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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
A peek into a part of the world I knew nothing about. I don't know that I came away understanding Braverman's pull to the north, but it was a good read
I loved the stories but thought the transitions were sometimes a bit abrupt.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
adventurous
slow-paced
Blair Braverman is a skilled writer who leads an interesting life, but I have to say I did not enjoy this book as much as some of the later writing of hers that I have read. I found it confusing to read with too many simultaneous timelines; tightly-written and high-interest chapters about, say, attending a dogsledding school are interspersed with a lot of slow, rambling scenes of her Norwegian friends hanging out and bullshitting or going to unpleasant-sounding parties. I think I would have enjoyed this more as a series of essays because it didn't quite hang together a single narrative. That said, there are some really interesting parts in the book and Braverman makes important points about different kinds of fear - challenging yourself vs being victimized - and about the ways that toxic masculinity and the threat and actuality of sexual violence keep women from adventure.
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Take out the lengthy parts where she is the victim of creepy men, and it would be half as long and three times as interesting. I wanted her to assertively advocate for herself, kick the creeps to the side and move on (in her life, but if not that, in her book).
I loved this memoir. Similar to "Educated," I was blown away by Braverman's story. It's a love story to the north, but also a painful examination of Braverman's trials while growing up. CW for descriptions (and some lengthy meditations on) sexual assault. Both a writing about men to be feared and the men she loves. Gorgeous.
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
The exquisite descriptions of the north and its eccentric characters are Braverman at her best, and kept me engaged in her personal journey. I had expected more dog-sledding content and am hoping an Iditarod memoir is on the way. Found the timeline of the book difficult to follow at many points.
dark and difficult to read, beautiful and raw. I’ve been fascinated by cold places for the past decade and this gave me a glimpse into Norway and Alaska and a very true story of being born female in a world often cruel to those with female bodies.