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421 reviews for:
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North
Blair Braverman
3.89 AVERAGE
421 reviews for:
Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North
Blair Braverman
3.89 AVERAGE
I was so excited for this book--the north, Norway, Alaska, dogsledding, coming of age--so many great building blocks! Yet.... the book itself just didn't excite me. A previous reviewer mentioned that her writing about place and animals is much more vibrant than her writing about people and I think that is accurate.
The book begins with a dying, elderly man saying "I could have f---ed you once." He then pulls his pants down to show her "what he is working with now." That unnecessary shock value, seemingly unconnected or at least irrelevant to the rest of the book almost made me almost stop listening to the story right then. I decided to stick with it, but found myself getting frustrated with various aspects. Alternating time periods are never my favorite style and this book did little to convince me otherwise. I sometimes struggled to determine which time period we were in as she was talking--her current time, her childhood, her teens, her young adult years... Also, I couldn't really understand her motivation for choices she made. It seemed like she didn't really trust a person, but then hopped on a boat with him and friends. She is warned the dying elderly man is strange before heading to his place, and she doesn't seem to get the details I would have demanded before heading over to his place.
Likely this was just not the book for me. Other people love it and I have to say I enjoyed learning more about the Mortenhals area of Norway and the behind the scenes of dogsledding. Going to try again with a dogsledding/Alaska memoir by a friend of my sister's--This Much Country by Kristin Knight Pace.
The book begins with a dying, elderly man saying "I could have f---ed you once." He then pulls his pants down to show her "what he is working with now." That unnecessary shock value, seemingly unconnected or at least irrelevant to the rest of the book almost made me almost stop listening to the story right then. I decided to stick with it, but found myself getting frustrated with various aspects. Alternating time periods are never my favorite style and this book did little to convince me otherwise. I sometimes struggled to determine which time period we were in as she was talking--her current time, her childhood, her teens, her young adult years... Also, I couldn't really understand her motivation for choices she made. It seemed like she didn't really trust a person, but then hopped on a boat with him and friends. She is warned the dying elderly man is strange before heading to his place, and she doesn't seem to get the details I would have demanded before heading over to his place.
Likely this was just not the book for me. Other people love it and I have to say I enjoyed learning more about the Mortenhals area of Norway and the behind the scenes of dogsledding. Going to try again with a dogsledding/Alaska memoir by a friend of my sister's--This Much Country by Kristin Knight Pace.
Wow, what an entertaining read! Blair has an unusual attraction for the north, esp. for a girl living in California. She had lived for a couple of years in Norway and couldn't shake the attraction, so she applied for a year at a "folk school" back in Norway and learned how to dog sled!
The book follows her adventures afterwards in Alaska and then back in Norway. It's all a fascinating story. She accurately and honestly portrays her insecurities and doubts. Which makes it all the more amazing is that she doesn't think she is very courageous, although what else could you call it to leave high school for a year learning how to drive a team of dogs in Norway!
Great stuff.
The book follows her adventures afterwards in Alaska and then back in Norway. It's all a fascinating story. She accurately and honestly portrays her insecurities and doubts. Which makes it all the more amazing is that she doesn't think she is very courageous, although what else could you call it to leave high school for a year learning how to drive a team of dogs in Norway!
Great stuff.
Blair, Arild, Quince. Northern Norway, Alaska, Wisconsin. Dogsledding, life in the ice cold, rural community, facing sexism and misogyny.
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty
I’m rounding up. At times this book was really engaging. For me it was a story about a young girl and then young woman who was bold, adventurous, careful, watchful, and kind. She faces uncomfortable and plain wrong situations, including sexual harassment, sexual coercion, relationship violence. These interactions change us forever.
I really like Blair on Twitter, so I was excited to see my library had her book ready to check out. I thought the book was going to be about the wilderness, and dogs. Instead, it turned out to be about being abused by shitty dudes. In the wilderness, with dogs around. I still liked it, I still like Blair, but my heart hurt for her reading this.
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
So well written, down to earth, I was rooting for Blair to find her dogs!
I enjoyed this book. I do think following Braverman on Twitter did lend to my overall impression of her in the book which possibly made it more endearing to me versus if I was going in blind; I will say that. I would recommend it though regardless. It was interesting and quirky and full of love.
As someone who loves dog sledding, the North, the cold and its inhabitants, Braverman captures their allure and the lessons we can learn from them. Her story is the transformation of a young woman simply hoping to be brave into a mature woman who now recognizes violations of her body and spirit. Impressionable book for other young women to read.