Musical: Lisa Peterson: Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (U.S.A. 2017) Ernest Shackleton Loves Me is a New York musical about a Brooklyn single mother and Ernest Shackleton’s Transantarctic journey. I didn’t see it live; a recording appeared on YLE Areena, where it will be for two more weeks. In the story, Continue Reading
Antarctica
Research Blog Antarctica #164 – The Winter Over
Fiction: Matthew Iden: The Winter Over (Thomas & Mercer, 2017) At first glance, The Winter Over by Matthew Iden falls into the familiar category of Antarctic thrillers where manly men face the travails of human weakness and the unforgiving environment. And indeed, superficially the book seems to have some of Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #163 – Frozen Solid
Fiction: James M. Tabor: Frozen Solid (2013, Ballantine Books) There’s a lot of thrillers set in Antarctica, but James M. Tabor’s Frozen Solid is better than most, at least within the confines of the genre. Protagonist Hallie Leland arrives at the Amundsen Scott Station at the South Pole only to Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #162 – Terre Mécanique: Antarctica
Comic book: Jean Baptiste Andréae & Patrick Fitou: Terre Mécanique: Antarctica (Casterman, 2004) Antarctica is the second volume in the three-part series Terre Mécanique. The first volume is set on a ship where a permanent post-apocalyptic party goes on as it sails across endless ocean. The rhinoceros Fileon and a Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #161 – Quick Before It Melts (the movie)
Film: Delbert Mann: Quick Before It Melts (U.S.A. 1964) This is the film adaptation of the novel Quick, Before It Melts. It’s a comedy about an American reporter sent to the Antarctic to find stories about oil, gold or Russian perfidy. Much of the story is built around the sexual Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #160 – Antarctic Edge: 70 South
Documentary: Dena Seidel: Antarctic Edge: 70 South (U.S.A. 2015) This is a documentary about marine life in the Southern Ocean and the work of scientists on ships and islands on the Antarctic coast. Underlying the narrative is the effect of global warming on all aspects of Antarctic life, from krill Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #159 – the Icebreaker
Film: Nikolay Khomeriki: The Icebreaker (Russia, 2016) The Icebreaker is a movie about a Russian ship picking up scientists from Antarctica. As it leaves the continent, it becomes mired in the ice in the Ross Sea. Tensions arise as the captain is replaced by the Soviet government and the crew Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #158 – Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
Non-fiction: Alfred Lansing: Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (1959) Written by the American journalist Alfred Lansing and published in 1959, Endurance is an account of one of the most famous stories in the history of Antarctic exploration, the failed Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914. Shackleton attempted to traverse the Antarctic continent, Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #157 – Quick, Before It Melts (the novel)
Fiction: Philip Benjamin: Quick, Before It Melts (Random House, 1964) Philip Benjamin was a New York Times reporter who had been to Antarctica twice when he published the novel Quick, Before It Melts, later made into a movie. The title is a joke based on the idea that the Antarctic Continue Reading
Research Blog Antarctica #156 – Penguins on Ice
Comic book: Sergio Salma: Penguins on Ice (ibooks, 2005) Penguins on Ice is a collection of comic strips about Fred the Penguin and his compatriots. The jokes are based on simple ideas, such as how all penguins look the same. The artist, Sergio Salma, is guilty of a sin so Continue Reading