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The Solitude of Thomas Cave Audiobook
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(3.73) - 22 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In 1616, as the last warm days dwindle in the north Atlantic, the men on an English whaling ship prepare to head home. But there is one exception among them: the quiet, headstrong Thomas Cave. Cave has made a bet with the rest of the crew that he can spend a winter on this Arctic island—alone.
His shipmates sail away, the days shorten, and the cold weather moves in. Thomas Cave faces months of darkness, ice, and blizzards with only his rations, shelter, and a journal—a record in case he doesn’t survive to tell his story. But nothing so threatens the sailor as his own mind, haunted by the remembrances of another life and a lost love. From his post at the edge of the known world, Cave sees his own past and begins to reflect on man’s relationship with God and the wilderness.
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"In 1616, Thomas Cave makes a wager that he will spend a winter alone in the High Arctic, though no man has been known to survive it. In a stark and dangerous wilderness that is without human history, his own past returns to haunt him. A wonderful, poignant and rigorously researched story."
— Robyn (5 out of 5 stars)
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“John Lee offers a deeply felt, beautifully paced reading of the enigmatic Cave, enlivened by colorful interpretations of Cave’s shipmates and the people who inhabit his Arctic dreams. This is a mesmerizing tale, entrancingly read. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile -
“The story, tailor-made for audio, combined with Lee’s performance is captivating. With the ears fully engaged, the mind’s eye is free to wander north, to where the aurora borealis shimmers, where the full moon casts a violet glow on the white landscape.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer (audio review) -
“[A] shimmering historical…Harding probes Cave’s solitude and his responses to a landscape that, in a heartbeat, can be unrelentingly bleak or dazzling. It’s a simple story of spiritual purification, and it is handled beautifully throughout.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“It’s man versus nature in this tautly spun morality piece…This bleakly evocative journey is well worth the trip.”
— Booklist -
“Harding’s clear and evocative prose allows readers to see the beauty of a stark winter there, yet feel the pain of an isolated existence in frigid conditions…thought-provoking and realistic.”
— School Library Journal -
“Harding’s US debut is a brief, spare historical parable of personal endurance and enlightenment…[a] carefully told tale of reason versus superstition and imminent earthly despoliation.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
The Solitude of Thomas Cave Listener Reviews
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" Beautiful book about a whaler who accepts a wager to spend the winter by himself in Greenland in the 1600's. This is a book I read as part of my personal theme that I started last year of people confronting the wilderness. "
— Susan, 12/10/2013 -
" A slow-paced, thoughtful story of solitude, contemplation, man's effect on the world, and the presence/absence of god or devil. "
— Brigid, 5/18/2013 -
" Bargain book. Thought it would be better than it actually was. Story is slow and lacks focus. Beautiful writing doesn't make up for the sloppy narrative. There are better novels about arctic survival. Read one of them. "
— Melinda, 4/11/2013 -
" This book appealed to me because it was so offbeat. Thomas Cave lived alone on an (antarctic?) ice shelf for a year. Would you or I be able to survive? Would he? And if so, how would it affect us? I gave it 3 stars, but maybe it should have been 4. Depends on my mood :) "
— Julie, 12/15/2012 -
" The prose in this book is haunting. I like reading about the 'old ways' and the whaling era was interesting. A well written story in the language of another century. "
— Annie, 1/31/2012 -
" A simple story that doesn't want to dazzle the reader. It's only purpose is to tell a compelling story of survival and the things from our past, present and future that drive us to continue. Brilliant first novel. "
— Blair, 12/21/2011 -
" Begins like a modern day Frankenstein, then slowly fades. "
— Marco, 8/4/2010 -
" Beautifully written, but only gave it three stars because I thought Harding gave short shrift to the actual substantive part of the book (the isolation). I felt that the winter passed too quickly. "
— Rebecca, 6/7/2010 -
" This was a beautifully written, descriptive book. From the content, I expected more action, but it was actually quite light in this aspect. This didn't detract from it-the environmental descriptions, and the passges from Cave's journal were a delight to read. "
— Elaine, 1/30/2008 -
" Stunningly poignant journey through grief. "
— Belinda, 12/16/2007
About Georgina Harding
Georgina Harding is the author of two works of nonfiction, Tranquebar: A Season in South India and In Another Europe. She lives in Colchester, England.
About John Lee
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.