The Northwest Passage, Then and Now [NF Review]

Preamble

You know those posts that languish in your drafts for a couple years before you finally decide they’re timeless so you plunk them into your upcoming schedule and hope you can recall enough to write a decent post? Yeah, this is one of those 😝 I read both of these books over the summer of 2018. I made some notes for Journey to the Edge but only one for Dead Reckoning so let’s see how this goes. (Thankfully I own a copy of Dead Reckoning so I can flip through it to jog my memory.)

Note: I read these books before I started writing content warnings. So, I can’t provide specifics, but both deal frankly with colonialism and its effects on Inuit and Indigenous people.

What is the Northwest Passage? “The Northwest Passage is a sea corridor through Canada’s Arctic archipelago and along the northern coast of North America. European explorers searched in vain for the passage for 300 years, intent on finding a commercially viable western sea route between Europe and Asia.”

The Canadian Encyclopedia

Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage by Ken McGoogan

Ken McGoogan writes popular non-fiction on Canadian topics, including the history of northern exploration. This is the first of his books I’ve read. I have a little flame of interest in Arctic exploration (which mostly manifests in reading about the Karluk disaster) that I like to fan every now and then. Dead Reckoning caught my eye because it was an up-to-date and comprehensive look at the history of the Northwest Passage search.

McGoogan draws from his previous books, which go in-depth into the lives of key figures in Arctic exploration (Elisha Kent Kane, John Rae, Jane Franklin). If you already have familiarity with his books or with Northwest Passage exploration, you may find Dead Reckoning repetitive. But it’s a great place to start learning. McGoogan offers a fresh and modern perspective, tying together events from as far back as the early 17th century. The final chapters address the 2014 and 2016 discoveries of Franklin’s ships. He challenges some of the traditionally popular narratives. He gives proper attention to Indigenous and Inuit involvement, often overlooked in these types of accounts. McGoogan achieves his goal of crafting a more comprehensive and balanced narrative than any before.

For a more comprehensive review, see Canada’s History.

Journey to the Edge of the World by Billy Connolly

Beginning at Pier 21 in Halifax and ending at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, Billy Connolly gives us a look at the Northwest Passage today. Connolly, a Scottish former comedian, has hosted a variety of limited travel television series in recent years. Journey to the Edge of the World accompanies a four part series of the same name. (I haven’t seen this one, but I did enjoy some of his Route 66 series.)

Connolly’s voice shines in this book. If you’ve ever heard him speak, you will his clear and distinct brogue (there’s a word I don’t get to use often, lol) as you read. He does not hesitate to voice his opinions, but he does so respectfully. He often acknowledges that, as an old white Scottish man, he comes from a totally different place than most of the people with whom he interacts. His reflections on change in the north (both culture and environmental) made this book a more thoughtful read than I anticipated. The book also includes personal and emotional experiences, such as his time in a sweat lodge (pg. 272). Connolly’s personality and perspective make this an engaging read. I hope the following quotes illustrate what I’ve described:

“I watched some of the fishermen at work and it was quite different from the stereotypical image of the salty dog sitting by the dock, smoking his pipe and talking about monsters in the wide blue yonder, or breaking into a sea shanty. These days, it’s all fork-lift trucks and young men and intensive production. I don’t think health and safety was much of an issue for these guys, either – one chap straddled an incoming net in such a way that he could have lost his family jewels in a jiffy; he’d have turned around and been a soprano. I couldn’t help thinking that this way of life was going to go, too. The equipment gets more and more sophisticated and so they catch more, but they can’t keep fishing at that density without consequence.”

Pg. 56

“I thought Jim, the pilot, was kidding me at first when he offered to let me fly. […] But he wasn’t, and when he told me to turn it to the left or the right my heart sang a wee song. Georges Simenon, the Belgian novelist, once used an expression that I use a lot: […] he wrote, ‘I received your letter yesterday and I had a little party in my heart.’ Every now and again I have a party in my heart and flying that plane over that great lump of ice was one of those moments.”

Pg. 76

“I asked the owner how far the bear had to be away for [polar bear deterrent] to be effective. ‘A metre and a half,’ he replied. ‘I’m dead,’ I said. ‘If a bear gets that close, I might as well spray myself.'”

Pg. 95

Lastly, I want to note the book’s design. In contrast to Dead Reckoning, Journey to the Edge of the World is more of a coffee table book. It has lots of text to read, but there are also many images. Call out boxes offer further historical background throughout.

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Do you enjoy reading historical non-fiction? What are your favourite books about travel or exploration?