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Surfacing
Hand over hand, Petersen drew the rope out of the water. The gap between the two ice pans was barely a foot wide. Morgan watched the man coiling the rope nicely onto the ice. Inside him, a stupid hope had already bred, that the boy might still be attached to the end of it. He would come up laughing and spluttering, amused as much as relieved.
Morgan is second-in-command of the brig Impetus, dispatched in 185o to the Arctic in search of Franklin’s lost expedition. It is late in the year and the ice is closing in when Morgan, ensconced in this wholly masculine world, learns that the ship is carrying a stowaway—a woman. Pregnant with his child.
It is too late to turn back. The child will be born into this vast frozen wilderness. And Morgan must set out on a voyage of deliverance across a bleak expanse as shifting, stubborn and treacherous as human nature itself.
Morgan is second-in-command of the brig Impetus, dispatched in 185o to the Arctic in search of Franklin’s lost expedition. It is late in the year and the ice is closing in when Morgan, ensconced in this wholly masculine world, learns that the ship is carrying a stowaway—a woman. Pregnant with his child.
It is too late to turn back. The child will be born into this vast frozen wilderness. And Morgan must set out on a voyage of deliverance across a bleak expanse as shifting, stubborn and treacherous as human nature itself.
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First published January 1, 2014
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About the author
Cormac James
5 books20 followersCormac James is an Irish writer. His short fiction has appeared in Guernica, AGNI, and elsewhere. His novel The Surfacing was published in 2014. He lives in Montpellier, France.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 27, 2019
To them*, that's who we'll always be, he told her. Children. No matter what we do. No matter how far we go. Beyond a certain point, the passage of time can do no more for us. We stay young, and they grow older, and we lose sight of each other in the end.
this is a first - i find i don't really have much to say about this book. this is on the lower end of my three-star reads, which surprised and saddened me. i'm not sure why i didn't get as much out of this book as other readers seem to have. i thought it was beautifully written, but also very - dare i confess? - boring. the descriptive passages were gorgeous, but i thought the characters were flat, and there's a lot of time just spent … waiting. which, considering the subject matter, is completely appropriate, but i have read several similarly-themed books both fiction and non- that i didn't find boring.
up there in the blurbs, colum mccann calls this book "hypnotic," and i think that's what happened to me - i was hypnotized. but not in a fun way where i squawked like a chicken whenever someone said "purple" or something. just hypnotized the way they do in sleep clinics to effect soporific results. i didn't see the harrowing tale of psychological fortitude against impossible odds side of this. regrettably, all i experienced was tedium occasionally enlivened by some exquisite landscape prose. and one excellent piece of advice:
That is why a man must never listen to reason. He must merely exercise his will unceasingly, and only afterward stop to consider what he has achieved.
and i will add to that the advice that i should also not be listened to, because i clearly missed something in this book. i assume i will be told as much in the thread following this review, by someone deploying a very smug tone, and i'm fine with that.
* where "them" refers to "our parents."
come to my blog!
this is a first - i find i don't really have much to say about this book. this is on the lower end of my three-star reads, which surprised and saddened me. i'm not sure why i didn't get as much out of this book as other readers seem to have. i thought it was beautifully written, but also very - dare i confess? - boring. the descriptive passages were gorgeous, but i thought the characters were flat, and there's a lot of time just spent … waiting. which, considering the subject matter, is completely appropriate, but i have read several similarly-themed books both fiction and non- that i didn't find boring.
up there in the blurbs, colum mccann calls this book "hypnotic," and i think that's what happened to me - i was hypnotized. but not in a fun way where i squawked like a chicken whenever someone said "purple" or something. just hypnotized the way they do in sleep clinics to effect soporific results. i didn't see the harrowing tale of psychological fortitude against impossible odds side of this. regrettably, all i experienced was tedium occasionally enlivened by some exquisite landscape prose. and one excellent piece of advice:
That is why a man must never listen to reason. He must merely exercise his will unceasingly, and only afterward stop to consider what he has achieved.
and i will add to that the advice that i should also not be listened to, because i clearly missed something in this book. i assume i will be told as much in the thread following this review, by someone deploying a very smug tone, and i'm fine with that.
* where "them" refers to "our parents."
come to my blog!
September 24, 2014
The Surfacing is the second novel by Irish-born author, Cormac James. Lieutenant Richard Morgan is the second officer on the brig Impetus, part of the search for Franklin’s lost Arctic expedition. The narration, which extends over twenty-seven months and is told in the third person from Morgan’s point of view, begins in March 1850, when the brig arrives at Disko, Greenland, for supplies. They are late joining the search and the Captain, Gordon Myers is perhaps more ambitious than talented, making a few unwise decisions that see them forced to return to Disko for repairs for several weeks during the optimum season for the Arctic search. After they have been under weigh again for three weeks, a stowaway is revealed: a woman pregnant with Morgan’s child. Soon enough, it becomes apparent that this hostile environment will be witness the birth of the child.
This is a novel that twines historical fact with fiction: there were many ships sent out to try to find the lost Franklin expedition, but James does warn in his Acknowledgements “Where known facts have not suited my narrative, I have ignored them.” Thus, many elements are drawn from true accounts of the search missions, ships going down, sledge travel and retreat with a whaleboat, giving the narration an authentic feel. There is a wealth of interesting information presented in an easy-to-digest form. Such things as that essential personnel on a nineteenth-century sailing ship include carpenters (perhaps the equivalent of today’s engineers); the staggering amount and variety of provisions such a ship would need to set sail, including copious quantities of alcohol, hot air balloons, replacement clothing and footwear, dogs, sleds, tents and much more; the dangers that might be faced (the ship being crushed by ice; scurvy due to lack of fresh fruit; attack by Polar bears; frostbite; falling into crevasses; and that, strangely enough, starvation was probably less likely that some other perils).
While the absence of quotation marks for dialogue may be irritating at first, as the story absorbs the attention of the reader it becomes barely noticeable. A basic knowledge of marine terms is certainly helpful but not essential. Morgan is a complex man who seems torn between patriotic duty and familial responsibility. The mother of his child is a woman whose motivation is, at first, difficult character to understand. The most appealing character is DeHaven, in particular for his regular displays of dry wit, which lift many moments where the subject matter is grave or solemn. James gives the reader some wonderfully evocative prose: “Below them the sea turned in its sleep, the waves boiled over like milk and sizzled on the shore” is but one example. This novel has been described as powerful and compelling, adjectives that are certainly apt. A brilliant read.
This is a novel that twines historical fact with fiction: there were many ships sent out to try to find the lost Franklin expedition, but James does warn in his Acknowledgements “Where known facts have not suited my narrative, I have ignored them.” Thus, many elements are drawn from true accounts of the search missions, ships going down, sledge travel and retreat with a whaleboat, giving the narration an authentic feel. There is a wealth of interesting information presented in an easy-to-digest form. Such things as that essential personnel on a nineteenth-century sailing ship include carpenters (perhaps the equivalent of today’s engineers); the staggering amount and variety of provisions such a ship would need to set sail, including copious quantities of alcohol, hot air balloons, replacement clothing and footwear, dogs, sleds, tents and much more; the dangers that might be faced (the ship being crushed by ice; scurvy due to lack of fresh fruit; attack by Polar bears; frostbite; falling into crevasses; and that, strangely enough, starvation was probably less likely that some other perils).
While the absence of quotation marks for dialogue may be irritating at first, as the story absorbs the attention of the reader it becomes barely noticeable. A basic knowledge of marine terms is certainly helpful but not essential. Morgan is a complex man who seems torn between patriotic duty and familial responsibility. The mother of his child is a woman whose motivation is, at first, difficult character to understand. The most appealing character is DeHaven, in particular for his regular displays of dry wit, which lift many moments where the subject matter is grave or solemn. James gives the reader some wonderfully evocative prose: “Below them the sea turned in its sleep, the waves boiled over like milk and sizzled on the shore” is but one example. This novel has been described as powerful and compelling, adjectives that are certainly apt. A brilliant read.
April 11, 2020
Among the greatest English-language novels I've read in the last decade comes an almost unsung contemporary gem by Irish writer Cormac James, "The Surfacing." The book is an absolute masterwork, a poetic sojourn, a grueling Arctic journey that is a cross between a literary classic and historical fiction. A pity it wasn't in competition for the Man Booker when it appeared in 2014. I can't imagine many recent novels do well in comparison. The language is exquisite, the music sublime.
May 4, 2015
“The Surfacing” is a psychological novel about how a group of European sailors looking for Franklin’s expedition lived together after getting lost in the Arctic. They set sail in 1850.
This story is austere to read and I struggled to keep focus all through this drama. It begins with the ship, Impetus, leaving Greenland and navigating north till it gets stuck in pack ice where it remains for the rest of the story. Each chapter is dated and tells the day to day life aboard the ship during the two years the Impetus was trapped in winter’s grip. What gives this story an edge of expectation is when Morgan, the second in command realizes that on-board there is a pregnant stowaway disrupting their male world and that he is the father. The sharp prose is very poetic and is fabulously detailed, both in its historical research as well as how it depicts the harsh landscape. How many nuances can one give to ice and snow without being repetitive? Although this grim multi-layered subject moves in slow motion it nevertheless excels in fictionalizing the hope, hardship and heroism of the men.
In a few words “The Surfacing” was too tedious for my enjoyment, too obscure to have kept me captivating from the first page and like the high Arctic left me cold by the time I reached the ending. This novel was by far not my preferred book this year but again this is only the way I see it. You may have a totally different opinion.
This story is austere to read and I struggled to keep focus all through this drama. It begins with the ship, Impetus, leaving Greenland and navigating north till it gets stuck in pack ice where it remains for the rest of the story. Each chapter is dated and tells the day to day life aboard the ship during the two years the Impetus was trapped in winter’s grip. What gives this story an edge of expectation is when Morgan, the second in command realizes that on-board there is a pregnant stowaway disrupting their male world and that he is the father. The sharp prose is very poetic and is fabulously detailed, both in its historical research as well as how it depicts the harsh landscape. How many nuances can one give to ice and snow without being repetitive? Although this grim multi-layered subject moves in slow motion it nevertheless excels in fictionalizing the hope, hardship and heroism of the men.
In a few words “The Surfacing” was too tedious for my enjoyment, too obscure to have kept me captivating from the first page and like the high Arctic left me cold by the time I reached the ending. This novel was by far not my preferred book this year but again this is only the way I see it. You may have a totally different opinion.
July 13, 2015
I did not think I would really love this book when I started. 1850 is the year, the location is on a ship in the Arctic, the purpose is hunting for another ship. The writing is primarily prose and the dialogue not marked with punctuation, but once I got used to it, the book pulled me along.
Each chapter is a day or two, so they're often short sections, relatively easy to pick up and put down frequently. The whole book is an excellent example of concise narrative. Much is said and explained, but the reader also has to pay attention because much is insinuated or left between the lines -- in a good way.
I didn't think I'd like reading a book about a ship full of men in snow and ice, but it was a great contrast to the real summer weather around me, and I was captivated by their wry humour, their wit, and their humanity.
Certainly this is a literary read, not for the pop fiction crowd, but very worthwhile for the discerning reader, male or female. I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed this book.
Thanks to LibraryThing for the ARC!
Each chapter is a day or two, so they're often short sections, relatively easy to pick up and put down frequently. The whole book is an excellent example of concise narrative. Much is said and explained, but the reader also has to pay attention because much is insinuated or left between the lines -- in a good way.
I didn't think I'd like reading a book about a ship full of men in snow and ice, but it was a great contrast to the real summer weather around me, and I was captivated by their wry humour, their wit, and their humanity.
Certainly this is a literary read, not for the pop fiction crowd, but very worthwhile for the discerning reader, male or female. I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed this book.
Thanks to LibraryThing for the ARC!
September 20, 2015
I read this book as a candidate for Great Group Reads and loved it so much. I think I loved it more than most of the committee members. I liked the descriptions of the landscape (seascape), the people, and their relationships. Book clubs might discuss Manhood, Pride, Proving oneself, Loneliness, Parenthood, Patience and Persistence, Resistance, Leadership, Team Building... It has plenty for people to talk about.
I read it in Galveston with the waves rolling in outside my window, and that made the whole experience even better.
I read it in Galveston with the waves rolling in outside my window, and that made the whole experience even better.
May 2, 2021
Setting, overdenkingen, karakters zijn top, maar lord, dit gaat nergens heen (letterlijk). Jammer, had een geweldig boek kunnen zijn.
August 25, 2015
This is a consuming book about life on the edge of life, life on the edge of death. When you stand at that edge, there is not much difference between the two.
In the 1850s, the Impetus sets out into the Arctic. It is part of a rescue party to find the missing Franklin expedition. Delays on shore, including parties and flirtation with the local girls on Greenland, mean the ship is late at the muster and is assigned the most difficult sector to search. Part way into their journey, they discover a stowaway. This woman changes the life of everyone on board, particularly second in charge Lieutenant Morgan. At first she is an intruder in their male world, then she is a nuisance, but finally they accept Miss Rink as one of them. And all the time, winter draws in and the ice clamps around their boat. And Miss Rink is pregnant.
They are caught in the ice for the winter. Ice is a character in the novel; it moves, it seems to breath, it thaws and re-freezes. Their lives depend on the ice. The options are endlessly reviewed, always tempered by the thought that they – the rescuers – are in need of rescuing themselves. And if they were, by some miracle this far north, to stumble on Franklin, would they be able to help the stranded crew?
I felt myself drawn into their daily lives, the need for routine and tasks in the long dark freezing cold days when there is nothing to do. The French cook made me smile, he promises them feasts at mealtimes and serves up mush. And all the time, the story is told by Morgan. His difficulties with Captain Myer, his friend Doctor DeHaven, and with Miss Rink.
Will they survive? Will they discover Franklin, or will they in turn be rescued? This is a wonderful novel, a very different read for me. The Arctic has such a presence, James describes the sea, the ice, the barren mountains and the extreme weather, with language at the same time poetic and powerful. Above all, it is a story of fatherhood as Morgan slowly accepts that Miss Rink’s child is his. In the midst of danger, trapped by the ice which pushes their boat so high above the ice’s surface that it must be supported by wooden posts, a new life is born.
In the 1850s, the Impetus sets out into the Arctic. It is part of a rescue party to find the missing Franklin expedition. Delays on shore, including parties and flirtation with the local girls on Greenland, mean the ship is late at the muster and is assigned the most difficult sector to search. Part way into their journey, they discover a stowaway. This woman changes the life of everyone on board, particularly second in charge Lieutenant Morgan. At first she is an intruder in their male world, then she is a nuisance, but finally they accept Miss Rink as one of them. And all the time, winter draws in and the ice clamps around their boat. And Miss Rink is pregnant.
They are caught in the ice for the winter. Ice is a character in the novel; it moves, it seems to breath, it thaws and re-freezes. Their lives depend on the ice. The options are endlessly reviewed, always tempered by the thought that they – the rescuers – are in need of rescuing themselves. And if they were, by some miracle this far north, to stumble on Franklin, would they be able to help the stranded crew?
I felt myself drawn into their daily lives, the need for routine and tasks in the long dark freezing cold days when there is nothing to do. The French cook made me smile, he promises them feasts at mealtimes and serves up mush. And all the time, the story is told by Morgan. His difficulties with Captain Myer, his friend Doctor DeHaven, and with Miss Rink.
Will they survive? Will they discover Franklin, or will they in turn be rescued? This is a wonderful novel, a very different read for me. The Arctic has such a presence, James describes the sea, the ice, the barren mountains and the extreme weather, with language at the same time poetic and powerful. Above all, it is a story of fatherhood as Morgan slowly accepts that Miss Rink’s child is his. In the midst of danger, trapped by the ice which pushes their boat so high above the ice’s surface that it must be supported by wooden posts, a new life is born.
December 29, 2015
Priznám sa, zamrzla som pri tejto knihe na dosť dlho.
Ešte ma čaká recenzia pre jeden portál, ale aspoň si stručne zhrniem dojmy z nej...
Ľad, všade naokolo zima a ľad. Loď, ktorá mala presnúmať Severné more, uviazla medzi ľadovými kryhami. Čisto mužský svet námorníkov je však narušený ženou. Tehotnou ženou ukrytou v podpalubí...
Páči sa mi aj forma, bez uvedenia priamej reči. Spočiatku to čítanie sťažovalo, ale zvykla som si. Čiernobiele autentické fotografie skutočných moreplavcov v arktických vodách celej knihe dodávajú tú pravú mrazivú atmosféru. Autor sa inšpiroval skutočným príbehom dvoch stratených lodí sira Franklina v polovici 19. storočia. A román, ktorý napísal, je geniálny vo svojej strohosti a zároveň hĺbke. Predstavte si, že okolo nie je nič a nikto, kto by vás a vašu posádku zachránil... Ľadovec a kryhy postupne zatarasia more a znemožnia lodi, aby sa vrátila do prístavu, je ďaleko a sama... A teraz si predstavte, že toto trvá dva roky... Dva roky nádeje, že sa odtiaľ dostanú, že prežijú ten mráz. Za ten čas zažili všetko - smrť, beznádej, snahu prejsť po pevnine... A medzitým sa v teple lode rozvíja nový život.
Výnimočná kniha, úžasná. A mrazivá...
viac tu: http://www.citaj.to/index.php/recenzi...
Ešte ma čaká recenzia pre jeden portál, ale aspoň si stručne zhrniem dojmy z nej...
Ľad, všade naokolo zima a ľad. Loď, ktorá mala presnúmať Severné more, uviazla medzi ľadovými kryhami. Čisto mužský svet námorníkov je však narušený ženou. Tehotnou ženou ukrytou v podpalubí...
Páči sa mi aj forma, bez uvedenia priamej reči. Spočiatku to čítanie sťažovalo, ale zvykla som si. Čiernobiele autentické fotografie skutočných moreplavcov v arktických vodách celej knihe dodávajú tú pravú mrazivú atmosféru. Autor sa inšpiroval skutočným príbehom dvoch stratených lodí sira Franklina v polovici 19. storočia. A román, ktorý napísal, je geniálny vo svojej strohosti a zároveň hĺbke. Predstavte si, že okolo nie je nič a nikto, kto by vás a vašu posádku zachránil... Ľadovec a kryhy postupne zatarasia more a znemožnia lodi, aby sa vrátila do prístavu, je ďaleko a sama... A teraz si predstavte, že toto trvá dva roky... Dva roky nádeje, že sa odtiaľ dostanú, že prežijú ten mráz. Za ten čas zažili všetko - smrť, beznádej, snahu prejsť po pevnine... A medzitým sa v teple lode rozvíja nový život.
Výnimočná kniha, úžasná. A mrazivá...
viac tu: http://www.citaj.to/index.php/recenzi...
March 29, 2015
I found this book a bit tedious. It seemed to focus on the poetic descriptions of the plight of the characters at the expense of a story that moved at a good pace. I expect the praise for the book is for people who value literary style over a good story, but for me, a combination of the two is best. I found the story to be far too obscure in its rendering, to the point where I started to speed read, just to get to the climax (which never really happened). Too many things were left unanswered, or were addressed so obscurely that I may have missed them altogether. Not a total waste of time though, but one of my more enjoyable reads of recent times.
March 30, 2015
Evokes the hardships faced by the ship's inhabitants very well, transports the reader back in time and space. It builds on real-life history - ships did try to search for Franklyn's lost expedition. The book imagines the hardships, sorrows and occasional joys they experienced. A bit slow to draw me in, but then I became intrigued by the story, interested in the history, and willed the characters to succeed in the face of adversity.
March 19, 2020
Without doubt, it was the writing - un-showy and quiet - that so superbly sustained this. All the more spectacularly for the white blankness of the landscape and the sustaining of the tedium of the days, yet quietly and inexorably the tension crept up and up, as Morgan's need to overcome the situation, to make a decision as to the best way to proceed, when none appeared to offer success.
And for once, how good to see such evidence of man's humanity to his fellow men.
And for once, how good to see such evidence of man's humanity to his fellow men.
January 30, 2025
Worse, he had never known, and could not imagine. This is the worst moment of my life, he promised himself, counting everything to come. It would be a useful memory, he knew, if he survived. [loc. 2242]
Echoing some themes from recent polar reads... The Impetus is one of the many ships searching the Arctic, in 1850, for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. Captain Myers is stubbornly determined to continue the search, though it's late in the year: 'matters as they stand do not quite suit his convenience, and must therefore change'. Lieutenant Morgan, the second-in-command, has a lightly-sketched (but possibly shady) history and a mutinous streak. Ashore in Greenland while a broken rudder is mended, he briefly becomes involved with Kitty, the sister of the local governor: some weeks later, he discovers that the chaplain, Mr Macdonald, has smuggled Kitty aboard the Intrepid. She is pregnant.
Over the course of that pregnancy, the Intrepid heads north, under sail and then trapped in the ice. There is heroism, and there is violence. The crew -- DeHaven the doctor, Cabot the cook, Petersen and Brooks and Banes -- become distinct individuals. Morgan's relationship with DeHaven (friends since childhood) is strained: his relationship with Kitty is cool and distant. James' prose is also cool, distant, formal. His dialogue is unpunctuated, which made me pay more attention to distinguishing it from the surrounding prose:
I heard about your passenger, Austin said...
I think everybody has by now.
Unfortunate.
For me or for her? Morgan said.
For you both, I presume. Inconvenient too.
That's one way of putting it.
I found Morgan absolutely fascinating, perhaps because his past is so indistinct. One has a sense of scandal, of melancholy, of a man always in search of a fresh start. Hidden in The Surfacing amid the ice and the masculine environment and the beautiful terror of the high Arctic, between the moments of peril and the days of boredom, there's the story of Morgan's redemption, of his re-engagement with the world. A slow, quiet novel, in which actual events take second place to the characters', and especially Morgan's, inner lives.
One aspect of the story that seems strange to me is Kitty's, and Morgan's, confidence: they never seem to consider Kitty to be in danger (and especially sexual danger) from the crew. Does her social status make her invulnerable, or is it her pregnancy?
I bought this in August 2015, and finally read it as part of my 'Down in the Cellar' self-challenge, which riffs on the metaphor of to-be-read pile as wine-cellar rather than to-do list.
April 11, 2019
Cormac James tells the story of the dangerous 1850 voyage of the Impetus, which sailed north of Greenland to find and rescue men who’d been lost while searching for the Northwest Passage. The story is told from the viewpoint of Impetus’s second in command, Mr. Morgan, and his doubts about the judgment of their captain are growing. Captain Myer has a monomaniacal desire to push on, even though it’s late in the season, and his ship risks being trapped in the ice.
It’s ice and snow and wind and water and more ice everywhere. Such conditions might seem likely to become rather tedious, but James surprises with his inventiveness and acute perception, expressed in beautiful prose.
Despite conditions, there’s good humor among the crew, especially between Morgan and his friend, the ship’s doctor. The woman with whom Morgan had a dalliance in their last port-of-call has been smuggled on board, pregnant, and he must contend not just with an incompetent captain and implacable weather, but with the unexpected pull of fatherhood.
The conditions so far north put everyone to the test. As the darkness of another winter descends, they must each face their fate in their own way.
It’s ice and snow and wind and water and more ice everywhere. Such conditions might seem likely to become rather tedious, but James surprises with his inventiveness and acute perception, expressed in beautiful prose.
Despite conditions, there’s good humor among the crew, especially between Morgan and his friend, the ship’s doctor. The woman with whom Morgan had a dalliance in their last port-of-call has been smuggled on board, pregnant, and he must contend not just with an incompetent captain and implacable weather, but with the unexpected pull of fatherhood.
The conditions so far north put everyone to the test. As the darkness of another winter descends, they must each face their fate in their own way.
April 19, 2019
When I started reading this book, it frankly didn't interest me that much, but the more I read, the more I found I could not put the book down. I knew very little about the ships lost during the search for the Northwest Passage, and James inspired me to do some research to learn more. I can imagine through the writing how quiet it must have been, except for the cracking and shifting of the ice. I was only displeased with the ending. Maybe I missed some hint, but the book just seemed to end.
May 18, 2019
I found this a hard read initially but by the end I was longing for more.
Beautifully written, the descriptions of the endless frozen landscape and dragging tedium of their captivity in the ice create an increasing tension, tiny pockets of happiness only seem to heighten the contrast with the desperate situation they are in.
Although this is fiction strongly based on fact and real situations, you can't help but admire the bravery of the people pushing the boundaries of the the known world back in those days.
Beautifully written, the descriptions of the endless frozen landscape and dragging tedium of their captivity in the ice create an increasing tension, tiny pockets of happiness only seem to heighten the contrast with the desperate situation they are in.
Although this is fiction strongly based on fact and real situations, you can't help but admire the bravery of the people pushing the boundaries of the the known world back in those days.
June 12, 2017
I found this book quite gripping, as Morgan's diary entries were short and yet detailed. The descriptions of the HMS Impetus stuck in the ice for an entire winter were quite realistic and frightening. What was the discovery here? Morgan and his Captain Gordon Byers and crew searched for remnants and survivors of the Franklin expedition in 1850, yet the novel was as much about Richard Morgan's voyage of self-discovery.
A good read
A good read
June 5, 2020
Dej tejto knihy sa vliekol asi ako cas, ktory som stravil citanim nej. Pribeh o plavbe do neznamych vod Severneho adoveho oceanu a patracej expedicii po stratenej lodi Franklin. 355 stran by sa kludne zmestilo do 100-150tich. Nerad nechavam knihy nedocitane, tak som zabojoval a dal to, asi tak ako bojovali muzi uviaznuti v lade a zime..
February 18, 2019
A decent read 1.0 extra stars because the audiobook was read by David Hartley-Margolin.
I see the stowaway as an allegory about the ship.
I see the stowaway as an allegory about the ship.
January 19, 2020
If you like adventure, and the Arctic - this is an interesting one.
May 18, 2020
Laboured fiction compared to the authentic histories of exploring the northwest passage
November 4, 2020
Mist diepgang van de protagonist.
December 21, 2025
Lovely prose but the overall story just lacked, better read Scott’s or Franklin’s expedition account as it’s far more engaging, better story and true.
October 22, 2015
It is 1850; the Impetus is a ship looking for Franklin’s lost expedition in the high Arctic. Dispatched to the most northerly unchartered polar region, it becomes stuck in ice with a pregnant stowaway on board.
The novel is narrated in third person from the point of view of Lieutenant Richard Morgan, the ship’s second-in-command and the father of the expected child. The story is much more about his journey of self-discovery than it is about a journey of exploration.
Morgan’s usual modus operandi is to run away from problems and responsibilities. When faced with fatherhood, his initial reaction is to flee; when away from the stranded ship, he admits that “part of him did not want to return” (157). He feels he has not “any [attention and affection] to give” (234). Of course, since the crew is totally isolated and unable to communicate with the outside world, Morgan has no real option but to accept the role of father: “He would muster something, he supposed, to meet the need” (234). As one would expect, his transformation begins with the arrival of the child: “For the first time in a long time, he heard a call to his better self” (250).
This is certainly not a novel of plot. For long periods of time, very little happens. It could be said that the book is about the human capacity to endure. Finding themselves in a hostile, unforgiving landscape, the crew must strive to survive. There is much description of shipboard life where the men are forced to live in close proximity with crew members. Obviously, there is a great deal of tedium.
The problem is that the reader experiences tedium when reading the book. The almost 400 pages could be halved and the themes still be well developed. Reading should not feel like hauling a whaling boat across a frozen wasteland. And after sacrificing and enduring, the reader is left with few answers since the conclusion is open-ended. All that is known for certain is that Franklin and his men are not found; history tells us that. In fact, it was only last year that the remains of Erebus were found by Canadian scientists and archaeologists.
I had difficulty identifying with any of the characters. The ship is an all-male enclave except for Kitty Rink who upsets the equilibrium. Unfortunately, she is also a problem for this reader. Her motivation, for example, is unclear. She wants to escape her life in Greenland, but why would she put her life and that of her child in jeopardy? It cannot be love she expects from Morgan who shows himself clearly to be emotionally repressed; for him, she is nothing but a temporary diversion during a stopover. And when she has one last opportunity to escape a journey she fully knows will be unrelentingly harsh, if not deadly, she doesn’t take it?
Several of the excerpts of reviews included at the beginning of the book praise the author’s poetic prose. There is certainly a lyrical quality to the writing but, for me, it is insufficient compensation for the lack of plot in a lengthy novel. Descriptions of endless snow and ice need not be endless.
This book seems to be an attempt to extend an Arctic exploration narrative into something resembling interpretive literature. Unfortunately, it has insufficient adventure to be the former and includes too much unnecessary detail to qualify as the best of literary fiction.
Note: I receive an ARC of this book from the publisher via LibraryThing.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
The novel is narrated in third person from the point of view of Lieutenant Richard Morgan, the ship’s second-in-command and the father of the expected child. The story is much more about his journey of self-discovery than it is about a journey of exploration.
Morgan’s usual modus operandi is to run away from problems and responsibilities. When faced with fatherhood, his initial reaction is to flee; when away from the stranded ship, he admits that “part of him did not want to return” (157). He feels he has not “any [attention and affection] to give” (234). Of course, since the crew is totally isolated and unable to communicate with the outside world, Morgan has no real option but to accept the role of father: “He would muster something, he supposed, to meet the need” (234). As one would expect, his transformation begins with the arrival of the child: “For the first time in a long time, he heard a call to his better self” (250).
This is certainly not a novel of plot. For long periods of time, very little happens. It could be said that the book is about the human capacity to endure. Finding themselves in a hostile, unforgiving landscape, the crew must strive to survive. There is much description of shipboard life where the men are forced to live in close proximity with crew members. Obviously, there is a great deal of tedium.
The problem is that the reader experiences tedium when reading the book. The almost 400 pages could be halved and the themes still be well developed. Reading should not feel like hauling a whaling boat across a frozen wasteland. And after sacrificing and enduring, the reader is left with few answers since the conclusion is open-ended. All that is known for certain is that Franklin and his men are not found; history tells us that. In fact, it was only last year that the remains of Erebus were found by Canadian scientists and archaeologists.
I had difficulty identifying with any of the characters. The ship is an all-male enclave except for Kitty Rink who upsets the equilibrium. Unfortunately, she is also a problem for this reader. Her motivation, for example, is unclear. She wants to escape her life in Greenland, but why would she put her life and that of her child in jeopardy? It cannot be love she expects from Morgan who shows himself clearly to be emotionally repressed; for him, she is nothing but a temporary diversion during a stopover. And when she has one last opportunity to escape a journey she fully knows will be unrelentingly harsh, if not deadly, she doesn’t take it?
Several of the excerpts of reviews included at the beginning of the book praise the author’s poetic prose. There is certainly a lyrical quality to the writing but, for me, it is insufficient compensation for the lack of plot in a lengthy novel. Descriptions of endless snow and ice need not be endless.
This book seems to be an attempt to extend an Arctic exploration narrative into something resembling interpretive literature. Unfortunately, it has insufficient adventure to be the former and includes too much unnecessary detail to qualify as the best of literary fiction.
Note: I receive an ARC of this book from the publisher via LibraryThing.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
December 10, 2014
I have read most if not all the stuff there is on the lost Franklin expedition. It is a fascination of mine. James's novel does little to develop the story of the lost ships and their sailors, the Terror and the Erebus.
There are the usual battles against the Arctic weather, men struggling in horrendous conditions, and it has its share of death. But it is nothing new, and to those who are widely read it isn't a patch on Lambert's non-fictional Franklin, or Dan Simmons's epic, The Terror.
Lambert tells the facts as they are, after considerable research. He hazards a guess as to what happened. So does Simmons, but his book is classed as fiction. I believe Simmons version more, but if you have any interest, please read it and let me know what you think.
So The Surfacing is entertaining in places, but those places are few.
Perhaps no more should be written. But it probably will, and I will certainly read it - just in case it comes up with a new idea as to what might have happened to Franklin and his crew.
December 26, 2014
In 1845, a British expedition to traverse the final section of the Northwest Passage led by Sir John Franklin became icebound in the Arctic and the entire crew lost. The Admiralty launched a search, popularised by Franklin’s prestige and the offer of a reward, to the effect that, in 1850, thirteen ships were patrolling the area. The Surfacing fictionalises the hope, hardship, and heroism of the men – and the one female stowaway – on-board one such ship risking their own lives in an attempt to locate the missing expedition.
Like Charlotte Rogan’s The Lifeboat and Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, this is a story of people in extremis, dredging up their last reserves of strength to survive:
He knew this must be their last stop. He could see they were spent, almost. They had courage enough for only one more start. He was almost relieved. There was no more need for heroics, no choice to make. (p170)
Review continues at http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
Like Charlotte Rogan’s The Lifeboat and Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, this is a story of people in extremis, dredging up their last reserves of strength to survive:
He knew this must be their last stop. He could see they were spent, almost. They had courage enough for only one more start. He was almost relieved. There was no more need for heroics, no choice to make. (p170)
Review continues at http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
January 1, 2016
The writer appears to have constructed this novel around historical events, but without much more than filling out what was found in historical records. Reading it is sometimes a pain, because quotation marks aren't used, sometimes making it confusing, and the narrative suddenly makes unconnected jumps and references and omits key information. It's not clear whether this is an editing failure, or somebody's ideas of being clever. The concept and story is interesting, but the book is very dry as the author gives no indication whatsoever of even realizing what it was like for the people trying to survive in Arctic conditions - never even mentions things like the biting, sharp pain of the extreme cold, numb hands that won't function, icicles hanging from moustaches, noses, the many different sounds of crunching snow and sliding on snow and ice, etc. This is a kernel of a story that could be excellent if were reworked by a writer with at least a modicum of interest and knowledge of winter, a sense of flow, and better descriptive talents.
September 8, 2015
This book felt so long - not a lot happens given the length of it - and I can't even really figure out how it ended. I really liked the premise of a novel of one of the ships that was sent to look for the Franklin expedition but that ship gets into trouble too. I find it hard to believe that a pregnant woman could have stowed away on board but it was an interesting plot twist. I thought the narrator did a great job of translating the tone of the book - I just didn't really like the book that much.
September 15, 2015
A search party is sent north during the early 1850s looking for the Franklin expedition, which went looking for the Northwest Passage some years earlier. One of the ships in this party, the Impetus, gets iced in. We experience this with the crew which happens to include a pregnant woman. The book moves slowly but the pace gives the reader a sense of the timeless nature of being stranded on the ice. We experience most of the story through the eyes of the second in command, Morgan. The book ends with many things unresolved. Decent book but a bit overdone.
November 28, 2014
was evocative of the time and place and I believed in the emotional and physical torments the crew went through-Captain SCott was a boyhood hero of mine!
The surfacing of the love of a father for his son did not work for me and seemed underplayed considering it is supposedly at the heart of the novel. In the end I was 'turning pages' but only because I wanted to finish a book which at times had seemed as hard work as hauling a whaling boat across the frozen wastes.
The surfacing of the love of a father for his son did not work for me and seemed underplayed considering it is supposedly at the heart of the novel. In the end I was 'turning pages' but only because I wanted to finish a book which at times had seemed as hard work as hauling a whaling boat across the frozen wastes.
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