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Andrea Barrett

Auteur van De reis van de Narwhal

18+ Werken 4,764 Leden 132 Besprekingen Favoriet van 31 leden

Over de Auteur

Andrea Barrett was born on July 17, 1965. She has taught in the M.F.A. program for writers at Warren Wilson College, and has been a visiting writer at several other colleges and universities, as well as teaching frequently at conferences such as the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. She writes short toon meer stories and novels. Her short story collections include Servants of the Map, Archangel, and Ship Fever and Other Stories, which won the National Book Award in 1996 for the short story collection. She received the Distinguished Story Citation from Best American Short Stories in 1995 for The Littoral Zone and the 2015 Rea Award for the Short Story. Her short fiction has appeared in periodicals such as Mademoiselle and Prairie Schooner. Her novels include The Voyage of the Narwhal, Lucid Stars, Secret Harmonies, The Middle Kingdom, and The Forms of Water. (Bowker Author Biography) toon minder

Werken van Andrea Barrett

De reis van de Narwhal (1998) 1,466 exemplaren
Scheepskoorts (1996) 1,351 exemplaren
Servants of the Map: Stories (2002) 662 exemplaren
Levenslucht (2007) 508 exemplaren
Archangel: Fiction (2013) 165 exemplaren
Het Middenrijk (1991) 155 exemplaren
The Forms of Water (1993) 120 exemplaren
Natural History: Stories (2022) 78 exemplaren
Lucid Stars (1988) 65 exemplaren
Secret Harmonies (1989) 58 exemplaren
Theories of Rain 1 exemplaar
New Fiction 1 exemplaar
The Needle's Eye 1 exemplaar

Gerelateerde werken

Tono-Bungay (1909) — Introductie, sommige edities1,130 exemplaren
The Best American Short Stories 2001 (2001) — Medewerker — 543 exemplaren
The Best American Essays 2005 (2005) — Medewerker — 342 exemplaren
The Best American Short Stories 1995 (1995) — Medewerker — 302 exemplaren
The Best American Short Stories 2016 (2016) — Medewerker — 258 exemplaren
The Best American Science Writing 2005 (2005) — Medewerker — 191 exemplaren
The Writer's Notebook II: Craft Essays from Tin House (2012) — Medewerker — 38 exemplaren
Birds in the Hand: Fiction and Poetry about Birds (2004) — Medewerker — 32 exemplaren
The Second Penguin Book of Modern Women's Short Stories (1997) — Medewerker — 27 exemplaren
American Short Fiction, Spring 1991 (1991) — Medewerker — 3 exemplaren

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This is the story of a fictional 1855 expedition to the Arctic to search for a missing explorer who disappeared 10-years before. An expedition that will cost the lives of several men and change forever the lives of the others with guilt, anger and horror. Another way it can be described is that it is a story of scientific self-gratification and sheer hard-headed ambition. For more than half of the story the author pulls off an amazing feat of weaving the plot into a beautiful narrative that is filled with such vivid descriptions that the reader feels they are a part of the crew. Add the well-done suspense and you can almost cut it with a knife. Only in the novel's final pages does drama give way to moral dilemmas. There are two "heroes" in this story: Erasmus Wells, a middle-aged naturalist who hopes to use the voyage of the Narwhal for his own vindication. A way to try and forget, or at least to come to terms, with his experience on an earlier trip to the Arctic. Then there is Zechariah Voorhees who hopes to gain glory and fame as the commander of the Narwhal expedition. Never were there two men so different. Erasmus is shy, and cautious; Zeke is charismatic and impulsive. Erasmus is still mourning the death of the woman he loved, and sees himself as a loner...while Zeke, who is confident of the devotion of Lavinia, Erasmus' sister, comes across as what "bodice ripper" novels would call a "charming rake". Erasmus has promised Lavinia that he would "keep an eye" on Zeke, and make sure that he returns home safely. You know that was a promise that never should have passed his lips, since by the time the Narwhal had reached the polar waters, icebergs and shifting pack ice, was only the start of their troubles. The sled dogs had died of a mysterious illness...and one of the crew had died of lockjaw. The crew is split into feuding and sides have been firmly drawn... and Zeke had grown increasingly moody. He was anything but content with the information he had collected from the local Eskimos concerning the missing explorer; and he is determined to push ahead to try to reach, what he believes, to be an open ice-free polar sea. The last few chapters of the story... the until now well constructed plot...suddenly gives way to an overwhelming number of contrived events that seemed more a script for a Hollywood movie than to this novel. In spite of that, the story is still deserving of the 4.5-star rating. The author did an incredible job of conveying to the reader the indecisive role that chance and luck play in people's lives, as well as the raw, unpredictable, and unforgiving power of nature. Combined they help to produce a powerful and gripping novel that adventure enthusiasts will find intriguing.… (meer)
½
 
Gemarkeerd
Carol420 | 37 andere besprekingen | Jan 22, 2024 |
These are beautiful stories that are all informed in some way by science and nature. Wish the final novella "Ship Fever" had been expanded to novel length. I hope to read more by this author.
 
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Octavia78 | 26 andere besprekingen | Jan 4, 2024 |
The first story in this collection, 'The Behavior of the Hawkweeds', was in Best American Short Stories, where I read it and immediately sought out more by Andrea Barrett. I wasn't disappointed with this book.

In 'Rare Bird', it's 1762 and we meet Sarah Anne, "who inherited her father's brains but Christopher [her brother] inherited everything else". She's intelligent, single, interested in science and learning but held back by being a woman. She does find ways to write and to experiment, and does manage to change her situation in an interesting way.

The novella that gives this book its title is a story of the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s. It seems to end well for a few people who make their way to Canada, but I did not read every part of it.
My favorite was 'The Marburg Sisters', about Rose and Bianca, and is in turns realistic, surreal, and philosophical as they grow to adulthood, go their separate ways, meet again in mid-twentieth century America, then once more part, but remain still connected.

Barrett writes with a sure hand, giving us fiction that is easy to believe is all truth.
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… (meer)
 
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mykl-s | 26 andere besprekingen | Aug 19, 2023 |
When Zeke came back my heart sank - there was just no good that could come from him and his way of stealing all the happiness in a room for himself. I slammed the book down and walked away, and it took me three days to sufficiently nerve myself for whatever was to come.

When Dr. Boerhaave died my heart broke for him and also for Erasmus, who was just beginning to see the beauty of having a dear friend. When Erasmus got the letter from one of the doctor's other friends, and that friend called the doctor by his first name, I felt Erasmus's sadness and shame that his priceless friendship apparently hadn't even made it out of stage 1. Who among us hasn't been crushed by the knowledge that someone is more important to us than we are to them.

When the author described how the doctor's drowned head had washed up on the cliff below the men's camp, and that they simply didn't look over, nor did they hear the wind whistling across the jawbone, I gasped. The way that she showed us something that could have been life-altering for Erasmus but wasn't, how she played with going past coincidence into far-fetchedness BUT DIDN'T, was brilliant.

Wonderful wonderful wonderful book.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
blueskygreentrees | 37 andere besprekingen | Jul 30, 2023 |

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Statistieken

Werken
18
Ook door
12
Leden
4,764
Populariteit
#5,269
Waardering
3.9
Besprekingen
132
ISBNs
113
Talen
7
Favoriet
31

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