Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides
1 review
nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.5
I'm frustrated with this book. It's certainly well researched and presents the events of the USS Jeannette's voyage and destruction, and the subsequent survival efforts of her crew in a balanced, accurate way. Sides presents excerpts from diaries and correspondences both from the Jeannette's crew and the people they left behind, adding both texture and emotional impact to the story.
But it seems absolutely impossible to me that an author that did such extensive research into this Arctic expedition would be unaware of the fact that a certain word-that-starts-with-an-e is regarded as a slur by the Inuit and other Arctic circle peoples. Regardless, this word is used not only in historical excerpts, in which its presence is an unfortunate fact of history, but on several occasions in Sides' prose itself.
He did not present the two Inuit hunters who joined De Long's expedition uncharitably or as caricatures, so why use a slur to talk about their people? Make it make sense!
I expect better from an otherwise well-constructed piece of modern history-telling, particularly when the story depends so much on the testimony of indigenous witnesses.
But it seems absolutely impossible to me that an author that did such extensive research into this Arctic expedition would be unaware of the fact that a certain word-that-starts-with-an-e is regarded as a slur by the Inuit and other Arctic circle peoples. Regardless, this word is used not only in historical excerpts, in which its presence is an unfortunate fact of history, but on several occasions in Sides' prose itself.
He did not present the two Inuit hunters who joined De Long's expedition uncharitably or as caricatures, so why use a slur to talk about their people? Make it make sense!
I expect better from an otherwise well-constructed piece of modern history-telling, particularly when the story depends so much on the testimony of indigenous witnesses.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Colonisation, Racial slurs, and Mental illness
Minor: Cannibalism, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Alcohol
More...