Watson eloquently shows, particularly through Inuit historian Louis Kamookak and his search to discover what his relatives and elder Inuit knew, that if only the many generations of Franklin searchers had thought to ask, then the great mystery of Franklin might been have solved decades ago. This final section of the book is when Watson’s story shines. It is also what makes his story different and more valuable than most of what comes from the cottage industry of Franklin books. I have one bone to pick. Ice Ghosts contains only three maps. In a book that goes to great detail to provide specific geographic information, the absence of high-quality, detailed maps is an annoying detriment to the tale that Watson tells.
Kamookak was a boy in 1966 when he heard his grandmother's stories of finding strange metal objects. He became fascinated with the mystery of Franklin and later began gathering an oral history of various elders' accounts. Watson's depiction of this work lends spiritual and physical insights into native life in the extreme conditions ... Watson's deeply felt understanding of that work heightens Kamookak's sad satisfaction while enacting, at book's end, an ancient rite over the sunken Erebus. Ice Ghosts documents what happens when cultures collide. Or perhaps more pointedly, when one culture feels superior for no better reason than pride.
It’s an incredible yarn with twists and turns, near misses, false leads, ignored facts, cultural misunderstandings and, yes, ghosts ... Watson does a good job detailing the expedition and the swirl of theories around it. He also tracks dozens of characters, both historical and contemporary...He is especially good on Inuit accounts of the expedition, which provided vital clues to the whereabouts of the wrecks.
While there have been many previous books about the Franklin expedition and its mysterious fate, the notable originality of Ice Ghosts lies in the fact that it brings the story right up-to-date, covering not only the discovery of the Erebus in 2014, but also the discovery of the Terror, about 40 miles to the north, in 2016 ... The book moves up a gear, however, when Watson turns to the more recent past. Watson’s prose can be uneven sometimes, but he is at his vigorous best when describing places and people he has met and talked to. He provides sharp and entertaining portraits of the various Franklin obsessives whose experience and expertise fed into the 2008 initiative ... This book has some flaws. The style can be digressive and occasionally confusing, and I could have done without the more mystical passages concerning Louie Kamookak and the Inuit.
To the extent possible, the book follows the historical timeline, but even with that approach the search can be difficult to track as it zigzags across personalities, geographies and cultures. Nevertheless, it's well worth the effort. Watson peppers the book with fascinating details ... Combining historical records with on-the-ground journalism, Watson handles the complexity of the search admirably well.
With Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition, it’s hard not to hear the arching baritone of the late Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers keening about 'the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea' ... Paul Watson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, tells how Inuit lore, British pride and modern technology often worked at cross-purposes, and also how people, sometimes for no logical reason, became obsessed with the ill-fated expedition ... Drawing only from historic documents for parts one and two, Watson’s account is as exhaustively detailed as one would expect from an ace reporter but also, understandably, a little lifeless ... Watson’s deeply felt understanding of that work heightens Kamookak’s sad satisfaction while enacting, at book’s end, an ancient rite over the sunken Erebus ... Ice Ghosts documents what happens when cultures collide.
Watson offers a sympathetic account of the Inuit who encountered some of the shipwrecked men and offered them food and supplies, as well as the native shamans who later were able to locate the wrecks (the Terror was discovered in 2016) with remarkable accuracy—if the English had only listened. Watson’s narrative also closely involves the dogged attempts by Franklin’s widow, Jane, who never gave up trying to fund and launch recovery expeditions during her lifetime. A keen, entertaining chronicle of the various attempts to locate a sensationally doomed expedition.
