The Secret Lives of Glaciers

by M. Jackson

The Secret Lives of Glaciers  explores just what happens when a community's glaciers slowly disappear. Meticulously detailed, each chapter unfolds complex stories of people and glaciers along the southeastern coast of Iceland, exploring the history of glacier science and the world's first glacier monitoring program, the power glaciers enact on local society, perceptions by some in the community that glaciers are alive, and the conflicting and intertwined consequences of rapid glacier change on the cultural fabric of the region. Powerfully written, The Secret Lives of Glaciers  reaches beyond Iceland and touches on changing glaciers worldwide, revealing oft-overlooked interactions between people and ice throughout human history. 
The Secret Lives of Glaciers  delivers a critical  understanding glaciers and people together teaches us about how human society worldwide experiences being in the world today amidst increasing climatic changes and the anthropogenic transformation of all of Earth's systems. Instead of creating another catalog of the ice the world is losing,  The Secret Lives of Glaciers  explores what we may yet find with the hopeful possibility of saving humanity's glaciers. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Environment, History, Geology, Climate Change

292 pages, Hardcover

Published January 15, 2019

Reviews

[Bianca · Rating 2 out of 5]

According to quotes on the back of this book, Dr M Jackson is a "linguistic sorcerer" and "master storyteller."

Um.

I guess "linguistic sorcerer" could mean many things.

There were parts of this book I enjoyed. Conceptually, it is great. The interviews with Icelandic folk living near glacial activity are interesting, although these excerpts are fleshed out with unnecessary and patronising commentary from the author. The style and editing are underwhelming. There are plenty of grammatical errors, typos, and a lack of writerly flow, which makes for a clunky read and distracts from what would otherwise be compelling glaciological research and evidence of urgent climatic changes.

The bones are there, it just needed a lot more care and attention in the editing process.

[Austin R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at the relationships between the people on the southern coast of Iceland and the glaciers that in so many ways define the region. Occasionally hampered by slightly awkward writing and more sentimentality than always feels warranted.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope never to forget the story M Jackson shared of being collected from her house by a stranger to find a magical spot on a glacier to watch the aurora borealis.

[Laura Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than i did - it's good, no question, but not as great as it seems like it could be. Dr. Jackson is a glacier scientist writing about people's relationships with the glaciers around them here in Iceland, and while the overall points -- that people's relationship with ice is complex, that glaciers play roles more like living beings than inanimate ice for many locals, and that glaciers melting under climate change can be perceived as both positive or negative, depending on one's personal circumstances -- are excellent and important, the book started to get a bit repetitive after a while, and I think she missed a chance to dive a bit deeper into the complexities of personal and community relationships with the masses of ice around them.

Edit: re-reading a year later, now that i've actually traveled (briefly) through the areas covered in this book, just to see whether it changes for me? So far, still a little too aimed at undergraduates in a class, rather than just an interested, curious reader... and still gets increasingly repetitive, as if the author wasn't convinced that her writing was sufficiently convincing, and so keeps trying again.

[L L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glaciers are shrinking due to the climate change. That is the story we are accustomed to hearing about glaciers, and M Jackson strives to move us away from this single reductive story to a richer and more varied set of stories connected to glaciers, including exploring their variety and how human communities have related to them over the years, through a delightful survey of all things glaciers in Iceland.

M Jackson is a National Geographic scientist, and spent ten years in the small town of Höfn in southeastern Iceland, a common tourist launching off point for Vatnajökull National Park. She mixes personal story-telling of her interactions with people in the region, along with general knowledge about glaciers, to explore both scientific and social aspects of how people relate to glaciers in Iceland.

Her strength as a writer reflects her strong geography and scientific background. I loved her descriptions of the landscape and the different geological features of glaciers: floating tongues, proglacial lakes, glacial floods, the formation of ice caves, and the associated explanations. She manages to explain the physical features of glaciers accessibly, while conveying a sense of her beauty and awe.

M Jackson spends a fair degree of time exploring how people relate to the glaciers-- how people have adapted to their advancing and retreating, how many people felt the glaciers were alive, how glacier melt temporarily has strengthened the tourism industry, the local sense of ownership and stewardship. Jackson offers some social and psychological commentary on the meaning that people have attributed to glaciers-- but she often gets repetitive. The sociological and philosophical analysis isn't her strongest suit. Her exploration of the topic only grazes the surface (which she admits), though still introduces a valuable set of questions.

Some of my highlights from the book:
* The descriptions of the scenery in Höfn, a town surrounded by glaciers
* The stories of people living on farmland with the creep of advancing glaciers, and the threat of glacial floods
* The exploration of not-quite-accepting-glaciers-are-shrinking; climate-change-hasn't-come-here-yet belief and plausible deniability of many Icelanders
* A person from town taking Jackson in the middle of the night to see a glacier cave filled with reflective Northern lights
* The beneficial and destructive impact of ice cave and "last chance" tourism in the region, associated with glacier melt

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

M Jackson invites us to fall in love with glaciers. In Iceland, the glaciers were often viewed as haunting gods who could flood houses and landscapes. Here, Jackson asks us to think about climate change, not just in a good/bad narrative, but invites to consider all the complexities of a changing climate. For Iceland, the glaciers are receding because of increasing temperatures and yet the culture is adapting to this in various, unexpected ways. "Last chance" tourism is increasing. Everyone wants their picture with the blue light in an ice cave. The cultural stories about the glaciers are changing as well. Jackson spends time showing us how this culture personifies the glaciers so that to the reader, the glaciers become like mysterious characters who breathe in and breathe out, while sitting on the landscape.

This book was engaging and well written. I went to Iceland two years ago and saw some of the glaciers Jackson spoke about it, but this book allowed me to travel through Iceland with a thoughtful glaciologist. I would really recommend this book to anyone interested in environmental writing.

[Robert Ham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the complex relationship between the people of Iceland and their changing glaciers. The author takes great pains to argue that there is much more to it than glaciers melting due to global warming, and there are chapters on the history of the ice coming and going, the hardships it produced and the complicated reasons why otherwise intelligent people choose not to see what's happening now. Some of it made sense and some of it made me scratch my head. There was for instance an interminable chapter on the minutia of ice cave tourism, all to make the point that global warming has revived the industry in Iceland, as people rush to see the ice before it's gone. There's a lot of repetition and beating points to death, and frankly I can't see how these arguments serve to bring attention to the problem at hand--on the contrary, they would seem to provide ammunition to climate deniers as much as anything,

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Jackson takes an interesting approach to the study of glaciers. She noted that the story of glaciers has been boiled down to one thing - melting, a display of display change. What gets left out in that single track narrative is the diversity of glaciers and the diversity of the communities that live with glaciers. Using extensive interviews, she tells stories of how people and glaciers interact in southeast Iceland. She approaches her topic using sociology, anthropology, economics, philosophy, and more. I especially liked the chapters on animism and contrary views. But, I think it was a little slow and sometimes repetitive in other parts. Overall, definitely interesting and I'm glad I read it!

[Lauren Maier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. I've visited all of the Icelandic glaciers mentioned and live right next two two in Alaska, so it feels like this book was written for me. The way Jackson describes the life both within glaciers and surrounding them is perfect. Most people only ever know glaciers from the stories of their melting, as Jackson describes, but I hope this book inspires people to get out there and meet them because their magic needs to be felt to be truly understood.

[Karen Özdemir · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic and unique angle is very interesting, and I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately, I found it very difficult to get through, despite the short length. The story is un-structured and very repetitive. I would have preferred longer stories from individual Icelanders. A shame really, I would have loved it if it was written with more excitement and humour.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Way more in here than just the ice. The peek into the culture and history of Iceland was well done and the glacier science was very approachable. I found the discussion regarding the sociology of "denial" and "the unthinkable" especially relevant about now.

[Rachel]

DNF. This book isn't quite sure what it wants to be and so is not quite hitting the mark for either general audiences or textbook. Beautiful and striking descriptions are surrounded by endless details and everything just gets bogged down. A pity, since it's a great topic and interesting approach.

[Paul Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book, focuses on the narratives of modern glaciers and their history in Iceland. There's a few good anecdotes from his travel in Iceland, as well as some insight into how those in Iceland see glaciers and climate change, but the book felt like it was missing something.

[Adrienne Scanlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my review at the New York Journal of Books (https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book...).

[海刚 周 · Rating 5 out of 5]

It can take snow 50-100 years to become glacier ice!

[Sahithi Buddula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in Alaska and it really put into perspective the historical purviews of icebergs. This was a good slow read.

[Georgiana Trutescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this is not a perfect book. For me it was fine because I liked the concept and to learn more about the Icelandic culture. But I also wanted to find more details about glaciers, other than the fact that they are receding because of climate change. This book left me with even more questions about glacier's life, but I think it was meant to focus on other things.
I can't comment on the grammer issues because I am not an English native speaker, but I agree that the writing style was a bit messy and I also spot a few grammar issues here and there.