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Searching... Hattiesburg Library | FICTION MCGUIRE | Book | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Now an AMC+ original miniseries event starring Colin Farrell and Jack O'Connell! A nineteenth-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller
One of The New York Times Book Review 's 10 Best Books of the Year, and named a Best Book of the Year by The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Publishers Weekly , and The Chicago Public Library
Behold the man: stinking, drunk, and brutal. Henry Drax is a harpooner on the Volunteer , a Yorkshire whaler bound for the rich hunting waters of the arctic circle. Also aboard for the first time is Patrick Sumner, an ex-army surgeon with a shattered reputation, no money, and no better option than to sail as the ship's medic on this violent, filthy, and ill-fated voyage.
In India, during the Siege of Delhi, Sumner thought he had experienced the depths to which man can stoop. He had hoped to find temporary respite on the Volunteer , but rest proves impossible with Drax on board. The discovery of something evil in the hold rouses Sumner to action. And as the confrontation between the two men plays out amid the freezing darkness of an arctic winter, the fateful question arises: who will survive until spring?
With savage, unstoppable momentum and the blackest wit, Ian McGuire's The North Water weaves a superlative story of humanity under the most extreme conditions.
National Bestseller
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
Winner of the RSL Encore Award
Finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize
Author Notes
Ian McGuire grew up near Hull, England, and studied at the University of Manchester and the University of Virginia in the United States. He is the cofounder and codirector of the University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing. He writes criticism and fiction, and his stories have been published in Chicago Review , The Paris Review , and elsewhere. He is the author of The North Water, among other books.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
McGuire's novel is a dark, brilliant yarn set on a 19th-century Yorkshire whaler in the dead of winter. An ex-army surgeon named Patrick Sumner, his reputation ruined by an ignoble incident in wartime India, seeks to escape his past by shipping out as doctor on the whaling ship Volunteer, bound for the Arctic Circle. But the voyage to the waters north of the British Isle is doomed from the beginning: the men responsible for the ship have no intention of bringing it back in one piece. And if that weren't enough, a debauched murderer named Henry Drax is aboard. The harpooners meet with some success while at sea, whaling, sealing, and capturing a bear cub, but a test of wills begins after the mutilated body of a cabin boy is discovered below deck in a cask used to store minced-up whale blubber. Sumner challenges the suspected culprit, violence ensues, and soon the ship is without leadership. The frozen seas threaten to cripple the ship, and what's left of the crew tries desperately to survive the worst of the winter trapped in the ice. There is no light, no letup in this gruesome tale, so there is great significance in the rare but moving acts of kindness and camaraderie between these men in peril. An amazing journey. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* When Patrick Sumner returns to England from India, after serving as an army surgeon in the Sepoy Rebellion (1857-58), he finds himself with few options, having been expunged from the service. Lacking other prospects, he signs on as ship surgeon for a whaling expedition onboard the Volunteer. The rough accommodations aren't any worse than those he suffered in India, and the crew's minor injuries are easy work compared to tending battle-mangled soldiers. But when he treats a cabin boy displaying evidence of horrific abuse, Sumner hunts the predator onboard, even after it costs the cabin boy his life. Henry Drax is popular and unmatched when it comes to harpooning, but he's miscalculated his power and put too much faith in his shipmates' apathy. Sumner uses his medical knowledge and a dose of forensics to accuse Drax as the ship navigates the Arctic Sea dangerously close to winter, and a disaster leaves them fighting nature and each other for survival. McGuire's tale is every bit as raw, suspenseful, and brutal as befits a Victorian whaling expedition with a psychopathic killer. But like Stef Penney's The Tenderness of Wolves (2006) and Dan Simmons' Drood (2009), there is plenty of literary heft in this novel's thoughtfully developed characters, absorbing period details, and detailed renderings of dangerously beautiful settings. This deserves attention beyond readers of crime and historical fiction, especially from those stalking provocative book-group fare.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2015 Booklist