Editor’s note: The following article is a synopsis written by staff members and volunteers of the Cary Public Library highlighting one of the suggested reading books, as determined by their staff.
Something in human nature has most of us dreaming of adventure- tame pursuits or rambunctious travels. Also something in this human’s nature calls for reading “cold” books in “hot” weather and this is the case of “In the Kingdom of Ice” by Hampton Sides.
In the late 1800s the USS Jeannette and her crew planned a great voyage to the North Pole. Using navigation tools of that century, including erroneous maps and skewed “scientific” data, the crew of 32 left the Pacific Coast in July 1879 for the Bering Strait with no modern communications equipment, experimental electrical lights. They felt they had food, coal for the engines and provisions for many months.
The great adventure began as a power play between nations to claim the territory and ships with many men having been lost before the Jeannette sailed. The theory at that time was there was open sea beyond the solid ice and there was a current warm enough once a ship broke through that pack ice.
This author has heavily researched for writing this book using personal and public documents. He has a gift for suspense and rugged detail which keeps the reader feeling “the chill” of the climate, the thrills of the men as they explore, and the pain of hunger, frostbite and fear of the unknown.
It is always interesting to learn of the backgrounds of characters in a book of this nature and Mr. Sides has included them as well. All in all, a very good book, probably made more engrossing if it was read in a howling snowstorm of 15 below F. Try it and let us know.
The Cary Public Library is open Monday-Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 532-1302.
