This Land of Snow by Anders Morley

 

I found this book at the library and picked it up because Anders Morley grew up in Littleton, NH - a town that I lived in for a while and I thought that I may have run across him at some point. I didn't but I still got this book, which was the winner of the 2021 National Outdoor Book Award.  I'm not sure I can see why though because I had a hard time getting into the book and actually connecting with the author.

Morley grew up in Northern NH which, for those of you who don't know, have pretty cold winters with lots of snow. He ws intrigued by the Arctic and Antarctic explorers that came before him and which his family taught him about. He moved, eventually, to Italy (which is about as far as you can get from Northern NH geographically and culturally speaking) where he met his wife, Elena, and settled. During a period where he became (some would say) profoundly unhappy enough with his marriage and life that he planned a Canadian Ski trip alone (and began to emotionally connect with a woman other than his wife), he came back to North America to complete this trip. The trip began in 2012 In Prince Rupert, British Columbia and he continued halfway across Canada. He didn't have any experience with skiing while pulling the sled at the same time (with all his gear) or fifty degree below zero weather. This book draws upon his journals from that time and has been described as a meditation on wilderness and solitude.

As I noted above, I found it very hard to connect with the author. The best parts of the book weren't about him and being out in the wilderness. I found those to be very trite and self absorbed. The best parts, for me, were the parts where he described the towns that he came across and the people he encountered.  I loved hearing about those interactions and his observations of the communities and often wished that he had spent a bit more time on those sections.  I found those parts moved particularly quickly but that the parts that focused on him alone were very slow moving.  

I. certainly don't regret reading this book - I very rarely regret reading anything - but I wouldn't pick this one up again the next time.