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Arctic Dreams

4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 · rating details · 2,081 ratings · 157 reviews

Barry Lopez's National Book Award-winning classic study of the Far North is widely considered his masterpiece.

Lopez offers a thorough examination of this obscure world-its terrain, its wildlife, its history of Eskimo natives and intrepid explorers who have arrived on their icy shores. But what turns this marvelous work of natural history into a breathtaking study of profou...more

Paperback, 496 pages

Published October 2nd 2001 by Vintage (first published January 1st 1986)

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Jul 16, 2012 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

A reader could be prone to chills on a sunny March day as spring breaks through, and still be mesmerized by the love Lopez clearly has for a land that routinely has temperatures double digits below zero centigrade. His love of the landscape’s mysterious, often impenetrable serenity, is filled with mirages and challenges for daily survival that suspend a reader’s usual perceptions like a good science fiction.
Slyly, he invites the reader to imagine the polar solstices, learn about the elegant pol...more A reader could be prone to chills on a sunny March day as spring breaks through, and still be mesmerized by the love Lopez clearly has for a land that routinely has temperatures double digits below zero centigrade. His love of the landscape’s mysterious, often impenetrable serenity, is filled with mirages and challenges for daily survival that suspend a reader’s usual perceptions like a good science fiction.
Slyly, he invites the reader to imagine the polar solstices, learn about the elegant polar bear, muskox and the mythical narwhal. He’s a scientist who can write poetry: “In the reprieve at the end of the day, in the stillness of a summer evening, the world sheds its categories, the insistence of its future, and is suspended solely in the lilt of its desire.”
In cascading sentences he explains the seasons, animal migrations, a surprising variety of plants and we get a peek at the elusive Eskimo. I would like to incorporate some of their language into English. Quviannikumut means to feel at peace with the world and deeply happy. Long and patient waiting is quinuituq. An isumataq is a person who can create an atmosphere of deep wisdom.
Language appears to be endless. I have a reasonable vocabulary, but I often learn new words in well written and deeply crafted books. Lopez presented me with more than the usual with tenebrous (dark, away from the light), polynya (an area of open water in sea ice), and disquisitions (a formal inquiry).
Definitely not a vacation book, Arctic Dreams was enjoyable to read in deep winter when I easily drift into his atmosphere and was willing to read patiently during long dark nights. Deftly, he led me along to enjoy the Arctic’s unknowable beauty, and then woke me up by describing early explorers intrepidly sailing toward doom in ill-equipped ships that are trapped by ice for three or four years, leaving them reduced to eating rat soup. Their endless attempts to map the land suggests dozens of stories still to be researched and written.
But as the book went on, I found it more information, science and history than, in the end, I was able to absorb. It ends with the presence of today’s oil companies as he describes them as pleasure adventurers that are littering the landscape as they are in Nepal. The comparative ease of today’s visitor describes oil company housing with carpet, snack bars and work-out machines. Barry may be a last recorder of the Arctic’s original landscape.(less)

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May 07, 2011 Kerfe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Where to begin? Lopez covers a lot of ground here, both literally and figuratively.

Through the lens of the Arctic, he urges us to consider our relationship with both the land and its native inhabitants. He uses the alienness of the Far North to contrast the Eurocentric approach to the world with that of one that requires intimate and complex knowledge of, and relation to, the land for survival and growth.

These ideas seem to me to be obvious: we should know by now that just because a culture does...more Where to begin? Lopez covers a lot of ground here, both literally and figuratively.

Through the lens of the Arctic, he urges us to consider our relationship with both the land and its native inhabitants. He uses the alienness of the Far North to contrast the Eurocentric approach to the world with that of one that requires intimate and complex knowledge of, and relation to, the land for survival and growth.

These ideas seem to me to be obvious: we should know by now that just because a culture does not use our "advanced" technology, it does not make it "primitve." That other cultures have skills and knowledge we have lost or never learned that make life richer in ways that are different but no less valid than what we consider valuable. That in using rather than working with the land we are destroying our future, and also something that gives dignity, integrity, and richness to all life. That differing cultural views of relationships, work, even time and place, is just different, not right or wrong; that there are many credible and workable ways to live one's life; that different environments give rise to different ways of thriving.

Don't we know this? I can't explain why, but no, we don't.

By stripping people and places of their meaning and virtue in order to use them and enrich ourselves, we are impoverishing not only the future but the lives we live now.

"We tend to think of places like the Arctic, the Antarctic, the Gobi, the Sahara, the Mojave, as primitive, but there are in fact no primitive or even primeval landscapes. Neither are there permanent landscapes. And nowhere is the land empty or underdeveloped. It cannot be improved upon with technological assistance. The land, an animal that contains all other animals, is vigorous and alive....These are not solely arenas for human invention. To have no elevated conversation with the land, no sense of receprocity with it, to rein it in or to disparage conditions not to our liking, shows a certain lack of courage, too strong a preference for human devising."(less)

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Feb 05, 2010 flannery rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, science, january2012-misc, travelogues

"Eskimos do not maintain this intimacy with nature without paying a certain price. When I have thought about the ways in which they differ from people in my own culture, I have realized that they are more afraid than we are. On a day-to-day basis, they have more fear. Not of being dumped into cold water from an ‘umiak,’ not a debilitating fear. They are afraid because they accept fully what is violent and tragic in nature. It is a fear tied to their knowledge that sudden, cataclysmic events are...more

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Jul 31, 2008 Huan-hua rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lovers of natural history/popular science/travel books

I stumbled on this in 2005, in a little bookstore in Heidelberg specializing in used English-language books. I was just trying to refill my reading material for my trip with something at least marginally interesting, but this turned out to be one of the most stunningly gorgeous books I've ever read--Lopez manages to not only see the hidden beauty of the seemingly barren Arctic landscape, but capture and convey its glory through his prose.

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May 17, 2011 Jean rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the parts of this book about the author's travels and living in the Arctic. The book also has wonderful descriptions of the wildlife encountered there. But I never could finish the book, even though I picked it up several times. I'd always come to a long philosophical dissertation and quit. Now I know why.
I just read Black Hawk Down, in which the author made a very concerted effort NOT to insert himself between the reader and the action. It felt so real, so compelling, so much...more

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Jun 11, 2009 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Perhaps it was the fascination of “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon” on television or Howard Hawks’ “The Thing from Another World” on the big screen but ever since I was very young, I’ve had a sweaty-palm attraction for the Far North. The Arctic, a place so alien, so harsh, and yet so beautiful, it defied my imagination. It’s an allure that has killed many and made heroes of others.

Winner of the 1986 National Book Award, “Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape” by Barry Lope...more Perhaps it was the fascination of “Sergeant Preston of the Yukon” on television or Howard Hawks’ “The Thing from Another World” on the big screen but ever since I was very young, I’ve had a sweaty-palm attraction for the Far North. The Arctic, a place so alien, so harsh, and yet so beautiful, it defied my imagination. It’s an allure that has killed many and made heroes of others.

Winner of the 1986 National Book Award, “Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape” by Barry Lopez is considered perhaps the best book ever written on that wondrous, yet intrinsically deadly place. Lopez spent years traveling there and writing about its animals: polar bears, narwhals, beluga whales, musk oxen and caribou and the indigenous people that must survive in the unforgiving vastness of it all, day after day.

Lopez writes about the Inuit:

“Eskimos do not maintain this intimacy with nature without paying a certain price. When I have thought about the ways in which they differ from people in my own culture, I have realized that they are more afraid than we are. On a day-to-day basis, they have more fear. Not of being dumped into cold water from an ‘umiak,’ not a debilitating fear. They are afraid because they accept fully what is violent and tragic in nature. It is a fear tied to their knowledge that sudden, cataclysmic events are as much a part of life, of really living, as are the moments when one pauses to look at something beautiful. A Central Eskimo shaman named Aua, queried by Knud Rasmussen about Eskimo beliefs answered, 'We do not believe. We fear.'”

“To extend these thoughts, it is wrong to think of hunting cultures like the Eskimo’s as living in perfect harmony or balance with nature. Their regard for animals and their attentiveness to nuance in the landscape were not rigorous or complete enough to approach an idealized harmony. No one knew that much. No one would say they knew that much. They faced nature with fear, with ‘ilira’ (nervous awe) and ‘kappia’ (apprehension). And with enthusiasm."
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Feb 06, 2010 Adam Kranz rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: inspirational, non-fiction, history, magical-connective-fantastic-lit, environmental-history, favorites

As far back as I can remember, I've had a subtle fascination with the Arctic. I imagine myself wandering over endlessly white expanses of tundra and ice, a perfectly lonely permanent wanderer. In my fantasy, I am somehow detached, like a ghost - no need for food, rest, nor shelter, and with the ability to move quickly enough to gain a tactile sense of the land in giant swaths. I've always loved winter, and I am simply not satisfied with the winter I'm getting here in Wisconsin. I will go to the...more

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Apr 03, 2010 Jackiejjj rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lopez describes alaska so vividly you can almost be there. Secrets of the far north are revealed - the many many varieties of ice, how it begins to melt and how the narwhals find their way through the maze of cracks. How they wait midway till the path reopens to their destination. I didn't even know there WERE narwhals. Sitting high on a cliff with an eskimo friend learning the nuances of his language and watching the wildlife below. Joining scientists at work with wildlife - drugging and captur...more

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Apr 21, 2010 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lopez takes a wide-ranging approach to his topic, which has benefits and drawbacks, though I think his book is better overall for his ambition. In a sense, I felt more able to relate to the book and Lopez thanks to his movement through writing about geography, biology, oceanography, aesthetics, anthropology, development, exploration, hunting and no doubt more topics I'm just not remembering at the moment. The book has a spiritual element that crops up occasionally, but mostly resides at either e...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, science, travel, history

A classic, published in 1986, although I've managed to not read it until now. That's my loss, since Lopez's prose is astonishing, both in its scientific & journalistic precision & in its philosophical, ethical lyricism. In fact, his musings constitute a profoundly useful ethics of respect toward & value-recognition of both land & life in the Arctic (& by extrapolation, all places, species & cultures on Earth). One that assumes the dignity of each being within an ultimatel...more

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Oct 10, 2011 Jonathon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nature, favorites

Like many of the most amazing places on earth, the Artic has the power to make us realize how truly small we are. The harshness of the environment mixed with the moments of pure beauty can't help but draw you into comparisons with the desert. Like the desert, the people and animals who have managed to adapted to life in these extreme places are truly amazing.

Lopez does a great job sharing his infectious love for this landscape and for the people and animals who live there. But like most books a...more

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Oct 22, 2010 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, conservation

In Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez gives us a grand tour of the top of the world, with special emphasis on its land- and seascapes, its weather, its fauna and its indigenous peoples. The author discourses on many subjects, some informed by personal experience, but always returns to his contemplation of the barren and monotonous, yet hauntingly beautiful Arctic landscape.

Almost as an afterthought, Lopez chronicles the many failed attempts to discover the Northwest Passage by European ship captains, en...more In Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez gives us a grand tour of the top of the world, with special emphasis on its land- and seascapes, its weather, its fauna and its indigenous peoples. The author discourses on many subjects, some informed by personal experience, but always returns to his contemplation of the barren and monotonous, yet hauntingly beautiful Arctic landscape.

Almost as an afterthought, Lopez chronicles the many failed attempts to discover the Northwest Passage by European ship captains, entrepreneurs and others with dubious or misplaced motives. The Passage is eventually conquered, but at the cost of hundreds of lives and conferring no clear military or economic advantage, it is at the very least a Pyrrhic victory.

The author waxes a bit too philosophical for my taste (in a nature book) at times, but makes up for it with captivating scenes of nature and insight into the Inuits' unique understanding of their beautiful but deadly home. As befits what is essentially a book on nature, the science is spot on, except for one major gaffe on evolution. Lopez writes, "Human beings dwell in the same biological systems that contain the other creatures, but to put the thought bluntly, they are not governed by the same laws of evolution" (p. 38 of the paperback), and puts forth the idea that while animals are shaped by their environment, we shape our environment to suit us. This is a common, but incorrect, view of evolution as applied to ourselves. It is true that we have a unique degree of control over our environment, but that has not halted our evolution. We are still shaped by the environment we have created. As an example, laypeople often cite the fact that many heritable diseases, like diabetes, that once were fatal are now compatible with life well beyond childbearing years, and consequently, genetic variations that predispose toward these diseases are no longer weeded out of the gene pool. True enough—but the accumulation of such genetic variations because of changes in selective pressures is, itself, evolution. What's more, our environment is changing more and more rapidly as technological advantages accelerate exponentially, with consequences we cannot possibly foresee.(less)

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Nov 26, 2008 Tawnya rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: environmentalists and anyone remotely interested in the arctic

An amazing journey into the Yukon Territory and the far North. Lopez journeys into the Arctic for understanding and insight, and shares his experience and lessons learned from the expedition. Anyone who has been to the northern territories knows the beauty and spirituality connected to it. It is unfathomable to me that there are people wanting to destroy such a sacred place which is home to species the Lower 48 will never see. For me, this book served as a call to preserve one of the places I lo...more

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May 05, 2013 Jennifer W. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Barry Lopez's prose is incredible no matter what landscape he's discussing, he's so passionate about the landscapes he travels in and learns so much about the cultures that they have shaped. He uses all of this to weave together a narrative story that both shares factual information and somehow also imparts the deep and powerful love he has for these barren places in the world. Through Lopez's eyes it's easy to fall in love with them, to celebrate and mourn with them, as he talks about the world...more

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Feb 27, 2013 SmarterLilac rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A bizarre attempt of mine to get into non-fiction, or whatever category one would place this book in. It is long, rambling and filled with unnecessary information in every paragraph. Then again, this is supposed to be about what Mr. Lopez found fascinating about the arctic. Perhaps others found it fascinating, too, but I couldn't get into it, even in the middle of winter when I should have been 'in the mood.'

One thing I learned: there are spiders in the arctic. The arctic. Is there anywhere spid...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Jeevas Crow rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who loves learning anything about the arctic.

Recommended to Jeevas by: Goodreads

Shelves: ecological, philosophy-introspection

This is a beautiful book, thought not entirely what I expected. The description made it sound like a newer, more ethereal version of Walden, but it ended up having extremely technical details about the biology of several species of animals, historical information on both the history of humans in the arctic and their effect on the surrounding life, and in between that real wondrous and deep thoughts. Many times I would stop reading to reflect on how intensely thoughtful Barry Lopez is, and in his...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lopez's writing style is almost as rarefied as the subject of his book itself. It took me nearly a year to finish Arctic Dreams as I had a rather on-again, off-again relationship with it. The book got off to a fast start, as I felt enthused vicariously through Lopez's own clear enthusiasm for the animals, landscape, and science of the Arctic even if I couldn't clearly see what he was talking about (e.g. the specific body parts of muskoxen).

The book lost its luster somewhere in the middle, as som...more

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May 09, 2011 Mike Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, philosophy, science

I found this to be an outstanding book, but not perhaps to those who fail to appreciate nature and conservation at the expense of financial gain. The book was copyrighted in 1986 so it is a 25-year old classic.

Opening chapters reveal the author's reverence for arctic-specific life with fascinating details of narwhals, muskoxen, caribou and various birds. It continues to define the wonders and hazards of arctic ice and land, and the Eskimos who inhabit the seemingly inhospitable regions and their...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Everything that a person could want from a book that summarises the history and present day story of life and survival in the Arctic region.

The first three chapters were my personal favourite and seemed well researched. Each of the three chapters concentrated on a particular Arctic animal and the detail of their behaviour and biology along with his own personal encounters with each of these amazing animals was just great.

The book then brought you through the history of human colonisation of the...more Everything that a person could want from a book that summarises the history and present day story of life and survival in the Arctic region.

The first three chapters were my personal favourite and seemed well researched. Each of the three chapters concentrated on a particular Arctic animal and the detail of their behaviour and biology along with his own personal encounters with each of these amazing animals was just great.

The book then brought you through the history of human colonisation of the land from the extinct Eskimo clans each demonstrating their different capabilities of surviving in a seemingly barren landscape.Also explained in great detail in the latter half of the book was Europe's obsession with finding a passage to China through the Canadian archipelago and the disasters and successes associated with that obsession, some not for the faint hearted. Throughout this history lesson the author included extra side stories of interesting facts and stories relating to the Arctic, such as the story behind the painting "The Icebergs" which was very interesting.

An underlying theme throughout the whole book was a understanding the author had or has of the land that he tries to impart with the reader at different intervals throughout the reading of the book. The author encourages the reader to think about human's place in this world and perhaps how out of touch with the land we have become due to urbanisation etc.

It is clear that the author simply loves this part of the world and with his words describes the places he has seen so well that the reader can really sense what it was like there and appreciate the scenes just as he did.

The book is definitely worth reading and should be read by anybody curious about the Arctic or anyone with an interest in wildlife or history. The only downfall to the book is that some of the "side stories" were somewhat uninteresting to me and I found myself forcing myself to read through them just to get back to the good bits quickly.(less)

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Jul 19, 2008 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: essays

I first got into reading Barry Lopez's works with About This Life, not realizing that his claim to fame, so to speak, was Arctic Dreams. After reading an intriguing article that he wrote about the land and culture of today's Icelandic people in a National Geographic, I could tell he was very dedicated and well versed to the land of the northern hemisphere. So, I decided to pick this book up to see what it was all about.

First and foremost, it's refreshing. Very to the point without a whole lot...more I first got into reading Barry Lopez's works with About This Life, not realizing that his claim to fame, so to speak, was Arctic Dreams. After reading an intriguing article that he wrote about the land and culture of today's Icelandic people in a National Geographic, I could tell he was very dedicated and well versed to the land of the northern hemisphere. So, I decided to pick this book up to see what it was all about.

First and foremost, it's refreshing. Very to the point without a whole lot of extraneous fluff. The first chunk of the book, he talks about the animals living there and in quite some detail. He's followed herds of muskoxen and caribou and explains why they're there. A lot of the book focuses on the land itself and why it's important to the world. He talks about the communities and cultures of the Arctic through time. Some of the most interesting stuff I found was towards the end of the book where he expounds on all of the journeys that have been made by sailors of the past. I was aware of some of the more major achievements, but he brings to light a lot of other expeditions, both successful and unsuccessful that tried to explore the Arctic, mainly to find a Northwest Passage.

Mr. Lopez is definitely a naturalist, one of the more defining ones of our time. He's not afraid of re-connecting with the land, however remote it might seem to the majority of us. I like his attitude that he has about the people, about the land, about the situations he finds himself in. It's a knack of his writing that he's able to convey a sentimentality and seriousness about things most of us wouldn't bat an eyelash over (such as narwhals stuck in a savssat or how unnerving early Thule culture's deity carvings can be) to the reader without getting overly sentimental or heavily philosophical about things. He seems very much down to earth while hoping to convey his love of the land, and of the land's history, to the public.

One of the last paragraphs in his book really struck a chord with me and made me feel good and filled me with hope. I'll share it right here:

"It is in the land, I once thought, that one searches out and eventually finds what is beautiful. And an edge of this deep and rarefied beauty is the acceptance of complex paradox and the forgiveness of others. It means you will not die alone."(less)

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Mar 30, 2012 Maria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel-writing

The best part of the book started with the Migration chapter. Within that chapter I liked what the author wrote about hunting - and it wasn't about killing another living entity. However, this deeper, poetic writing was lost within the chapter about explorers as that chapter focussed on dates, journals, and less about the writer's deeper perspective. As a result, the epilogue was more of a mixture of the two; not as deep as I would have liked, but deeper than stark facts or numbers. I would like...more

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May 06, 2013 Vicky Pinpin-feinstein rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

I read this book twice. Yes, twice! It is a book that needs to be read not only for its content but for the beauty of Lopez's writing style. He writes in a style that is deeply influenced by his environment, the natural world as he sees it or as an animal would see it. The book does not simply teach or inform, it encourages one to love nature all over again, and to get in touch with that part in all of us that has forgotten our intuitive connection to the natural world.

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Feb 06, 2012 Linda rated it 1 of 5 stars

Well I give myself a pat on the back just for finishing this one. I learned a lot about the Arctic, but the prose was hard to concentrate on. There was this sense of removal from the scene, like the language was actually getting in the way of the expression of the experience. There is a kind of academic loftiness to Lopez's prose at odds, to my mind, with the subject. However, I am glad I finally read this after toting it around with me for over 20 years.

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Mar 13, 2010 Nancy McClure rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: would-re-read

Again, another collection that I return to, time after time. Lopez's writings move me to my core. I would have to list him as one of the Most Influential Writers on my psyche - he writes from both a personal viewpoint AND an objective observer, at once. I find his tales intensely personal, while still being objective. It's a dichotomy I strive for in what I write, because of how informative the writing is, whilst striking a chord. He is a master.

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Oct 25, 2007 Mitch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who finds wonder in the natural world

This collection of Barry Lopez essays has had a profound effect on my return to science from history. I can only guess when I first read it. The 90s, sometime. But the details were SO interesting, and the story-telling so informed yet lithe, that I spent years, literally, thinking about it. I couldn't remember the author. All I knew was that all the essays were about different facets of Arctic ecology: polar bears, light, narwhals, the native peoples, the European explorers. And I knew, from the...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

For me, there was but one downside to this book: it was hard for my mind to transition between non-fiction information and poetic musings as this book did so often and so seemlessly. This is probably the nicest part of the book -- you can both be reading for pleasure and discovering something wonderful about the natural world while whetting your philosophical appetite.

This is a great book that I've already recommended to many people.

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Jan 12, 2012 Bob rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Bob by: Outside Magazine

WOW. This book is so many different things, connected by the author's personal experiences in the Artic. The first several chapters I found difficult - they are in depth explorations of some of the Artic's animals, including narwhals, polar bears, many different birds - and, to my unscientific mind, seemed overly deep in biological minutia. But then the Lopez turns to the land, the eco-system, its native peoples, the various explorations by outsiders. His descriptive powers are absolutely magnif...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Cary Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science, favorites

This book is such an education on many levels. The arctic flora and fauna, the weather patterns, seas and ice. The history of exploration-courage and folly, and the native people. What is most interesting is how the author looks at things from many points of view, and draws inspiration from places and animals, and finds a perspective in the fabric of it all. I wanted to be in his shoes on many occasions, but I know I'll have to settle for his recorded experiences.

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Mar 23, 2012 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another planet right here on this one. Barry Lopez's first-person tour starts at the NOrth Pole, then zooms to the equator and back. But that's just a planetary primer, an intro before he visits (and takes us with him to) unbelievable places, has incredible experiences, and describes phenomena in the world of the Arctic that are so entirely new, startling, and exhilarating; a breathtaking journey.

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Jan 19, 2013 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Astounding in its topics of philosphy of the land, nature and man. A nature book hasn't had me so intrigued for a long time. Sometimes it feels taxing to read and he has some contradictions relative to the Norths relationships to Southern Canada and vice versa but still love it. He paints the Arctic in such a light, one can't help but want to go out, buy a caribou skin parka and go North.

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About Barry Lopez

Barry Holstun Lopez is an American author, essayist, and fiction writer whose work is known for its environmental and social concerns.

Lopez has been described as "the nation's premier nature writer" by the San Francisco Chronicle. In his non-fiction, he frequently examines the relationship between human culture and physical landscape, while in his fiction he addresses issues of intimacy, ethics an...more

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Quotes from Arctic Dreams

“Because you have seen something doesn't mean you can explain it. Differing interpretations will always abound, even when good minds come to bear. The kernel of indisputable information is a dot in space; interpretations grow out of the desire to make this point a line, to give it direction. The directions in which it can be sent, the uses to which it can be put by a culturally, professionally, and geographically diverse society are almost without limit. The possibilities make good scientists chary.” — 10 people liked it

“I lay there knowing something eerie ties us to the world of animals. Sometimes the animals pull you backward into it. You share hunger and fear with them like salt in blood.” — 9 people liked it

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