The Sun Is a Compass Book Review
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The things they see, face, the weather, the soreness, near starvation, run in with a bear, so danger yes, but so many beautiful things. I'll let parts of the book speak for itself.
I needed a crash course outdoors to remind myself that life is not merely a tally of days, that what matters most cannot be quantified. The glimpse of a wolf's tawny back, his coat shimmering with dew.
"We wanted to hear the crunch of lichen beneath our feet, to smell the tundra after a rainstorm, to understand how it felt to walk in a caribous tracks, or paddle alongside a beluga whale."
"Chickadees calls vary in tone and duration. When responding to a predator or intruder, the number of Dee's reflect the level of threat."
"By September, the ice should be gone, next winter's pack ice not yet formed. But as the words take shape in my mouth, I see the ice levitate and rise into the sky, shattering into pieces. Swans. Thousands and thousands of tundra swans, with golden necks and wings on fire. Their heavy steps patter against the water as they take flight, a gathering of Angels against the steel blue sky."
Gorgeous writing and the very best of armchair travel.
ARC from Edelweiss.
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What inspires two people to embark on a 4,000 mile arctic journey across remote and treacherous terrain powered only by their bodies and strong wills? A love for birds, and science, and the natural world still clothed in unspoiled splendor. A series of personal losses that wrench you away from carefree youth and sharpen the urgency from a future goal of someday to one of now.
"The morning I heard the diagnosis, sun streamed in the upstairs window and bathed the room with the optimi 4 🐦 🚣♀️ 🧗♀️ 🏕
What inspires two people to embark on a 4,000 mile arctic journey across remote and treacherous terrain powered only by their bodies and strong wills? A love for birds, and science, and the natural world still clothed in unspoiled splendor. A series of personal losses that wrench you away from carefree youth and sharpen the urgency from a future goal of someday to one of now.
"The morning I heard the diagnosis, sun streamed in the upstairs window and bathed the room with the optimism of an endless Alaskan spring day."
Finding a like-minded soulmate helps big time. Most certainly, two huge muscles called hearts.
Like the birds Caroline Van Hemert loves, "the urge to move can't be contained," the pull to migrate begins, and "the perfect moment to launch" propels her forward. "Just as important as where we would go was how we would do it. We wanted to experience the landscape as the birds and caribou did: entirely under the power of or own muscles, without using motors, roads, or established trails."
And so the grand adventure began with no résumés, sponsorships, or coordinators; only "a burned-out biology graduate student and a carpenter [putting] one foot in front of the other—one paddle stroke after the next," and we get to experience it from the comfort of our favorite comfy chair.
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https://carolineandpat.wordpress.com/...
Caroline was thirty-three, her husband a year and a half younger. Four years
The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds chronicles the author's and her husband's journey from March 17 to September 5, 2012. They hiked and skied, rowed, canoed and rafted. Never did they use a motor vehicle. They traveled from Bellingham (outside Seattle, Washington state) to Kotzebue, Alaska. Their itinerary and photos from the trip may be viewed here:https://carolineandpat.wordpress.com/...
Caroline was thirty-three, her husband a year and a half younger. Four years they had been married. They had not gotten around to children; they were just too darn busy! What motivated her and her husband, Pat, to set off on this trip? He was a successful designer and constructor of houses, a man at home in nature, calm in temperament, self-assured, but not chauvinistic. She had recently completed a PhD in biology. She questioned if she wanted to continue a career in ornithological research. She was sick of the clinical, sterile life of a laboratory. She had gotten away from what had originally drawn her to the study of nature! Her relationship with her husband felt stale. Could this trip be a ticket to self-discovery, back to finding herself? Further complicating her life situation, her father, with whom she felt a strong bond, had recently been diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's, and her sister, younger by 3,5 years was pregnant. What was Caroline doing with her life? Should she have kids? These were the questions she was grappling with. Will they be resolved by the book's end? And if so, how?
Caroline's and Pat's respective personalities become clear as one reads the book.
The journey—the description of the land traversed is well drawn. What is captured is the wonder, the beauty, the very essence and value of nature, the peace imbibed out in the wild, as well as the inherent dangers that lurk.
Many interesting details about birds fill the text. The author is a biologist and birds are what she has been studying for years. At her fingertips is the knowledge of that which makes a particular bird species unique and special. Her extensive knowledge about flora and fauna caught my interest many times. Eiders' and plovers' very different approach to raising their young is for me fascinating. This is merely one example of the type of information that can be learned from the book.
Who of us has not read about those who have starved out in the wild? Food rations are difficult to calculate. Caroline and Pat have several brushes with death—they are (view spoiler)[stalked by a bear, Pat's boat capsizes in a storm, they are threatened by flooding and almost eaten alive / driven insane by mosquitoes during the summer when struggling to cross a delta (hide spoiler)]. In September, as they ended their journey, winter was approaching fast. I would not classify the journey as primarily an adventure story, but there are exciting incidents.
The book is more a celebration of the value and importance of nature and, in addition, about a woman's search for herself.
The book pulls you in from its first chapter. Then it backtracks, filling in necessary information. Once the journey is started, the telling moves forward chronologically. The end has both an element of suspense and a beautifully drawn episode with caribou, affording wonderful armchair travel. An epilog clarifies how Caroline's initial worries have been resolved. What I am saying is that the book has a good start and a good finish.
Xe Sands narrates the audiobook. When Caroline begins the journey, she is upset and troubled. Sands' voice trembles and is often close to tears. Caroline's lack of self-confidence is palpable. Such dramatization is not misplaced but makes listening difficult. As Caroline resolves questions and finds her way, listeners h-e-a-r her inner strength grow. This is well done. Except when Sands sounds all teary-eyed and choked up, the audiobook it is not hard to follow. I have given Sands' narration performance four stars. The further I got from the teary-eyed sections, the more pleased I became.
The audiobook has no accompanying PDF file, thus mapping of the journey and access to the photos are lacking. A map and photos are to be found in the paper book or look at the link provided above.
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Other similar books that are very good:
*Polar Dream: The First Solo Expedition by a Woman and Her Dog to the Magnetic North Pole by Helen Thayer 4 stars
*The Long Exile: A true story of deception and survival amongst the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic by Melanie McGrath 4 stars
*Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer 4 stars
*The Sun Is a Compass: A 4,000-Mile Journey into the Alaskan Wilds by Caroline Van Hemert 4 stars
There are more to check out here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
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Sincerely, I wanted to like it more than I actually did. The language is at times exquisite and awesome in its "educated eyes" detail. It was appreciated and especially with the birds, just enthralling. But somehow at points in this I just wanted to skim. It was something about the way she posits relationship or dithers in her personal thoughts or something.
Very risky. I think I'm too elderly to appreciat
Others have said it better in review. It's a travelogue of a unique and daring experience.Sincerely, I wanted to like it more than I actually did. The language is at times exquisite and awesome in its "educated eyes" detail. It was appreciated and especially with the birds, just enthralling. But somehow at points in this I just wanted to skim. It was something about the way she posits relationship or dithers in her personal thoughts or something.
Very risky. I think I'm too elderly to appreciate this book. If one of my grandchildren tried this kind of thing at any age- I would voice objection. Bears are the least of it. Cold blizzards, furious storms, fire of forest- impossible to circumvent under these conditions.
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Working in the field as a student, Alaskan native Van Hemert became interested in ornithology, and in particular why so many chickadees beaks were misformed. Lab work was soul-deadening. She and her husband Peter, who at eighteen trekked into Alaska and built his own cabin by hand, had long discussed a dream journey from the Pacific Northwest rain forest to the Arctic Circle. Before Van Hemert decided on her career path they committed to making their dream a reality.
Their journey took them across every challenging terrain and through every extreme weather imaginable, bringing them face-to-face with predator bear and migrating caribou, driven near crazy by mosquitoes swarms and nearly starving waiting for food drop-offs. But they also met hospitality in far distant corners and saw up close a quickly vanishing ecosystem.
It is a story of a marriage, as well; how Peter and Caroline depended on each other while carrying their own weight--literally, with seventy-pound supply packs.
I enjoyed reading this memoir on so many levels. Van Hemert has written a profound memoir on our vanishing wilderness and the hard decisions women scientists must make.
Learn more about the book, see a trailer, and read an excerpt at
https://www.littlebrownspark.com/titl...
I thank the publisher who allowed me access to an egalley through NetGalley.
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But, in some ways, it's also a beautiful story about life ... and family and self-discovery and coming of age and evolution (or the turning of seasons or the changes in roles) and doubt and discovery and nature, yes, nature, in all of it beauty and
This is a remarkable book about a remarkable journey, written by a remarkable person (and, quietly, featuring her equally remarkable spouse), with innumerable cameos of, you guessed it, remarkable people living remarkable lives in remarkable places....But, in some ways, it's also a beautiful story about life ... and family and self-discovery and coming of age and evolution (or the turning of seasons or the changes in roles) and doubt and discovery and nature, yes, nature, in all of it beauty and grandeur, and ... the quest; oh, yes, the yearning and the planning and ... the stepping out into the void ... and taking the next step ... and the step after that....
The trek itself is plenty of story to justify reading the book. But the book's genius derives also from the fact that the author isn't just smart (yes, she has a PhD) and articulate (she speaks to literacy and reading in the acknowledgements), but she has a trained and sophisticated scientist's (and, specifically, ornithologist's) eye (and ear and training and sensibility), which adds depth and color and a vibrancy to the story that many an accomplished trekker or historian (chronicling this ... or a similar ... endeavor) would be unable to match. The book is nicely constructed, linear but peppered with appropriate and not-terribly distracting diversions, and the prose is sparse yet elegant, with more than a handful of passages seeming transcendent.
There are ... so ... may ... things ... going on in this book, that you could easily miss something (important or grand or elegant or sublime or ... special) by skimming or rushing through. For example, one doesn't learn, unless you carefully read through the acknowledgements section, that the author's husband and life partner and trekking companion drew the (frankly, impressive) sketches that separate the chapters. (And, that's just one of his impressive talents, but I won't spoil the book by disclosing any of his other relevant, prodigious talents or accomplishments here.)
If anything, my greatest disappointment with the book lay with the (admittedly) interesting and informative (but otherwise unexceptional) photographs (compressed into a single section in the middle of the book). On the one hand, the cover photograph is one of my favorites, but, in retrospect, I found it (deeply) disappointing (and bordering on deceptive ... or, I dunno, ... wrong) ... to the extent that it features (and suggests) a quest undertaken by an individual. It's a interesting decision, and one wonders whether the publisher or an editor (rather than the author) made the call. Granted, the limited emphasis on the photography in the book makes sense - this isn't a coffee table book and, duh, for a trek of this type, the author (and her husband) weren't lugging high-end, heavy photography gear (but, hey, it's a (minor) shame, nonetheless).
Full disclosure: This is not, in any way, a dispassionate or just-the-facts-only account. Rather, it is a highly personal, deeply introspective, highly self-referential journey about a life and a family and a career and a point in time and a journey ... and ..., well, you get the idea.
Reader's aside: Just another reason why I love my public library. I spent an afternoon there, just working in a different setting, when I spied this book on the RECENT ACQUISITIONS shelf ... fortuitously, just a couple of days before I left on an (epic and gratifying) vacation with my son. I'm glad I decided to pick it up and bring it with me on the trip. And I heartily recommend it!
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Having just completed her PhD in avian zoology I love an armchair adventure and this one is wild beyond imagination. Within the tight window of Spring/Summer 2012, Caroline and Pat travel from Bellingham, WA, up the coast of BC and into the wilds of the Yukon and Alaska. They use only human power to travel and no paved roads or even trails. They row, hike, ski and packraft the entire 4000 mile distance using infrequent resupply drops or incredibly remote towns to keep them nourished and equipped.
Having just completed her PhD in avian zoology, Caroline is at a juncture of her life and uses this brief window of time to follow her heart and reconnect with nature while trying to decide if research biology and academia are really for her over the long term. As she paddles along, she gives an unending commentary on the bird life that she witnesses and gives background on migration, nesting and foraging for hundreds of bird species that she encounters along the way - which I found fascinating. She also wonders aloud about her future with Pat and whether or not to have babies - which I found repetitive and somewhat nauseating. There was a lot of skimming during these dull sections.
But, on the whole, I admire their ingenuity and courage for taking on such a project and for executing it so well. Besides one breach of communication and one weather-related supply drop, their route and their success was never in question. Personally, I would have liked more details about their packing lists, their camp set-up and their menus along the way, but perhaps that would have changed the lyrical aspect of her writing and made it too inaccessible to the typical armchair adventurer.
On an personal note, I clearly remember the violent storm that hit the east coast of Vancouver Island in March 2012 and it fills me with dread to think that they were there, paddling just past my doorstep during those five days, through high seas and gale force winds. That storm shut down our town for a number of days. Incredible! especially since this event happened during the first week of their journey yet they continued on without question. ...more
"No" I said "I'm not going to read you now. Simply a quick peek..." Haha, a quick peek and I was hooked. In fact I found this book unputdownable.
In March 2002 Caroline van Hemert* and her husband Pat set off on a 4,000 mile journey. However, this wasn't just any 4,000 mile journey from Bellingham, WA, to Kotzebue, AK: "No roads, no trails, and no motors. We would travel by foot, on skis, in rowboats, rafts, and canoes. We would use only our own muscles to carry us through some of the wi
4.5 stars"No" I said "I'm not going to read you now. Simply a quick peek..." Haha, a quick peek and I was hooked. In fact I found this book unputdownable.
In March 2002 Caroline van Hemert* and her husband Pat set off on a 4,000 mile journey. However, this wasn't just any 4,000 mile journey from Bellingham, WA, to Kotzebue, AK: "No roads, no trails, and no motors. We would travel by foot, on skis, in rowboats, rafts, and canoes. We would use only our own muscles to carry us through some of the wildest places left on earth." They wanted to fully experience nature. In addition the journey would incorporate a loop via the Yukon and Northwest Territories of Canada. Their route would take them along the coast of British Columbia to the Katzehin River, AK, (imagine rowing this stretch in an eighteen foot rowboat!) where they would make a difficult crossing into the Yukon Territory with stops in Whitehorse and Dawson City. From there through the Mackenzie Delta where they would learn just how bad bad can be with regard to mosquitoes. Once at the Arctic Ocean they would head for Herschel Island, and then at Kaktovik they would start heading south and west. They would travel through gigantic parks: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and The Gates of the Arctic National Park. Travelling through the Brooks Range they would eventually reach the Noatak River for the last leg of their journey. There is a map of their route at the start of the book. I also used Google Maps to follow their progress. The journey would take several months to complete, and there were time constraints as they had to factor in weather conditions.
Caroline holds a PhD in biology, and her special expertise is birds. "My research focused on a strange cluster of beak deformities that had recently emerged among Alaskan chickadees and other birds." She is knowledgeable and also a very keen observer. She delights with various snippets of interesting information about not only birds, but also animals and marine life. There are beautiful descriptions of the many wonders they saw, including the migration of thousands of caribou. They certainly saw many species of birds and encountered a large variety of animals. Unfortunately the ravages of climate change were evident and she talks about what they saw.
Caroline and Pat also had some hair raising experiences and at times had to revert to plans B, C or D. There were several food drops to be collected along the way as they were unable to carry everything, and there were unexpected kindnesses from complete strangers. I was amazed by the junk food consumed at some of these stops, but their physical exertions had been extreme.
When Caroline set out on the journey she had various doubts about her work and academic life. She thought about job offers and research opportunities. Where would be the ideal place for both her and Pat to live and work, etc. Should they start a family any time soon? These are issues that she was able to ponder as they travelled.
There are several beautiful photographs included in the book.
Congratulations to these intrepid travellers on their amazing feat.
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Extracts
"Within an hour, our rowing companions number in the thousands. Scoters congregate in rafts so large that the round white patches on the backs of their heads blur into a pointillist painting as they dive in synchrony. Dozens of sea lions cavort near our boats. Sleek and graceful underwater, they explode from the surface like waves crashing on a reef, tossing their brown bodies through the air in a show of raw power. Herring school in silvery masses below tornadoes of foraging gulls. I catch a glimpse of a rufous hummingbird as it passes overhead, its small body backlit by the pink sky of early-morning fog."
"It was true that those sailors unlucky enough to be stuck with a cargo of bananas often never returned—in the 1700s, most ships that sank carried with them a load of the Caribbean fruit. Deadly spiders occasionally emerged from bananas, striking a man dead in a moment. And the temperature-sensitive fruit can ferment in the heat, releasing toxic levels of methane that routinely poisoned anyone trapped in the hold, including imprisoned slaves."
"Like us, animals love to play. Dall's porpoises will bodysurf the waves created by a passing ship's wake. It's not only humans who thrill in zooming downhill on skis or a sled; ravens and otters do the same, careening again and again down a slippery slope. Bowhead whales roll logs along their bellies like oversize toys, and bottlenose dolphins toss their incapacitated prey from snout to fluke in a solo game of catch. I can think of no reason why humpbacks wouldn't be similarly inclined to goof around."
"At our feet is a carpet of tiny, pink saxifrage flowers; above us, the sky opens into a million shades of blue. We notice a string of white dots on the horizon and, as we draw near, the specks become swans, floating serenely in the still water. I spin in place, scanning with my binoculars, and begin to count. Ten, twenty, sixty swans scattered across the flats. Phalaropes swim circles in the small ponds, while dowitchers probe, sewing-machine-like, along their margins. A Lapland longspur chortles sweet notes as a sandhill crane walks past with lurching, exaggerated steps, parading its prehistoric grace. This is the Arctic I had imagined."
"Soon, we round a point and a pair of big brown objects come into view. They're far offshore and seem to be floating on top of the water. As I squint through my binoculars, I can begin to make out the details. Broad chest, long nose, humped back and… antlers. I am staring at two moose wading in the ocean! Moose are common in ponds, sloughs, lakes, and rivers farther south. But moose in salt water? And in the Arctic Ocean no less?"
"The Arctic is a land of contrasts. Light and dark. Abundance and scarcity. Lush green and frozen white. There are few places so defined by life. There are few places so desolate. Quiescence is followed by lavish excess."
"I unzip the tent fly to look outside and see neon green brushstrokes of the aurora skitter across the sky."
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*Caroline van Hemert's website: https://www.carolinevanhemert.com/book
or "migration restlessness", is that antsy pressure to get going; the author says she had it in a big way before deciding to plan for this epic voyage.
I get a little jaded reading about extreme adventurers who head out, with massive amounts of sponsorship, book contract in place, for the fame of being the first.
The Sun is a Compass is not that sort of book.
"We wanted to experience the landscape as the birds and caribou did: entirely under the power of our own muscles, without usingZugunruhe
or "migration restlessness", is that antsy pressure to get going; the author says she had it in a big way before deciding to plan for this epic voyage.
I get a little jaded reading about extreme adventurers who head out, with massive amounts of sponsorship, book contract in place, for the fame of being the first.
The Sun is a Compass is not that sort of book.
"We wanted to experience the landscape as the birds and caribou did: entirely under the power of our own muscles, without using motors, roads or established trails. Our dream was simple, the scale completely outrageous. We would cross 4000 miles of roadless, trailless terrain through a landscape where glaciers are larger than entire countries."
Caroline van Hemert and her husband Pat set out from Bellingham in the NW corner of the US in rowboats that Pat had built himself (out of necessity, not to prove anything). Over six months, they rowed the Inside Passage to Alaska, hiked through the Coast Mountains into Yukon, paddled to the Arctic coast, hiked along it then through the Brooks Range in the remotest, wild interior of Alaska to Kotzebue near the Bering Strait. They didn't set out to be the first (although their trek was unique), they were simply following through on a fantasy that they'd created when she and Pat first met. And totally without sponsorship.
It's an utterly beguiling story of resourcefulness and love for the wild. And Van Hemert can write! I loved this because she was so
un-heroic; her honesty in facing up to her misgivings about being able to complete the journey. She doesn't shy away from talking about difficulties and disappointments and the sheer wretchedness of so many days' travel. But then she writes of something like this ..."Today's rare sighting validates the many late-night computer sessions, the endless hours of packing and planning, every instance of my not feeling smart enough to be scientist or strong enough to be a real adventurer. Here, right now there is only me, Pat and a family of tiny gray-headed chickadees above us ... all the answers I need are here in front of me. The sky as big as we are small, our forms dwarfed by mountains and rivers and wide-open spaces. The way Pat and I stop in unison to watch a bear trundle across the valley, each of us reverent and wordless. The scientist in me, having shed the degrees and statistics, once again filled with wonder. The realization that if we weren't doing this, now, we would always be missing something"
But it's not just the account of the voyage that's so appealing. She also writes eloquently about her early days, how her parents "forced" her out into the wilderness, where she discovered her calling as a biologist; and how her passion for wildlife – birds in particular – was first inspired by her university lecturers then suffocated by an unfortunate choice of graduate work. And how she and Pat – who as a teenager had built a cabin by himself in the wilds of Alaska, and now working as a housebuilder - eventually found the way out of career paths that seemed increasingly meaningless.
Something else I appreciated was pacing of their story, the measured way the journey unfolds. I mean, so often, travel writing seems to become compressed towards the end, as if the narrator was tired of the telling of it and in a rush to get it over with (or maybe nearing their contracted page limit?) But here, there is a winding-down that feels as gradual - and melancholy - as it must have been to them:
"I feel like we owe it to ourselves to acknowledge the major change that is just a day or two away. And we owe it to ourselves to celebrate a goal that once seemed impossible. I want us to revel even if just briefly in the satisfaction that comes with success. But now that we've almost pulled it off the accomplishment seems only tangential"
They began their trek thinking that it might be their last chance before maturity overtook them. But in a lovely epilogue she writes, about two years later on:
"I knew that a baby would change our lives. What I hadn't realized was that it doesn't mean we have to let go of what we love. Only now do I see that my worries about losing myself, or us, or our desire for adventure, were misplaced"
I'm never going to get close to an experience like this, and I don't want to - 25km with a daypack and I'm done – but I truly am bowled over by those who can and can write about it so well.
Note: Their blog also makes fascinating reading.
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Watch. Listen. Learn. These were the tenets of the earliest naturalist, the instincts of indigenous people around the globe whose survival depended on knowledge gained from the land...Observation can guide us to wonder. It's also the foundation of all scientific inquiry...
But
...for most contemporary scientists, including myself, this is no longer enough. Innovative technologies have made classical scientific techniques--many of which relied on an observer's eyes--obsolete. It's not necessary to spend hundreds of hours peering through binoculars to determine what a bird eats; a genetic test of its feces provides the same information.
I am immensely admiring of the forethought and the stamina and even the desire it took to plan and make this trip but I have zero envy. The storms of the Inside Passage, the mosquitoes on the MacKenzie River delta, the days of rain through the Gates of the Arctic, being stalked with intent by a black bear thirty miles from Takahula Lake, out of food and waiting for a resupply by an airplane that's five days late (they didn't bring a fishing pole?)--yeah, no. But there is this, too, as Caroline writes of their arrival in Kotzebue
I know we may never do anything quite this grand again. But I will also never forget what is possible.
A good read, especially from a comfortable chair in front of a wood stove with a fire burning in it. And Caroline would appreciate the mug of chocolate at my right hand.
...more But I found myself wanting MORE from the story. Planning trips to remote places is a logistical nightmare at best. I wanted to hear more about how they arranged these air drops or calculated the amount of food between resupplies. I wanted to hear more a
I wanted to like this more. Having gone on multiple driving expeditions through the Arctic/extreme remote Canada, I was really interested in her story. I already knew the "why": the call of adventure is in your bones and just pulls you out there.But I found myself wanting MORE from the story. Planning trips to remote places is a logistical nightmare at best. I wanted to hear more about how they arranged these air drops or calculated the amount of food between resupplies. I wanted to hear more about how you could look at maps of a region that vast and come up with a route and even remotely stick to it. At one point she mentions the age of the map they're looking at - because it was the only one available of that region - and I'm dying to know how they adjusted for the now totally different declination. Or how they made their alternate routes on thre fly and were still able to get to the right place. There was so much detail left out.
Instead, this was more like reading a diary. There were portions, mostly when she was discussing the wildlife, that were interesting and well-written. The rest just kind of rambled. I also didn't find her to be the most likeable. She took this trip at a time when I couldn't imagine leaving my family. She whines about not knowing what to be when she grows up and bemoans the 2 great opportunities that are offered. She lashes out at her husband over ridiculous things. There's an immaturity and privilege to this whole endeavor that just rubbed me the wrong way.
One thing this book did do: make me want to break out the maps and start planning my next adventure!
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When Caroline Van Hemert finished her PhD, studying beak deformities in chickadees, she felt more uncertain than accomplished. Her years in the lab had left her feeling burnt out. She felt out of touch with the love of nature that led her to study biology in the first place. To try to reconnect with nature, she and her husband decided to pursue a wild dream of theirs - travelling mor
Summary: Lovely - full of beautiful nature writing, incredible adventures, fun facts, and moving personal stories.When Caroline Van Hemert finished her PhD, studying beak deformities in chickadees, she felt more uncertain than accomplished. Her years in the lab had left her feeling burnt out. She felt out of touch with the love of nature that led her to study biology in the first place. To try to reconnect with nature, she and her husband decided to pursue a wild dream of theirs - travelling more than 4000 miles through the Pacific northwest to the Alaskan Arctic entirely under their own power. They would spend many months hiking, skiing, rafting, traveling by rowboat, and by canoe. They hoped to finish with some clarity about what came next.
I empathized with the author's grad school burnout, but wasn't sure her problems would be compelling enough to make the 'finding myself in nature' story fresh. It turned out that her problems weren't really the point. Her beautiful nature writing, incredible adventures, and frank descriptions of her partnership with her husband were what made this shine. The author drew me in with a fantastic prologue that captured the spirit of the book perfectly. She and her husband overcome life-threatening obstacles as a team of equals. They derive a lot of joy from surviving nature, but also simply from being surrounded by it. She particularly enjoys observing birds in their natural habitat, which I loved. All of these themes appear throughout the book.
I was still concerned the author would ascribe a deeper meaning to her experiences that would just feel cliched. Thankfully, she largely avoids that. She talks a bit about her internal work, figuring out what she wants to do next, but doesn't claim some nature-inspired epiphany. She does do some lovely nature writing. Her writing isn't overly flowery, in some cases quite sparse, but she selects the perfect details to make the reader share her sense of awe. Her blend of these visual descriptions with fun facts about animals, wilderness survival and local history was constantly engaging. The bits about her personal life didn't dominate the story of her adventures and did make me more emotionally invested. I'm incredibly impressed that the author balanced all these different threads so well. This worked for me as a memoir, as a natural history, and as a source of inspiring nature writing. I'd recommend it to fans of any of these genres.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey
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The book is well written, but I just didn't care as much about the author's personal struggles with career, her decisions about future children, and the like. While she wove those threads through her story well, often usin
The author of this book completed an incredible trek across the Yukon and the Arctic. She and her husband rowed, mountain climbed, paddled, and hiked 4,000 miles through wilderness. Their swim across a swollen, icy river hooked me in the prologue, and I was eager to read more.The book is well written, but I just didn't care as much about the author's personal struggles with career, her decisions about future children, and the like. While she wove those threads through her story well, often using the migrating birds on their trek and the birds of her research to tie things together, it got repetitive and I wanted more of the nuts and bolts of their trip.
I don't really understand the details of how they pulled off their amazing accomplishment. They'd have 600 miles to cover for a particular leg, and then in the next chapter they'd be on the next section. And the dramatic river crossing described in the prologue was skipped over in the retelling in a confusing way. I had to go back and check the name of the river in the beginning to see if that was the river the author came to and then was mysteriously beyond in the next chapter.
I wanted to know more about how many miles they'd cover in a day, how they stayed warm once their gear was wet, how many calories they had to eat to sustain their activity level. Most especially, I wanted to know how they navigated, particularly given the title of the book. The photographs were excellent and I wished there'd been more.
Ultimately, it was a good book about her relationship with her husband and her figuring out her life, so I think the fault lies with me for expecting/wanting something different.
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Yes — the photos are gorgeous, and I'm sure it's a magical and ecologically magnificent place, however, there are many other spots I'd rather go first. Living vicariously is enough for me. Also, I'm not a fan of cold weather. If I never saw snow again in my whole life, I would be a-ok.
Van Hemert does a lovely job of chronicling her adventures, and it's hard
After reading this book, I've reconfirmed that: a) I am not the type to "rough" it, and b) Alaska is very low on my list of places to visit.Yes — the photos are gorgeous, and I'm sure it's a magical and ecologically magnificent place, however, there are many other spots I'd rather go first. Living vicariously is enough for me. Also, I'm not a fan of cold weather. If I never saw snow again in my whole life, I would be a-ok.
Van Hemert does a lovely job of chronicling her adventures, and it's hard not to be impressed by her and her husband's tenacity and commitment. Still, Alfred Lansing's Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage has forever dimmed any other cold weather adventure for me, as nothing could be so, well, incredible as Shackleton's survival.
Everyone in my book club enjoyed this more than me, but I think it's because they haven't read Lansing's book yet.
"In life, we're always closer to the edge than we like to admit, never guaranteed our next breath, never sure of what will follow this moment. We're human. We're vulnerable. With love comes the risk of loss. There are a million accidents waiting to happen, future illnesses too terrible to imagine, the potential for the ordinary to turn tragic. This is true in cities and towns as much as it is in the wilderness. But out here we face these facts more clearly, aware of the divide between today and tomorrow. And, for this reason, every day counts."
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Trekking 4000 miles across Alaska. It's a wonderful and thoughtful adventure. and it shows how much survival is luck rather than any cunning or skill.
One of my favourite moments is the author's realisation that to lighten each other's load is a greater gift than any material wealth.
After 100 pages I realized this book spoke to a former self. Maybe that is what it means to be over the hill. I am no longer looking for this kind of adventure, my focus has shifted. Hard core trekking through the wilderness is not for me. I will leave that to my kids or to other readers on that journey.
I'm a bit hesitant to recommend it, however. Van Hemert and her husband are obviously experienced back-country trekkers. As such, I would have expected her to clearly warn readers away from what they did. There are folks, Alaskans and others, who are expert trekkers and who've completed amazing jaunts. The vast majority of her readers will not even be close, and need to clearly understand that what they did at times crossed over into fool-hardiness and their luck held. Had it not, they would have either been obituary footnotes or required immediate help from first responders, who would then be at risk themselves. That is not discussed and that is wrong. Secondly, this was also a book about self-discovery. That's good. But there's just too much ink expended on her life contemplations. Why am I doing this, I'd love a hot shower and bed but I love waking up in the middle of thousands of caribou, should we have a baby, what job should I accept, how can I go back to civilization. It gets to be laborious. Van Hemert's life is far from tough and her opportunities have been stellar. Just ask the majority of unemployed village Alaskans or any of the poorest people around the world if they would trade places. ...more
I have a friend and his wife who love to do things like this. I wouldn't even know how to go about beginning to take a trip this epic. The book is very well written and I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the ride (from the safety of my couch, of course; I'm not that adventurous).
I won a copy of this book.I have a friend and his wife who love to do things like this. I wouldn't even know how to go about beginning to take a trip this epic. The book is very well written and I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the ride (from the safety of my couch, of course; I'm not that adventurous).
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It's rare for a book to transport me so fully, but I truly felt like I was back in Alaska, which in today's climate, was a welcome escape. Just stunning.
It's rare for a book to transport me so fully, but I truly felt like I was back in Alaska, which in today's climate, was a welcome escape. ...more
Xe Sands was an able narrator for this journey and the book would be a great gift for anyone who loves adventure even t Listening to this tale of endurance did not make me want to hike across the Arctic inlands but it did give me a strong appreciation for the incredible variety of bird, and animal life that is found there. Author Van Hemert is an ornithologist and she appreciates every encounter with nature that she and her husband Patrick have, from the smallest chickadee to the majestic swans.
Xe Sands was an able narrator for this journey and the book would be a great gift for anyone who loves adventure even the arm-chair variety. ...more
She lives in Alaska with her husband and two young sons. When she's not traveling, she divides her time between a remote
Caroline Van Hemert, PhD, is a biologist, writer, and adventurer whose journeys have taken her from the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean to the swamps of the Okavango Delta. Her research and expeditions have been featured by the New York Times, MSNBC, National Geographic, and more.She lives in Alaska with her husband and two young sons. When she's not traveling, she divides her time between a remote off-the-grid cabin in southeast Alaska and a cozy home in downtown Anchorage. The Sun is a Compass is her first book.
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The Sun Is a Compass Book Review
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40696959-the-sun-is-a-compass