[.ca] Antarctic Navigation (ISBN 0747571724)

From Amazon.com:
This compelling novel of one woman's personal history and her obsession with the South Pole is all-encompassing and so powerfully written it is almost literally impossible to put down.

READ LE GUIN INSTEAD:
If you want to read about an all-female expedition to Antarctica, read Ursula LeGuin's short story, "Sur" -- it's amazing, and much better than this. I'm a huge fan of Elizabeth Arthur's first novel, "Beyond the Mountain" (about a woman climber), so I tried to read this -- but found it too dense and boring, especially compared to her lyrical "Beyond the Moutnain." Again -- Read LeGuin's story instead.

Laughable!!:
I am not by nature a negative person, but I have pretty much nothing good to say about this book. I only continued to read it because once I start a book I cannot stop until I am actually finished. The plot and characters are predictable. The writing is horrible! The references to the original expeditions are an embarassment! If you want a "new-agey" brain candy book, buy it. If you want anything of substance, forget it!

Feminist take on adventure is worthwhile read:
With all the real-life adventure stories on Antarctica, it seems difficult to imagine that a work of fiction could be as enthralling and as entertaining as the real thing. In most cases, truth is infinitely stranger and more interesting than fiction. The quality and lyrical tone of Arthur's writing sold me however. THe main character, MOrgan Lamont, has an obsession to recreate the tragic Scott expedition, and the author does an excellent job of imagining the obsession that all explorers/adventurers have. TRacing the character's life culminates with the actual recreation of the SCott expedition and an enthralling adventure story with a decided feminine touch to it. THe book's only weakness is the author's occasional diatribe on matters totally unrelated to the story, such as the Gulf War. THe book certainly adds to the Antarctic literature (fiction and non-fiction) and will be enjoyed by fans of serious literature and fans of the adventure and antarctic genres.

Breathing Antarctica:
Colonialism, war, ecology, science,history, feminism, human relationships - Sounds like several novels, and, on some levels Antarctic Navigation is. Somehow Arthur manages to tie all of the above subjects together into a fascinating, adventurous, educational work of fiction. Aside from a few contrived additives to the plot to make everything work, Arthur does a wonderful job in this highly descriptive and literary narrative of drawing you into an adventure which is used as a metaphor for life itself.I found myself limiting the number of pages I would read per day toward the end of the novel, because I didn't want it to end.

An absolutely fabulous read:
The story of Morgan Lamont and her obsession with and journey to Antarctica left me breathless. I read it almost non-stop. The characters were well-developed, and I was enthralled with the mini-biography of Robert Scott. I have a whole shelf of books about the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration, thanks to Elizabeth Arthur's book. You must read it.