The Year-Long Day: One Man's Arctic

by A.E. Maxwell, Ivar Ruud

Four hundred miles to the North Pole, a hundred to the nearest town. Intense wind and cold, the mountains swept clean of everything but moss, lichen, snow, and ice, the largest tree an 8-inch-high birch. Why would a young man choose to live totally alone in this unforgiving environment, hunting and trapping, never for a moment able to take his daily survival for granted? Ivar Ruud did it for adventure and freedom, and because it was a challenge that only a handful of other men had ever faced. Trapped in his cabin for days at a time by fierce storms, awakened by polar-bear claws slashing at his sleeping bag, left nearly helpless for two weeks after breaking his hand trying to force fighting sled dogs apart – all these adventurous sides of Ivar’s remarkable Arctic life are told with a rare sense of immediacy that often leaves the reader literally chilled. But there is another side to this vivid narrative, a depth of human feeling that reveals Ivar Ruud as a man with a profound, poetic appreciation and respect for the polar world he comes to accept – even love – on its own harshly beautiful terms. The Year-Long Day is a classic story of survival that enhances the reader’s sense of life itself.

Genres: Nonfiction, Survival

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(1)
collaboration of Ann Maxwell and Evan Maxwell

also aka Lowell Charters, Elizabeth Lowell, and Annalise Sun

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was *such* a fantastic book! As I said in an earlier review, it is Walden-esque but very much uniquely its own. There were many parts in this book that made my heart race, made me anxious to the point of nausea at times! While that may sound negative it’s actually a great thing.

The account pulled me right in. I was completely invested and swept away to a solitary life in the arctic. One recurring theme or element that I noticed and appreciated was that the book ran very much like life. Periods of calm and then sudden unexpected periods of high intensity. You could feel the adrenaline rush reading his accounts of the times that death was a quarter inch or mere seconds away. Where his life was spared mainly by luck and his honed reflexes and “sixth sense”, as he refers to it.

I *highly* recommend this book. It is officially going to be included on my “favorites” bookshelf in my home and will be one of the small number of books that I will likely never let go of. To add a personal element for myself- this was one of my late grandfather’s books. I hope that he was as swept away and enthralled with it as I was.

[Bonnie Dieffenbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this about 40 yrs ago, but decided to read it again before I gave it to my son to read. This is the true story of a young man who spends time isolated on an artic island off Finland to trap and hunt for polar bears. It was an interesting book. Pretty sure he did what I never could! I liked it.

[Olivia Borgschulte · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting and inspiring read about a man's Arctic trip. With constant twists and turns, this book is one that will keep you turning the page and wanting more.

[Sadowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best written books about the harsh life of the Arctic. The only character, Ivan Ruud is the poster boy for mental and physical strength. Not only does he live a hazardous life between the sea ice and unforgiving terrain but he does it alone with only his dogs to keep him company. I enjoyed this book immensely because the author wrote in in a way where the reader is intertwined with the narration. You are there when the polar bear wanders into cabin in search of food, when he gets the first kill of the season and finally when the sun finally rises once. As a young man who really enjoys the cold outdoors, it strikes a cord that few books do. I feel that I can closely relate to Ivar's quest to test himself and the search for peace in nature. Another reason I like the book is how factually accurate it is and how the book wasn't written with a romantic flair- its just straight narrative. Yet at the same time we are shown that Ruud isn't one who stays at surface level. Throughout the book he shows another side of himself, he has these intensely profound thoughts about life and the magnificence of nature. Over this book tops the charts as one of the best.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars or five stars? So hard to decide. This is a darned good book. It describes one man's life on Spitsbergen Island over the course of a year, back in the 1970s. Dog sledding, polar bears, blizzards, dangerous sea ice. Every time I started to get lulled into thinking that I was reading a slow section I would be stunned by what happened next. One heart-stopping event after another, right to the end of the book. I want so much to talk about what this man experienced but I don't dare spoil it for anyone else. Please read it so that I can talk about it.

[Nate Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic book, but rare to find, as there was only ever one printing. The writer follows Ivar Ruud as he hunts to survive on the Svalbard Islands. Hunting and survival in its truest form. This book also tackles philosophical questions that every naturalist hunter faces in his lifetime.

How good is it? My dad read the book in one sitting. He loaned it to a friend, who loaned to a friend, who loaned it to a friend... it took my dad 6 years to find it and get it back.

[Bobbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book many times over the years. My Dad got it through some Field and Stream book club when I was a kid. I love it. (I have a copy now.) On the other hand, my husband didn't like it at all. He thought it was not realistic and that the story was too simplified (hunter always wins). I disagree. Ok, it might be polished a bit, but it is still a heck of a story and really pretty good reading too. But if hunting puts you off - then this book is not for you.

[Brian Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing story, I have to re-read this book at the start of every winter, as the adventure is worth re-living again and again. Unique tale of one man's struggle to eek out a living alone for an entire year in the high Arctic, with no company except his sled dogs and himself, while trying to survive in a harsh, frigid world ruled by the polar bear.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Gripping...adventurous...man has Balls of Steel.

[William Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great true story of isolation, man vs. nature, and the power of the artic.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite story of adventure, solitude, and the Arctic

[Kristen]

It was interesting.