<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Cold Oceans are chilly & fine!
Review: A wonderful read! Great for those long winter evenings beside a warm fire, a cup of tea & Jon Turk as he candidly recounts some of his solo & fascinating sea-going adventures of shipwrecks off Cape Horn to the seas of the Northwest Passage; from Arctic blizzards to an ancient Inuit migration route to Greenland - all by kayak, rowboat or dogsled. Jon Turk is also well-versed in the history of the places he is drawn to which gives us a broader perspective. A pleasant & pensive read. Makes a great gift! ..............................
Rating:
Summary: Cold Oceans are chilly & fine!
Review: A wonderful read! Great for those long winter evenings beside a warm fire, a cup of tea & Jon Turk as he candidly recounts some of his solo & fascinating sea-going adventures of shipwrecks off Cape Horn to the seas of the Northwest Passage; from Arctic blizzards to an ancient Inuit migration route to Greenland - all by kayak, rowboat or dogsled. Jon Turk is also well-versed in the history of the places he is drawn to which gives us a broader perspective. A pleasant & pensive read. Makes a great gift! ..............................
Rating: 
Summary: egomania on three continents
Review: Cold Oceans has a lot of potential but the author reveals too much of himself. Constant references about his personality and details of his outbursts are a downer. He relies on luck and risk taking as opposed to planning and knowledge of his surroundings and means of travel. For a much more enjoyable read with better emphasis on local knowledge try "Homelands" or "On Celtic Tides." I certainly won't buy another Jon Turk book.
Rating:
Summary: Great adventures but...
Review: Cold Oceans has a lot of potential but the author reveals too much of himself. Constant references about his personality and details of his outbursts are a downer. He relies on luck and risk taking as opposed to planning and knowledge of his surroundings and means of travel. For a much more enjoyable read with better emphasis on local knowledge try "Homelands" or "On Celtic Tides." I certainly won't buy another Jon Turk book.
Rating: 
Summary: What about the rest of his life?
Review: I am 2/3s of the way finished with the audio edition of this book. I do find the writing to be good, and the stories inherently interesting, but I am struck by the casual way in which the author avoids the reality of his life (two marriages, 3 children) and the reality of the dangers he faced (near death situations on several occaisions). The book reminds of Krakauer's Into the Wild, about the young man who went off unprepared into the winter of Alaska to find himself, only to die of starvation within a few miles of help. The author is indeed candid about his missteps and near misses, and about the unsolicited but essential assistance that is given to him by bemused observers with more knowledge and experience. The book also brings up the issue of freedom and responsibility. How much freedom can one person claim for himself after bringing 3 children into the world yet still indulge himself in the life of an explorer, without accumulating negative karma. Perhaps these issues are better addressed in the last third of the book. So far, it has the ring of 60' child who never grew up.
Rating:
Summary: Stop whining!
Review: Okay, so he did some interesting and adventurous things. However, he did them all with a minimum of preparation and a maximum of ego, a bad combination under the best of circumstances. By his own admission, he did not enjoy travel for the sheer joy of travel and experiencing life. He completely missed the point every step of the way. In the process, he casually dismissed his children, the woman he loved, and he endangered himself and others. He mistreated his dog-sled team by not properly training them, leading to death and injury. And on every step of the way, he whined about his misfortunes at not being "successful". This man will NEVER be happy in life. Skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: egomania on three continents
Review: When thinking of adventure travel, one may think of a fierce wind almost ripping our grip from the climbing rope, or a sudden decision that turns out to be just the right thing to do, or some semi-profound recollections after letting the dust and the tequila settle for a bit. One often forgets the mosquitoes, the smelly socks, the disgust at seeing a minor lapse of attention turn into a major problem, or a miserable and exquisitely annoying travel companion. This book gives a superb illustration of the latter danger in adventure travel. The writer is annoyingly and gratingly obsessed with his own ego and "the trip," whatever he wants that to be. With a blatant disregard for the sensitivities of his companions or the dictates of common sense and good judgment, the author relates four journeys. Three turn out to be failures, thankfully with no loss of life. At least he is commendably honest about that. Lesson learned, in capital letters and boldfaced type: Be fairly careful about whom you choose to journey with.
Rating: 
Summary: A journal of self-discovery in the Wild
Review: Wonderful book. This title is as much a journal of one man's self discovery as it is a chronicle of his adventures. You start out not liking this man very much (at least I did), but as you near the end your opinion will have changed and you feel like you have been privy to something special.I'm afraid that reviewer VanRoy missed the point. This is not a manual or chronicle of well planned, expertly executed high adventure, it's the story of one man's steps and mis-steps in life set against the back-drop of some of the worlds wildest and most inhospital places. If you are looking for just an adventure chronicle you may want to go buy something like The Endurance (Shackleton's adventure to Antartica). If you want to experience a wonderful mix of adventure of body, mind, and spirit set against some of the most beautiful places on earth get this book.
<< 1 >>
|
