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tobyleblancauthor's review
5.0
I picked up this book as I research for a novella I'm writing that includes settings in Antarctica. I was more than pleased with how Legler depicts the landscape, the aura, and the mystique of this foreign land. But what I was not prepared for was the way she wrapped her own evolution into the legend of this place. I began flipping back through this thin book to find more of its meaning. She uses "enchantment" to describe the continent and the love she finds there. But she weaves her own spell by embedding parallels of existing in Antarctica with some of her own internal struggles in every chapter. They are so seamless and intricately wrought with meaning that I often had that sought after reading experience of staring at the wall in contemplation after finishing a paragraph. And her journey, I believe, is one many of us share. When Legler looks in the ice she describes her reflection, but really we are seeing our own. I'm glad I found this gem and am excited to read her new book.
eileen_critchley's review
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
An interesting topic to be sure, and I enjoyed reading much of this book. Maybe the organization of it didn't work quite right for me? I wanted more detail here, less detail there. It's a short book but it took me while to read which I guess says something. Also it might be a bit dated (the epilogue in particular) since it was published in 2005.
{library, paperback}
{library, paperback}
liralen's review
3.0
Lovely writing, but I spent the second half of the book less focused on that writing than I was on why the writing wasn't doing much for me. I think it comes down to this: Legler lived in Antarctica for six months as a...writer in residence, I suppose. She was there to learn and there to write; as she notes, she's doing more or less the same thing the scientists there are doing (trying to understand Antarctica), but through a different medium.
I enjoyed the writing and enjoyed the details; in particular, I learned quite a bit about Discovery Hut, which I had previously assumed to be significantly smaller than it actually is. As a writer without (as far as I can tell) hard-and-fast day-to-day duties at McMurdo (the U.S. base in Antarctica), she had the luxury of time to investigate projects that interested but did not directly involve her, and she writes about some of those adventures. But the story is in many ways more internal—Legler had, at some point before leaving for Antarctica, come to terms with being a lesbian, and there are elements of love story and references to major losses in her past. By the end, though, I think I wanted the book to have swung more in one direction or the other: to be more focused on those little Antarctica-specific things, bringing them to light for those of us who don't expect to ever go that far south (too effing cold), or to hone in more closely on the personal and explore those elements in more depth.
One that will work well for a lot of readers interested in Antarctica but that just didn't suit my reading mood, I suppose. On to the next thing.
I enjoyed the writing and enjoyed the details; in particular, I learned quite a bit about Discovery Hut, which I had previously assumed to be significantly smaller than it actually is. As a writer without (as far as I can tell) hard-and-fast day-to-day duties at McMurdo (the U.S. base in Antarctica), she had the luxury of time to investigate projects that interested but did not directly involve her, and she writes about some of those adventures. But the story is in many ways more internal—Legler had, at some point before leaving for Antarctica, come to terms with being a lesbian, and there are elements of love story and references to major losses in her past. By the end, though, I think I wanted the book to have swung more in one direction or the other: to be more focused on those little Antarctica-specific things, bringing them to light for those of us who don't expect to ever go that far south (too effing cold), or to hone in more closely on the personal and explore those elements in more depth.
One that will work well for a lot of readers interested in Antarctica but that just didn't suit my reading mood, I suppose. On to the next thing.
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