Resolute: the epic search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen’s Ghost Ship by Martin W. Sandler
One of the main appeals to me for reading non-fiction is that the title tells you everything. I am in fact a fairly non-discriminate reader of whatever, but I feel like if I’m going to spend time with a book that I will inevitably forget to return to library before paying those annoying 20 cents a day fees (I wrote a song about this that probably won’t make it to the album) then I like to at least learn something.
Arctic exploration fascinates me--the idea of being out in the absolute middle of nowhere and trying to do some good for the sake of humanity is so absolutely alien to me that I feel like I must study it. Actually, I have no idea what good was done by anything that happened in this book--it was about John Franklin, a renowned English explorer who was sent to finally discover the famed northwest passage. He failed, of course, and then lots of others followed to find out what happened to him (lots of dying and cannibalism). Tales of people getting scurvy, going mad, hallucinating. I just wrote a song for the new album called “You Triumph When You Quit” that is about the exact opposite of this: Doesn’t it just feel so good to be in a warm bed, cracking open a cold beer and eating a hot burrito? (that is the single stupidest sentence I have ever constructed) I say, screw all that going to the artic crap. It’s so much easier than trying to stretch the capabilities of humanity or something and losing all your toes. That makes you walk all funny.
This was a really good book. I hope my “review” helps you, and maybe all of humanity.
WTF?
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com
No comments:
Post a Comment