Sunday 17 February 2013

A Woman in the Polar Night

We had our February bookclub meeting on Thursday evening at Olga's and over tea and biscuits we discussed our second book, A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter, which was my selection for the group last meeting.  Available at most of the main online bookstores and also for e-readers at some.  Has anyone else noticed that kindle editions are now pretty much the same price as hard copies? 


Christiane Ritter initially refused requests from her husband to join him for a year in the arctic but after being seduced by his descriptions which he sent to her in the form of diaries, she eventually succumbed to his invite and in 1934 joined him to spend a year on the island, Svalbard (Spitsbergen) 400 miles north of Norway.

I selected this tale after finishing Lawrence Millman's Last Places: A Journey in the North, I was not yet satiated and went in search for more about the cold north and came across Millman's blog which listed with his books, Ritter's.  Millman was the instigator in getting this book back in print (it had been out of print in English for 60 years, although it has never been out of print in German) and he wrote the introduction in this edition.

I absolutely loved this book and from the first sentence was hooked.

Ritter's story is one of courage, endurance, tenacity and above all spirit, which was born in a10x10 foot hut in the middle of an Arctic wilderness.

The Ritter-hut at Gråhuken (Grey hook)

Ritter wrote without drama or sensation but with a quiet acceptance of the way things are.  She recorded her story with gentle observation and poetic insight, eloquently illustrating for the reader the heart of living in the Arctic.  She had an appreciation of her surroundings that some male authors/explorers preoccupied in their pursuit of conquests over nature seem to miss. In one passage Ritter describes the misty landscape as "...the dream of a world that is visible before it takes shape as a reality", she encapsulates these scenes as Chinese landscapes, referring to the delicate ink paintings by Chinese monks and asks "Has nobody who has spent the winter here thought them worth mentioning? Have they never moved anyone before? Has it been of no interest that these Chinese pictures come to life on this island of mist, in a thousand variations?"

Everyone in our group seemed to enjoy the book, one member said it was not the style of novel that she would ever have chosen for herself and was pleasantly surprised at how much she did like it. Ritter's description of the light..one example..."the world is in deep twilight, a perpetual twilight from which it can no longer emerge" seemed to hit a chord with all the girls in the bookclub as we experience something very similar here.  Some of the girls did want to read more about her relationship and personal life as there are only hints of this in the book but I felt it not at all necessary as the main character of the book is the Arctic and the transformation that it generated in Ritter.  

I limited the speed in which I read this book, I could have finished it in one sitting, instead I decided to stingily dole it out to myself in small measures, so I could savour and relish each page of Ritter's beautiful rendition of her year in the Arctic. This novel is now on my list of life time favourites, overall our club gave it 4 out 5 stars but I give it the full 5 as her style of writing really resonated with me, I highly recommend it.  

A tip that was given to Ritter on her journey to Grey Hook by an elderly gentleman, which I identify with in my own life is no matter what "you must take a walk everyday even in the winter night and storms".  Ritter did this religiously even during blizzards, crawling on all fours circling the outside of the cabin, I however do draw the line at blizzards, even the dog will not go out then.

I leave you now with another life tip from Christiane Ritter.

"A year in the Arctic should be compulsory to everyone...then you will come to realise what is important in this life and what isn't".

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting about this book. Ever since I visited Iceland this summer I've been interested in reading books about the far north. I've read several books by Halldor Laxness, The Stones Speak by Þórbergur Þórðarson, Vikings in America by Graeme Davis, and my favorite, The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown. I'll have to try this one out too.

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    1. I would love to know what you think of it after you have read it. The Far Traveler looks interesting I have added it to my reading list.

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  2. That sounds interesting. I bet you get a lot of reading done in the winter! Iceland is really a reader's (and writer's) paradise. You might also like The Explorer's Daughter by Kari Herbert. She went to Greenland as a child with her polar explorer father, and returned many years later.

    Does Amazon deliver to you? If not it must get expensive buying imported English language books? I guess that's the benefit of e-readers.

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    1. The Explorers Daughter is also now on my reading list, I am currently reading Ripples from Iceland which I know you have read. I should read more than I do, there are always so many other distractions.

      Amazon does deliver but by the time you add postage and the toll here it becomes quite expensive, however with http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ delivery is free and for some reason there is no toll, so if it is not available on kindle this is my preferred online store for hard copies. I must admit I prefer e-readers for novel reading (1. immediate access, 2) you can zoom the text to your own comfortable reading size, 3) it is light and 4) I can change the page with a flick of the finger without having to put the coffee cup down. I didn't think I would like it but after being given one as a gift I am now convinced of their ease of use. Having said this I am finding that many kindle versions of a book are dearer than the paperback...for eg Madeline's recommendation the Far Traveler is $11.96 for the paperback version and $14.93 for the Kindle version from Amazon. The most annoying thing is that you can't shop around for cheaper ebooks as each reader will only seem to allow you to access their own published version and the other downside is that you can't pass on the book to a friend as you would with a hard copy.

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  3. I would bet a woman's perspective would be interesting. My wife and I have spent a couple of Northern Minnesota winters without indoor plumbing, only wood heat, and water from a hole I kept open in the lake ice. It gives one a different appreciation of the luxuries of modern living.

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    1. Wow, that is not heard of these days, you should do a blog post on that experience! We take so much for granted.

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  4. Hi Vicki,
    Thanks so much for listing these books - and your great summary! I have always loved reading about life in extreme climates but many seem to fail (for me anyway) to capture the mystery/soul/spirit of a place - so I am really looking forward to reading this one.
    If you are ever want to read about the natural history of the artic I cannot recommend highly enough a book called "Arctic Dreams" by Barry Lopez. He managed to capture the beauty and feel of the ice world in prose that I felt was more a song to the north than a technical summary of all it entails.
    Cheers!

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  5. Thanks Anita, I have seen Arctic Dreams and it is on the ever growing list, good to know that it comes recommended. Have not heard from you for some time...hope all is well with you and yours.

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  6. Sounds amazing, I'm definitely going to check it out.

    Have you read anything by Bill Holm? He has a house across the fjord and wrote a book about spending summers there, called the Windows of Brimnes. He also wrote another book I like about islands, forgot the name at the moment.

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    1. Thanks Maja for this recommendation, a friend has just finished reading it...so am hoping to borrow it.

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