if he likes it, Raffan says, "We have horses at home. My wife and daughters are competitive riders. They are horse-lovers. Horses are a big part of our family's life as well. But I'm not sure how they will react when I tell them that I enjoyed a meal of foal here in Yakutsk."
The chef's answer encapsulates everything that Circling the Midnight Sun attempts: overcoming culture shock, deepening our ideas about indigenous peoples, and beginning a north-south dialogue.
"Here in Sakha, horses are sacred," replied Makarov. "They are a part of who we are. They have been a part of Sakha culture as long as anyone can remember. And, for my part, I can't imagine loving a horse and not eating them."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 1, 2014
March 15, 2015
A bit of a disappointment. I'll consider the work first according to its genre, which is travel narrative. The author has a declared quest: to determine the state of Arctic peoples faced with the challenge of climate change. The narrative falters, I think, because it lacks the unifying device of the journey. The writer travels to multiple points on or near the Arctic Circle, but he does not travel the Arctic Circle. He goes somewhere, goes home again, and then goes somewhere else. And when he does, the itinerary is less than exciting. He goes to a lot of conferences, takes a lot of meetings, but hardly gets into the field at all.
As for the quest around which the narrative revolves, it comes up against a problem. Whenever the author asks the indigenous peoples he encounters about the crisis of climate change, they say that's not their concern; they want to talk about culture conservation, resource control, and self-determination. It feels like the author decides he has come up dry on his theme, but he can't just abandon it. So at the end he provides himself cover by repeating truisms about climate change, then offers a call for native self-determination as his main finding. He probably gets to the right place, but is less than forthright about it.
As for the quest around which the narrative revolves, it comes up against a problem. Whenever the author asks the indigenous peoples he encounters about the crisis of climate change, they say that's not their concern; they want to talk about culture conservation, resource control, and self-determination. It feels like the author decides he has come up dry on his theme, but he can't just abandon it. So at the end he provides himself cover by repeating truisms about climate change, then offers a call for native self-determination as his main finding. He probably gets to the right place, but is less than forthright about it.
December 18, 2024
Very interesting read for anyone interested in the North and climate change and cultures of the world.
February 1, 2015
Far more than a travelogue of a remarkable circumpolar odyssey, James Raffan shares the stories of oft-forgotten northerners who people the lands at the Arctic Circle - their cultures, their struggles for survival (physically, culturally, financially and politically) interspersed with reflective thoughts and connections to his own life and experiences. Raffan is a masterful story-teller. Much food for thought in this book.
January 8, 2018
I'm not too much a fan of Raffan's writing style, but that didn't stop me from finishing this book, because I couldn't wait to meet the next culture along the way.
The book didn't really become too engaging until about half way through, where I feel like Raffan really started to engage with the local people on THEIR turf. So much of the first half of the book just felt like stories of Raffan traveling, and talking about the book he was writing (the one in my hands), and not really getting into the content of the book with the people he was meeting. He seemed to not ask a lot of questions, and more often than not a lot of the book took place at conferences and meetings than actually out on the land (until that half way mark).
Long story short, I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't the sort of book I would really recommend to other people.
The book didn't really become too engaging until about half way through, where I feel like Raffan really started to engage with the local people on THEIR turf. So much of the first half of the book just felt like stories of Raffan traveling, and talking about the book he was writing (the one in my hands), and not really getting into the content of the book with the people he was meeting. He seemed to not ask a lot of questions, and more often than not a lot of the book took place at conferences and meetings than actually out on the land (until that half way mark).
Long story short, I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't the sort of book I would really recommend to other people.
October 13, 2020
For someone who already has always loved geography, this book permanently changed how I think.
The artic is like the geographic minority on planet earth, we know it is there, but the concept is fuzzy and never central to our thinking. James shines a light on all 360 degrees of the top of the world as he retells his own trip around the 67th parallel.
After reading this, I want to see more maps with the north pole at the center.
The artic is like the geographic minority on planet earth, we know it is there, but the concept is fuzzy and never central to our thinking. James shines a light on all 360 degrees of the top of the world as he retells his own trip around the 67th parallel.
After reading this, I want to see more maps with the north pole at the center.
July 14, 2019
Fascinating
December 16, 2020
Very interesting exploration of the impacts of civilisation and climate change on the indigenous peoples of the Arctic regions.
December 19, 2022
James tours communities in the North along (or in) the Arctic Circle to get a glimpse into their lives and the impact governments and climate change are having on them.
August 25, 2016
This book was lent to me by a friend because I had mentioned I had been on a trip reindeer trekking and kayaking north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden and Norway. It is a fascinating look at the indigenous people who make their home in the land of the midnight sun and an excellent critique of the challenges they face. By the end of the book it is clear that global warming is only one of many and in their mind, not the most pressing. The book is packed with facts and dwells on the travel, making it a hybrid of social study, travellog, memoir and call to action. While not a bad writer, one wishes this moving material had been in the hands of a writer who could bring the humour out of the pathos, without undercutting either. What would Bill Bryson have done with this material!
September 18, 2015
A heavy read, at times I can't get into it but I give it a go after a couple of times and finished the book. You cannot but feel and think about how we consume and treat the environment without feeling how it effects the rest of the living beings on this earth. Informative and interesting read.
October 12, 2014
A plodding, uninspired "this happened, then this happened" account.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews