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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Sometimes Kerr reads aloud as we call it a night, and this was a joy for that purpose; we spent significant portions laughing, occasionally even to the point of tears.
That said, do I think this was Paulsen's best writing? Not even close. Do I think Paulsen was a fantastic musher or an ambassador for the sport? Not really. I'm mostly ignorant when it comes to running dogs, and even I knew he was almost always doing the wrong thing.
But for all of his turns as a complete dumbass, this is an endearing read. Cookie, for instance, sounds like an amazing dog, and it did nothing to change my impression of the Iditarod, that it's a beautiful terror and that in another life I might have wanted to give it a try.
[2 stars for Paulsen's writing [his repetition at times drove us both nuts] + 1 star for Cookie + 1 star for laughing with my love is 4 stars.]
That said, do I think this was Paulsen's best writing? Not even close. Do I think Paulsen was a fantastic musher or an ambassador for the sport? Not really. I'm mostly ignorant when it comes to running dogs, and even I knew he was almost always doing the wrong thing.
But for all of his turns as a complete dumbass, this is an endearing read. Cookie, for instance, sounds like an amazing dog, and it did nothing to change my impression of the Iditarod, that it's a beautiful terror and that in another life I might have wanted to give it a try.
[2 stars for Paulsen's writing [his repetition at times drove us both nuts] + 1 star for Cookie + 1 star for laughing with my love is 4 stars.]
101 Ways of how not to prepare for Iditarod, one of the dangerous and longest dog sled races in the world and still compete in the race. If you want something funny, heart felt, dogs and with some high level action include Skunk chasing this is the book for you. Thank you Alison for recommending this read and now my new sport obsession.
3.5 stars
Imagine yourself in the Alaskan wilderness – just you, a team of dogs and a sled. The temperature drops far below zero every night and you are so sleep deprived that you are starting to have hallucinations. The path that you must follow is filled with danger – hair pin turns that could send you over the edge of a cliff with the slightest error and seemingly frozen lakes that could crack open beneath you at any moment. Men and women have been killed following this same route, yet each year more people come back to tempt fate in the Iditarod – the 1180 mile race that beings in Anchorage and ends in Nome and follows a course through the wilderness of the Alaskan interior. In Winterdance Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet and Brian’s Song among others, describes his own experience preparing for and running the Iditarod. Paulsen’s detailed imagery makes you feel as if you’re right there with him, and his self-deprecating humor elevates Winterdance beyond the typical outdoor adventure story. The relationship that he develops with his team of dogs – at one point he feels that he has actually become one of them - will resonate with animal lovers. This will be a sure hit with fans of Bill Bryson and outdoor adventure nonfiction as well as those who enjoyed Paulsen’s young adult novels.
Imagine yourself in the Alaskan wilderness – just you, a team of dogs and a sled. The temperature drops far below zero every night and you are so sleep deprived that you are starting to have hallucinations. The path that you must follow is filled with danger – hair pin turns that could send you over the edge of a cliff with the slightest error and seemingly frozen lakes that could crack open beneath you at any moment. Men and women have been killed following this same route, yet each year more people come back to tempt fate in the Iditarod – the 1180 mile race that beings in Anchorage and ends in Nome and follows a course through the wilderness of the Alaskan interior. In Winterdance Gary Paulsen, author of Hatchet and Brian’s Song among others, describes his own experience preparing for and running the Iditarod. Paulsen’s detailed imagery makes you feel as if you’re right there with him, and his self-deprecating humor elevates Winterdance beyond the typical outdoor adventure story. The relationship that he develops with his team of dogs – at one point he feels that he has actually become one of them - will resonate with animal lovers. This will be a sure hit with fans of Bill Bryson and outdoor adventure nonfiction as well as those who enjoyed Paulsen’s young adult novels.
adventurous
challenging
informative
fast-paced
A powerful homage to winter and dogs. As someone who has always been interested in dog racing, I found myself absolutely glued to this book like I have not been in a while. The images and the sheer way he managed to be a second presence in his book to the dogs was magnificent.
I know this was written by an award winning writer, but I honestly found the first chapters describing his life up to the running of the Iditarod to be jumbled, and hard to follow. I'm glad I stuck to it because the description of the race itself is well worth the jumble. It was an interesting book, and I'd recommend it. Very different form anything I've read this year.
I almost decided to skip this novel. I'm glad I didn't. I'm not a sports person. I'm not a dog person. I'm not even a fan of cold things (except sweet ice tea). But I really liked this novel and the way the author wrote it. It was entertaining, it was insane, and it was also beautiful. Not only was it stuffed full of determination and near-death experiences, it's all based on true events in the author's life. Overall, I enjoyed it. 4 stars.
PS: I just read that the author, [a:Gary Paulsen|18|Gary Paulsen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1595914847p2/18.jpg], is also the author of the Newberry award winning YA novel [b:Hatchet|50|Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)|Gary Paulsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385297074l/50._SX50_.jpg|1158125] and that he recently passed away (October 2021).
PS: I just read that the author, [a:Gary Paulsen|18|Gary Paulsen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1595914847p2/18.jpg], is also the author of the Newberry award winning YA novel [b:Hatchet|50|Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)|Gary Paulsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385297074l/50._SX50_.jpg|1158125] and that he recently passed away (October 2021).
I read this book nearly every year. For inspiration. For laughs. To remember that I'm not alone in my madness of running dogs. I recommend it widely and keep extra copies around the house because I give it out often. I have not done the Iditarod but have had sled dogs for the last dozen years. Gary Paulson tells it best. He has a wonderful knack for capturing the humor as well as the connection between humans and canines and somehow avoids drippy sentiment.
My dad kept trying to get me to read this. He's kind of a Arctic buff, so I just kept saying, "I don't want to read the sled dog book, thanks." (Kind of like when I was refusing to read the German Dwarf Book, aka Stones from a River. You'd think I'd learn.) So he mailed it to me when I was overseas with no library access and not enough of the local langauge to enjoy their books. Thank God. One of my colleagues calls Paulsen "Hemingway for middle schoolers" and while I admire the ability of his adventures to attract reluctant boy readers, I would never have guessed how much I'd love his memoir of training to race sled dogs. It's been years since I read it, and two stand-out memories from the book are the painfully hilarious start to his training, being dragged down a dirt road in Minnesota in the hull of a VW bug by his untrained but enthusaistic dog pack and the heartbreak at the end, when...well, you'll have to read it. The ending reminds me of "Never Cry Wolf" in that you've spent the entire book falling in love with a place and the author's connection to nature, only to have the whole thing ripped away at the end by the depressing postscript.