2010 Reading #22: A Black Explorer at the North Pole by Matthew Henson
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
21. And Now We are Going to Have a Party by Nicola Griffith.
22. A Black Explorer at the North Pole by Matthew Henson. A quick note: this book has appeared under a few titles--it was originally published in 1912 as A Negro Explorer at the North Pole, and the edition I'm linking to is just Henson at the North Pole. As far as I can tell these all contain the same text. Henson also wrote a later book, but I read this one partly as research for a character in 1934 who wants to be an explorer; he would have had access to this book and not Dark Companion, which doesn't appear to be in print in any case. For those unaware, Henson was Admiral Robert Peary's companion on his polar expeditions, most notably the final one in which they (possibly) became the first explorers to reach the North Pole. Among the controversies surrounding that discovery are whether Peary's navigation was off, whether he knew it was off and made the claim regardless, and whether he sent Henson and/or their Inuit companions ahead to plant the flag, trusting that his status as the only white man at that stage of the expedition would make his claims indisputable. For the most part, none of that is in this book; Henson mainly sticks to the physical details of sleds, dogs, supplies, etc., which were all primarily his responsibility. There is a fair amount of talk about the personalities of the expedition, but it's sketchy, suggesting that Henson figured his readers already knew quite a bit about them--probably they were all quite famous at the time. Supposedly Peary was enraged by this book, but it can't have been because of the content; I suppose it's a reflection of the attitudes of the time. Peary probably considered himself the only real person on the expedition, and sadly Henson isn't much better. He refers to the Inuit (Eskimos, are they are referred to in the book) as "childish," "innocents," etc., and makes it clear through his comments about their hygiene and morals that he considers them savages. All of that is of course an artifact of the time, but it's depressing nonetheless (and ironic, given that both Peary and Henson fathered children with Inuit women).
Books 11-20.
21. And Now We are Going to Have a Party by Nicola Griffith.
22. A Black Explorer at the North Pole by Matthew Henson. A quick note: this book has appeared under a few titles--it was originally published in 1912 as A Negro Explorer at the North Pole, and the edition I'm linking to is just Henson at the North Pole. As far as I can tell these all contain the same text. Henson also wrote a later book, but I read this one partly as research for a character in 1934 who wants to be an explorer; he would have had access to this book and not Dark Companion, which doesn't appear to be in print in any case. For those unaware, Henson was Admiral Robert Peary's companion on his polar expeditions, most notably the final one in which they (possibly) became the first explorers to reach the North Pole. Among the controversies surrounding that discovery are whether Peary's navigation was off, whether he knew it was off and made the claim regardless, and whether he sent Henson and/or their Inuit companions ahead to plant the flag, trusting that his status as the only white man at that stage of the expedition would make his claims indisputable. For the most part, none of that is in this book; Henson mainly sticks to the physical details of sleds, dogs, supplies, etc., which were all primarily his responsibility. There is a fair amount of talk about the personalities of the expedition, but it's sketchy, suggesting that Henson figured his readers already knew quite a bit about them--probably they were all quite famous at the time. Supposedly Peary was enraged by this book, but it can't have been because of the content; I suppose it's a reflection of the attitudes of the time. Peary probably considered himself the only real person on the expedition, and sadly Henson isn't much better. He refers to the Inuit (Eskimos, are they are referred to in the book) as "childish," "innocents," etc., and makes it clear through his comments about their hygiene and morals that he considers them savages. All of that is of course an artifact of the time, but it's depressing nonetheless (and ironic, given that both Peary and Henson fathered children with Inuit women).