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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
DNF @ 17%
I hate to DNF books in general, and especially this one, because the premise is fascinating to me and the writing seems strong. But for myriad reasons, I just really need a break right now from stories about men abusing and harassing women. I know that’s not all this book is about, but from looking at other reviews it seems this is a theme that continues throughout, and even at 17% it was getting to the point where I was starting to feel physically sick. So I’m bowing out.
I hate to DNF books in general, and especially this one, because the premise is fascinating to me and the writing seems strong. But for myriad reasons, I just really need a break right now from stories about men abusing and harassing women. I know that’s not all this book is about, but from looking at other reviews it seems this is a theme that continues throughout, and even at 17% it was getting to the point where I was starting to feel physically sick. So I’m bowing out.
I'm beginning to feel like only women who are suffering from some sort of trauma or angst are drawn to adventure situations like moving to the extreme north or thru hiking. It is that or they are the only ones who chose to write about it.
This was a great read! If you wanna read an engaging autobiography, pick this up! Braverman talks about her first few years of experience dogsledding. (!!!) Content warning: sexual violence, dudes being assholes.
I follow Blair on Twitter, and have for a while, which is the reason I am aware of this book. It was written and published a year or two before I started following her, and of course the reason I follow her is for stories about mushing and about her sled dogs. I once saw her tweet something along the lines of "if you like my Twitter you'll love my book," which I took as an implication that her book has stories about mushing and her dogs, much like her Twitter.
Unfortunately, that's not the case, but I still enjoyed the read immensely. The book deals more with her tumultuous adolescence and early adulthood, her negative personal interactions with awful men, and her time spent living in a small Norwegian community at the tippy top of Scandinavia. There are a few scattered stories about mushing throughout the book, but not many, and they certainly aren't the focus of the book. While I am glad I read this book and definitely enjoyed it (as evidenced by my ability to get through the whole thing in under 24 hours), I do wish there had been more about the dogs, dogsledding life, and mushing.
One thing Blair did well in this book was honestly convey her vulnerability and weaknesses, even knowing they could be exploited by others. She had some very sad (or enraging, depending on your perspective) stories surrounding her relationships (romantic and otherwise) with men who saw her as an object to be used and discarded for their own pleasure rather than an autonomous human being with her own goals and plans for her life. She recounts these experiences in the matter-of-fact, unemotional manner that only time and distance can provide. It seems that these interactions directly influenced, at least in part, her decision to engage in the life she now lives--one that requires a cold, harsh, unforgiving environment and a high degree of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. One redemptive aspect of Blair's story is her tender and loving relationship with Quince, who comes along and slowly heals (some, if not all of) her wounds from past relationships. Blair proved to herself that she could live a difficult and lonely life by herself, but I love the story of her relationship with Quince that appears to be a healthy give and take: you can do this alone, but you don't have to.
I hope Blair writes another book someday with a more direct focus on and higher concentration of anecdotes about dogsledding. I would absolutely devour it.
Unfortunately, that's not the case, but I still enjoyed the read immensely. The book deals more with her tumultuous adolescence and early adulthood, her negative personal interactions with awful men, and her time spent living in a small Norwegian community at the tippy top of Scandinavia. There are a few scattered stories about mushing throughout the book, but not many, and they certainly aren't the focus of the book. While I am glad I read this book and definitely enjoyed it (as evidenced by my ability to get through the whole thing in under 24 hours), I do wish there had been more about the dogs, dogsledding life, and mushing.
One thing Blair did well in this book was honestly convey her vulnerability and weaknesses, even knowing they could be exploited by others. She had some very sad (or enraging, depending on your perspective) stories surrounding her relationships (romantic and otherwise) with men who saw her as an object to be used and discarded for their own pleasure rather than an autonomous human being with her own goals and plans for her life. She recounts these experiences in the matter-of-fact, unemotional manner that only time and distance can provide. It seems that these interactions directly influenced, at least in part, her decision to engage in the life she now lives--one that requires a cold, harsh, unforgiving environment and a high degree of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. One redemptive aspect of Blair's story is her tender and loving relationship with Quince, who comes along and slowly heals (some, if not all of) her wounds from past relationships. Blair proved to herself that she could live a difficult and lonely life by herself, but I love the story of her relationship with Quince that appears to be a healthy give and take: you can do this alone, but you don't have to.
I hope Blair writes another book someday with a more direct focus on and higher concentration of anecdotes about dogsledding. I would absolutely devour it.
I really disliked this book, this women was self absorbed, and had a terrible writing style. I really wanted to like this book, but was really disappointing, and I should have DNFed it, but I stuck with it hoping that it would get better, sadly, it did not at all.
Don't tell my partner, but I didn't love this book as much as him. Don't get me wrong - I still appreciated Braverman's story - it's fascinating and different than anything I've ever read or heard about. Her experiences in a folk school in Norway, on an iceberg in Alaska, and mainly working in a shop near the folk school she attended are intriguing and wrought with pain, but also joy at times. It was exceptionally hard to read about some of her relationships with males, made more so by her reluctance to identify the violence against her. The book felt a little choppy at times to me, which is probably my second biggest complaint about it. But for a fascinating story, it's a good read.
This was a book club read, so it was not on my radar, but what could be bad about dog sledding in the Great White North?
Instead it was meh. Men are perverts, the patriarchy is unfair, but flirting is still fun. I was not moved or taken by Blair at all. What I was left with was a desire for more dogs and much more attention on falling in love with a transgender person instead of all the men who just treated her like an object. This could have been so much more. In the end I just struggled to finish it.
Instead it was meh. Men are perverts, the patriarchy is unfair, but flirting is still fun. I was not moved or taken by Blair at all. What I was left with was a desire for more dogs and much more attention on falling in love with a transgender person instead of all the men who just treated her like an object. This could have been so much more. In the end I just struggled to finish it.
This is not a book about dogs - I've seen several very negative reviews from people disappointed that this book is centered on the author's experiences. If you want a book about dogs, this isn't it.
If you want a biographical account of a young woman from California who aspires to a life of adventure in the foreign, icy northern latitudes, this is a great read. Along the way she encounters powerful lessons in resilience and healing from trauma, as a young woman navigating a very patriarchal world can not escape unscathed. Yes, there are dogs, luminous passages about traveling across snowy landscapes behind teams of dogs, but that activity alone is not the central focus of the story. Questions of home, relationships, and self-worth are all woven into the author's adventures, and I found this to be a very satisfying read.
If you want a biographical account of a young woman from California who aspires to a life of adventure in the foreign, icy northern latitudes, this is a great read. Along the way she encounters powerful lessons in resilience and healing from trauma, as a young woman navigating a very patriarchal world can not escape unscathed. Yes, there are dogs, luminous passages about traveling across snowy landscapes behind teams of dogs, but that activity alone is not the central focus of the story. Questions of home, relationships, and self-worth are all woven into the author's adventures, and I found this to be a very satisfying read.
There were many aspects of this book that I found endearing and relatable—the idea of leaving your home to find a new one, even if then, you feel a weird kind of pain leaving either one and the desire for adventure, taking on the dangers that are associated with traveling alone as a woman. I valued the parts of the book where there was more reflection and the chapters that felt more like journal entries, rather than when the events felt more like unrelated chapters of a novel. It’s one of those books where you’re truly living a different life through reading it.