Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring--Couldn't put it down!
Review: Dr. Neilson's year at the south pole and then her gut wrenching experience of finding a lump in her breast with no means to be evacuated is, to say the least, mind-numbing. We find out how very strong and vital she and the people who "winter" with her are. This book deserves to be read by everyone who ever faced a physical or psychological challenge. It will change you!
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Summary: Awesome Ice Bound!
Review: I saw Dr. Nielsen on Oprah only yesterday as I was sitting in a doctor's waiting room (I'm sure glad he was running behind!). I bought the book 1/2 hour after the show ended and stayed up most of the night reading it - finishing it this afternoon at work during my lunch hour! AWESOME and INSPIRING - 'nuf said!! Jerri - you GO GIRL!
Rating: 
Summary: A Vicarious Adventure
Review: I have a fascination with books where people experience things I probably will never have the opportunity to pursue, like climbing Mt. Everest and working for a year in Antartica. I found the book a very good read overall. The only problems I had were with her comments about her ex-husband as well as the loss of contact with her kids. How BAD was this situation? Certainly she acknowledges abuse, but her ex really came off as a "jerk," and her children as uncaring--and there are two sides to every story which we only saw through one person's set of eyes here.As a social worker with a specialization in grief issues, I found her dealing with the loss of her hair trivialized...."mourn it, get over it..." So many grieving people get told "Get over it." Certainly, wallowing in grief is not healthy (including fighting cancer,) but neither is just dismissing a loss so rapidly. Would definitely recommend this book to others, despite the flaws.
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Summary: A true survival
Review: I decided to buy this book after seeing Dr. Jerri Neilsen on Primetime. A story that would touch many people's lives and how one can survive in extreme living conditions like the South Pole. It's also very interesting to find out how we,as humans, learn to cope with all circumstances when we're all together at one place like Antactica. Nothing does matter either poor, rich, or good looking. All you need is a big heart for each other! This book describes all of it very well. My hat's off to the all the Polies especially Big John, Lisa and the rest of 41 winterover members. I'm glad I bought this book. It's worth reading and learning about what Dr. Neilsen has to share with us. I would spend a year at South Pole just to have friends like them. What a pal!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: IceBound kept me house bound (reading it) !
Review: It is a riveting book, really as we consider who it is who wrote the book; in this age of relative lack of literary talent among so many of us...Nielsen transcends the usual stereotype of the medical professional with no clue...her book is well written and holds the reader throughout!@ the details of the pole, its inadequacies as far as basic human comforts are concerned, her description of the lack of materials to do her job there at the base...all this and more made for an excellent and unusual read. Her honesty is to be commended as well.
Rating:
Summary: Good Look at the Ice - Not enough about Jerri
Review: I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book, but once I got going, I was glad I stayed with it. Jerri Nielsen does a good job describing conditions and the environment at the South Pole. She gives enough information and supplies the right photos so that the reader can easily imagine what the scene may look like as you are reading. The problem I had with the book was that I felt it didn't cover enough of Jerri's own story - Yes, she explains her adventures and then her horrifying cancer situation, but the last 1/4 of the book is mostly email correspondence between Jerri and her Dr, Jerri and her family, Jerri and her friends. I think this is due to the fact the her memory may not be as clear to these facts (she states this several times - how the ice effects memory), but I would have liked to have seen her interpret her emails into the story, rather than print them all - word for word - in between her storytelling. I also did not like the abrupt ending of the book. While I know the book is called ICE BOUND and is mainly about her time on the ice - the book ends with her rescue from the South Pole with a few pages of Epilogue following. After reading about her fears and concerns (which almost every email contains), I would like to have seen them addressed more definitively. We never do find out the answers to all of her questions, and how she finally got over her fears, nor do we find out how her relationship with her fellow Polies was affected once they returned to the States (we do know she saw several of them,but not much more detail then that) Overall, it's a good story, and easy to get involved in. I'm not sorry I read it, just a little disappointed and not completely satisfied at the end.
Rating:
Summary: good, not great
Review: I was ready to read this book but came away a little disappointed. I thought the writing and editing weren't that great, and I think that has factored into my viewpoint. I wanted to know more about her treating various patients, more nitty gritty about their lives etc. Instead, I got a lot of repetition and surface material. Once the cancer was mentioned, though, the book got much more interesting and deeper. If this book had been edited better, I would have enjoyed it more overall.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!!!
Review: I read this book in three days. I couldn't put it down. It is a book that everybody should read. It is about how remarkable and courageous Dr. Jerri Nielsen is. This book reminds us how the little gestures and thoughts from those around us can mean so much. Life and friends are precious and we shouldn't take them for granted.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: What a wonderful book! How fascinating to read what goes on at the Pole. I had no idea what went on there. I guess I knew people were "stationed" there, but not for long periods of time and not without any "air support" for months at a time. Dr. Jerri is remarkable. And though I realize there are two sides to every story (especially in divorce/custody cases) I feel that Dr. Jerri did what she could do under the circumstances. It seems that her husb turned her kids against her. How unfortunate for her children to not have been a part of the wonderful adventure that their mom participated in. This book is great.
Rating:
Summary: Scary true-life adventure!
Review: I cracked open this book having already read a previous reviewer's comments that Dr. Nielsen was running away from her messy divorce, and that her journey was motivated by the kind of midlife crisis that leads men her age to invest their life savings in red Ferraris. So I have to admit, I prejudged Dr. Nielsen, and her book as well. I was reading it carefully to see if she could gain back the credibility she lost for me before I even picked up the book. The answer, for me, was a rather uneven "maybe". Dr. Nielsen tries to invoke the reader's sympathies, writing of her pain at being separated from her kids. But the circumstances of her divorce are left intentionally fuzzy, and I found that disturbing. She probably wishes to protect her kids' privacy (and her own), but we are meant to come away believing she is in the right. In that, she only partially succeeds. It's hard to believe, in this day and age, that anyone would get away with the cruelty she ascribes to her ex. I found myself wondering, if he's so disturbed, how he won in the first place. And sure, her lawyers advised her that there was little she could do... but I can't help thinking I wouldn't have taken that advice, if I were in her shoes. But it's easy to judge from a distance, and by and large, this story isn't a pity-party. Instead, it's a celebration of one woman's resolve to live the rest of her life despite the pain she has been through. The story is riveting... she describes the dangers involved in Antarctic life and then brings us along to live them with her as they play out in her day-to-day "winterover" experience. As an adventure story alone, this book is fascinating... and with the added drama of her long-distance battle with breast cancer, this becomes a uniquely "womanly" adventure story. This book is well-written, with a nice mix of medical information, and personal reflection on her life crisis. I did find the long detailed transcriptions of e-mails to her oncologist a trifle self-indulgent. Dr. Nielsen asks over and over again what her odds were, as if just by knowing, she can save herself. But almost any doctor would do the same in her situation; they're trained to take control or at the very least, understand all the variables. So although I'm left with lingering questions of Dr. Nielsen's credibility -- was this journey the right thing for her to do in the first place, I'm forced to admit that this book is a moving look at how one woman gracefully fought adversity -- and won. You'll probably have to take her word for it about her marriage and divorce, but beyond that, her realism makes the story absolutely believable and thrilling.
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