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Rating: 
Summary: Very riveting
Review: A great book. It wasn't long enough is the only complaint, and that's if you force me to complain.This is a great yet tragic story about a man/boy who was meant to be in the woods. The book is, as you can guess, a trek across Canada by foot, canoe, and dogsled. Those that like the outdoors and wonder what the world was like before cell phones, pavement, and the flood of civilization need to go no futher than this work. The beauty is that this trek happened in the late 70s. This book, from cover to cover, makes you yearn to be out in the wild and to wish you were there, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel (well some of it. The near dying stuff is best left alone). The wilds of Canada call to you as you turn each page, realizing that these travels are really not that far removed from the US/Canada border. One gets a great perspective in reading this book through the words of Halsey and with the notes of Diana Landau, who does a marvellous job walking us through the rough parts of the story that were not completed before David's death. In fact, it could be argued that the reader gets a more complete picture in this, essentially a 2 author affair, than if only Halsey would have done it. Truly Halsey is a man who was born to be in the outdoors and it is a shame that he did not remain in one of the nooks or crannies that he had crossed on the way. While there was a sense of inexperience in both travellers, it's hard to not feel for them and see their learning as the trip wound on. The book is out of print, so it will be hard to come by. But if you can find it, do so.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book - for the adventurer in all of us!
Review: Dave had a dream - and set out to live his dream. The book presents an excellent account of his trek across the Great White North. It makes you feel like you are living, breathing and feeling it with him. What a tragedy that he wasn't able to do more. He had so much to give and wanted little in return. An excellent account in survival and a lesson in human nature. Highly recommend!
Rating:
Summary: Last Romantic American Frontiersman
Review: I have read David Halsey's Magnetic North repeated times for it's pure display of passion and adventure. Halsey was a man both before and beyond his time. He knew the importance of keeping his expedition a journey by primitive means, it was important to himself. His passing is a tragic tale, but not unlike many other great explorers and adventure writers of the 19th and 20th century. Within the pages of his account, there is more than a story. There is a compassionate soul bound to the wilderness, paddling his way through waters that had not been traversed by a white man, and a grievous attempt to return to modern society. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever dared to dream, not of greatness, but of a life lived in the wild to satisfy a yearning heart.
Rating:
Summary: Last Romantic American Frontiersman
Review: I have read David Halsey's Magnetic North repeated times for it's pure display of passion and adventure. Halsey was a man both before and beyond his time. He knew the importance of keeping his expedition a journey by primitive means, it was important to himself. His passing is a tragic tale, but not unlike many other great explorers and adventure writers of the 19th and 20th century. Within the pages of his account, there is more than a story. There is a compassionate soul bound to the wilderness, paddling his way through waters that had not been traversed by a white man, and a grievous attempt to return to modern society. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever dared to dream, not of greatness, but of a life lived in the wild to satisfy a yearning heart.
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