Posts

Research Blog Antarctica #5

Fiction: J.M. Coetzee: Elizabeth Costello (Secker & Warburg, 2003) I actually started to read this book to get a break from the endless procession of books about Antarctica. I was surprised, and somewhat dismayed, when it turns out that I can’t get out so easily; Antarctica is featured in this Continue Reading

Research Blog Antarctica #4

Non-fiction: Tom Avery: Pole Dance (Orion, 2004) First off, Avery’s book has a great name, a name that makes it stand above the rest in the cluttered field of Antarctic memoirs. It belongs to the genre of modern-day accounts of private expenditions to the South Pole, and describes how Avery Continue Reading

Research Blog Antarctica #3

Non-fiction: John C. Behrendt: Innocents on the Ice (University Press of Colorado, 1998) Finally a proper Antarctica book! The last two have been a bit peripheral on the subject, but this one tackles it straight on. It is the story of the Finn Ronne expedition of 1957, seen through the Continue Reading

Research Blog Antarctica #2

Non-fiction: Jenny Diski: Skating to Antarctica (Granta Books, 1997) There’s two distinct trends in the titles of books about Antarctica. One is featured in the title of Diski’s book, the X to Antarctica. Another example of this is a swimming biography called Swimming to Antarctica. The other big trend is Continue Reading

Research Blog Antarctica #1

Fiction: Maarit Verronen: Kylmien saarten soturi (Tammi, 2001) I’m attempting to write a novel set on Antarctica. Whenever I do anything creative, the first thing I do is to read every book, see every movie, go through everything I can find on the subject. I do it to get ideas Continue Reading