The Idea of North

by Peter Davidson

Everyone has their own idea of North and what it means. This book considers the mythologies and representations inspired by the idea of a northerly goal. From the Snow Queen and ghost stories, to memories of Arctic exploration and Nabokov's nostalgias, it is a book about the variable meanings of north. It discusses spaces as far apart as Canada and Japan, and takes in writers, artists and film-makers such as Auden, Ravilious and Bergman.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Nature, Travel, Art, Historical, Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2005

Reviews

[Katherine Relf-canas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book captivated my imagination at Elliot Bay Books, and went well with the wintry weather. It is not for everyone, though. Some chapters were more enchanting than others. There were small joys in learning more about Nordic lore, and one criticism: the Brit who wrote it was a little off in saying that America is not so much about the North/South divide as it is about East/West. I bristled immediately as this country has had many citizens who have 'fled' northward in search of a better life: hello!. I'd say this was enough of a gaffe that Peter Davidson might want to amend a future edition of his book to speak to the various meanings of "North" to those who were born into difficulties just by being of the south. We are about East/West, though, for sure. This book concerned itself with so many different traditions that I found it a great source for books and authors I want to read. Recommended it to a French woman I know who lives in Northern Finland!

[Mosco]

non finito perché la biblioteca mi manda i carabinieri!
non riesco a leggerlo d'un fiato, ha bisogno di tempi e ripensamenti, tempi che non avevo: iniziato a leggerlo tardi, riconsegnato in biblioteca prima che venissero a riprenderlo con la forza pubblica.
L'ho trovato cmq un po' frammentario e saltabeccante da un concetto all'altro, a tratti molto interessante a tratti un po' soporifero. Lo riprendero'.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book after reading a reference to it in another book; I think it was maybe one of Robert MacFarlane's. In contrast with the visceral, poetic, personal, deeply sciento-spiritual philosophies of place that MacFarlane gives us, however, this book is overwhelming in its firehose of (mostly European) geohistorical trivia and full of unsubstantiated conclusions expressed with condescending authority, and ends up being one of the most tedious things I've ever read, and I've read and enjoyed some pretty boring stuff. The intro and epilogue were nice enough I guess.

[Fortluna]

up to the last chapter I was still like, YESSSS this is an ideal aesthetic photoset of a book, which is exactly what I enjoyed thanks to the priming I received from SMEN and the topmost row of tiles in sunless sea - the advance into port andergard, the celadon hollows of the mines, my best beloved castle-in-the-ice Frostfound - but then it ended with a chapter five times longer than the ones preceding it, all about the british north. nothing on russia. ten pages each on china/japan and canada (with no mongolia, no korea) and interminable microscopic details on the industrial north of england.
...I guess it's what I deserve for reading in english.
BUT, it's probably bad to wish a book covered other stuff when the first 80% was deeply tailored to my interests - the revenants drawn from the imagination by the cold, the compulsion of northerly expeditions.
and of course, the prose in parts, since I found this book from a quote from the epilogue. [ the grey-painted rooms of Stockholm have been dim with evening for over an hour. The garlands painted on their panels are vanishing; roses no longer, but sedge and willowherb, flora of decline. ] really, truly soothing! you will notice I finished this only in the summer.

[Marion · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Idea of North has some of the best first 100 pages I have ever read. If you are interested in the cold, in the romance of the endurance, in the limits of curiosity of the human mind, and in the way landscapes make us into dreamers beyond the capacity of any rational thought, this book (or at least the first half of it) is definitely for you.

The second half of the book feels almost like written by someone else. It dwells (in proper detail!) on the works of poets, writers, painters and installation artists who have all been enchanted or just captured by the North in their creation. I definitely agree with some reviewers who consider the second half almost too detailed for such a publication. But that being said, Peter Davidson definitely opens up your eyes about the vast expanse of inspiration the North has had on people around us. And, well, on us.

The very end becomes subtly poetic again, tying up some topics in a fragile way that is still very pleasurable. All in all - this is a book that is accessible for all, but you will definitely get a lot lot more out of it if you have a deep interest in literature as well.

[Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book could potentially be quite dry, but it turned out quite the opposite. I can't even fathom how much research has gone into this work, and Davidson manages to present it all in a way that kept me fascinated throughout. Drawing on visual arts, music, literature and a variety of other sources, he presents a gripping overview of what we imagine when we think of 'North', and how these ideas change and have changed throughout the globe and based on location, history and more. Absolutely fascinating and a great starting point too for further exploration.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been unable to categorise this book which is rather frustrating. It lies somewhere between history, travel, geography and general whimsical musings. In fact it fits rather nicely in the last category, except that it is not one that I have.

It is, at times beautifully and poetically written, albeit a read that necessitates having Chambers fairly nearby (caducity?anfractuous? Wunderkammern -the latter crops up a few times so I definitely know it now, and as I also came across it in the FT this morning I will allow as a word that I probably ought to have known). There is a great deal of learning here which, it must be said, is not worn lightly. The book is neatly structured in three parts: a history of "Northernness", an imaginative response to the North and the topographies of the North. The last third is undoubtedly the strongest as some of the rather ethereal, Northern Lights-style, musings become grounded in place. Canada, Japan, China, Scandinavia and Britain are all dealt with although curiously not Russia which has more North than anywhere. The reader suspects that Davidson has focussed strongly on his own areas of expertise and enthusiasms and felt it best not to venture further out. This ia a pity because the book reads like something of his own private Wunderkammer with cultural titbits, most especially art and poetry, displayed for all to see but with clear gaps alongside.

He is very strong on poetry. Auden and Isherwood in Iceland are mentioned and nicely paired with Armitage and Maxwell in their later mimetic travels. Sean O'Brien gets more than a few namecheck although it would take a lot to make me revisit his poetry. Douglas Dunn is also there, although Wordsworth and the Lake poets are mostly omitted. Cumbria doesn't seem to quite fit his idea of the North and gets small mention (North Yorkshire -moor and dale - is omitted entirely!). Art is also there in abundance, although music is mostly silent. This is a pity as I can think of few things more evocatively northern than Sibelius, but his symphonies with their mystical Lapland aura ought to be contrasted with Nielsen's ebullience. There is no one Northernness, although you might not get that sense from this book.

Some things were intriguing. Are ghost stories particularly northern because of their affinity with cold dark evenings? And do they crop up particularly at times of cultural change and unease? I'm not wholly convinced (Spiritualism, yes, but that is something different). Glenn Gould's The Idea of North was completely new to me and is probably something well worth checking out on the internet. I hadn't realised that he was anything other than a talented pianist. Does northernness have to be connected with snow and ice? The Netherlands are north if you are in Southern Europe, but frozenness comes less from their latitude and more from their position at the far West of the great European plain. Ovid's exile in modern day Bulgaria was really an eastern rather than a northern exile.

Davidson is very strong on landscape, climate and artistic responses to the north but he is not so good on the people who inhabit it. At times we risk falling into the the "Grim up North" London myth when it is well known that the inhabitants of Yorkshire and above have a friendliness often lacking in the South. The north of England is also well known for humour and beauty, not just for Lowry's smoking chimneys and the decaying shipyards of the Tyne. This book was both enjoyable and frustrating in equal measure.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his Introduction, Davidson observes that, in a work of English fiction, the statement ‘we leave for the north tonight’ conveys a quite different impression, with contrasting associations, than does ‘we leave tonight for the south’. This book is an exploration of why that is so, mainly by the means of discussing what ‘the north’ means to different people, especially in Europe but also in other parts of the world. As he states, ‘everyone carries their idea of “north” within them’.

This is an enormously erudite and well-observed book; description leads into idea, which leads into topic, into theme, then into further example, and back again, and so on and so forth. It samples prose literature (both fiction and life writing) and poetry from the 21st back to the 8th centuries, and earlier to the Bible, the Romans and the classical Greeks, and also drama, painting, photography and cinema; covering architecture, geography, mythology, psychology, history and much else. Thankfully, Davidson avoids the most obvious examples from Norse myth and the Brothers Grimm; instead he ranges into what seem to me to be more obscure lines of enquiry. So this is a book that is full of interest in both information and ideas, and I learnt a great deal, thinking more than once ‘I should like to go there, and see that’.

Davidson’s writing is clear and graceful, and reads like the tracing of a chain of thought. This makes readable what could in less skilled hands be very dense, turgid prose. His erudition is matter-of-fact rather than showy; he clearly assumes that his reader will go along with him, even though he has a tendency to use words like ‘quotidian’ where ‘everyday’ or ‘daily’ would serve. It is unfortunate, then, that the overall effect is quite literally soporific: several times I fell asleep while reading, and in some passages found myself speed-reading to get the gist without bothering too much with the detail.

[Matthew Gurteen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly interesting book detailing most versions of 'the North' across space and time. Although I was only interested in the sections discussing the North of England, I found the rest of 'The Idea of North' enjoyable and informative. Peter Davidson's style is almost poetic in parts and is beautiful to read. His research, too, is apparent, as is his passion for the subject. The book is also well-illustrated.

All that being said, I do have some issues with 'The Idea of North'. For one, the book is unevenly weighted towards the North of England. Although I read it for this location, I have to be fair. Davidson talks much more about this location because he is from it than equally exciting places like Japan and Canada. Ultimately, I picked up this book for the North of England, but Davidson could have said more about other places.

I would say this book also requires some prior knowledge. Having recently read Brian Groom's 'Northerners: A History, from the Ice Age to the Present Day', I cannot help but compare the books. Groom only focused on the North of England in his text, but it was much more approachable and readable than Davidson's. Although the poetic style is good, it is hard to follow at times, and Davidson discusses some complex subjects.

Overall, however, I did enjoy 'The Idea of North'. I would recommend it to anyone interested in history looking for something a little different to read.

[Paul Tubb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent example of the manuscript in search of a decent editor. Davidson's style is dense and academic but accessible, and he has very interesting things to say about the physical, emotional and intellectual properties of the north.

However, the book suffers from two major weaknesses. The chapters are too long with insufficient breaks and, at times, it can be repetitive. This is where a role is most keenly missed; the chapters could made far more digestible with little extra effort.

The second, and greater, problem is with the last quarter of the book which discusses the idea of North in Britain. The section is too long, prone to reading like a literature review, and suffers from a lack of depth. I venture to suggest that I suspect this topic has been handled better by others.

That said, I found the book extremely interesting and I learnt a great deal about a subject that I thought I knew a fair amount about.

[J.C. Byron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent attempt at explaining why the lure of the North has captured the imaginations and goals of so many throughout history and culture. Growing up in Australia the lure of the North did not manifest until late childhood when a copy of Phillip Pullman's 'Northern Lights' exploded into my world like the Aurora Borealis cascading across far away polar skies. It can be a dry read in parts but I suspect each individual reader will take to different aspects of the book as benefits their interest and desire to understand this pervasive and ongoing attraction.

[Hundeschlitten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry as prose, there are so many poignant lines in here about our relationship with the North, both as an idea and a physical place. Some of the specificity of place, particularly in regards to England, kind of lost me; I would have really enjoyed a critique of the towns and spaces of the Upper Midwest from central Illinois to the Canadian border with the same loving attention to detail. But the fact it is skewed towards an English audience doesn't detract from the sheer beauty of the endeavor.

[Deborah Siddoway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off well, exploring the notion that there is an idea of North, and a compulsion embedded into the human soul to push northwards, to explore the vast, empty space that the North is made up of. The author explores human fascination with the North across various different cultures, looking at mythology, folklore, art, literature, and photography, together with recounting the various explorations of the North that have been ventured.

There is some really lovely writing in the book, weaving together disparate themes as the author ponders what it is about that one point on the compass - North - that is so fascinating, and for the most part, he does it well. However, by the time you reach the section of topographies, I was starting to feel that the author was more intent on filling in space than in writing a cohesive narrative encapsulating the idea of North.

I did enjoy reading it - but it became somewhat challenging towards the end. A little bit of editing might have produced a shorter book, but I suspect one that would have been more of an entertaining read.

[Richard Hakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book but the reading didn't quite live up to its promise. I like the idea of the North and I understand that it is not the South or East or West but lots of the world have been explored besides the North.

[Roger Morgan-Grenville · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought with a sense of excitement, as 'the idea of north' has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. The high intellectual tone possibly takes some of the joy out of what is clearly a well researched and deeply felt story.

[Peter Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book that I have read twice. it deals with Art and some of the concepts manufactured therein. Davidson's idea is that the south is somewhat effete whereas The North conjures up images of a hardy people growing up in a harsh land.

[Mark]

Read 1 July until 25 August 2019 until put on pause.

[Alex Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part literary crit, part freeform ideas, part poetry

[Killian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, if rambling anglocentric read

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book to read slowly (best to read on an Arctic cruise.

[Isla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the in depth textual analysis of this book. As a person from a North I thought it's key ideas and those invented from mysticism were fantastic! encapsulating the dreariness and yet magic of Northern spaces.
I found the section on British North, where he spoke of the English Northern cities particularly interesting as being from Scotland I fell ignorant from not considering this to be a part of North. And what this means on the broader scope of what locationality to an individual can mean.
Overall, the book was very easy to read and very interesting.

[And Rea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book goes through everything that has ever been associated with the image of North. I loved the history of Northern cultures and especially the mythologies and viewpoints global cultures had about things in the north. It also instilled in me an extremely strong desire to go see the northern lights. I had a hard time getting through other parts of the book. To each their own I guess, but I struggled with the hundred or so pages dealing with Nortic inspired chandeliers. Just not exactly my cup of tea. In all this book more than being absolutely wonderful itself was more of a guide to a million other wonderful things I need to read and see.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've got mixed views of this. While I found the art and literature focused parts tedious there were multiple chapters that I found extremely engaging.

It was worth a read for the exposure to perspectives I'd never considered before.

[Sadie Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend V mentioned that she'd been reading Peter Davidson's The Idea of North, and as Davidson (a) was my personal tutor at university, (b) is a member of my current faculty and (c) is genuinely one of the loveliest people I know I was interested to read it myself and very happy to take her up on the offer of borrowing her copy.

The Idea of North is an odd mixture of things; a scholarly examination of the conception of northness through historical, cultural (primarily literature and the visual arts, but there are also reference to cinema and music), social and geographical prisms. The perspective is global, with sections devoted to the north in Canada, China and Japan as well as the more obvious Scandinavia and northern Britain. I found it a fascinating read, full of interesting ideas, and also beautifully written, although, despite mentions of Ursula Le Guin, Margaret Atwood and Tove Jansson the "cultural" strand did leave me with a sense of northness as overwhelmingly male - lots of Nabokov, Auden, Bergman and Simon Armitage, to name but a few. As the book was first published in 2005, it predates "Scandi Noir" which I'm sure would have been an interesting addition, though some of the discussion of Scandinavian interiors and pushing back the darkness of the long winter nights anticipates the recent flood of articles and books about hygge.