The North Water

A Novel

By: Ian McGuire

Narrated by: John Keating

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

A 19th-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller.

Behold the man: stinking, drunk, and brutal. Henry Drax is a harpooner on the Volunteer, a Yorkshire whaler bound for the rich hunting waters of the arctic circle. Also aboard for the first time is Patrick Sumner, an ex-army surgeon with a shattered reputation, no money, and no better option than to sail as the ship's medic on this violent, filthy, and ill-fated voyage.

In India, during the Siege of Delhi, Sumner thought he had experienced the depths to which man can stoop. He had hoped to find temporary respite on the Volunteer, but rest proves impossible with Drax on board. The discovery of something evil in the hold rouses Sumner to action. And as the confrontation between the two men plays out amid the freezing darkness of an arctic winter, the fateful question arises: Who will survive until spring?

With savage, unstoppable momentum and the blackest wit, Ian McGuire's The North Water weaves a superlative story of humanity under the most extreme conditions.

©2016 Ian McGuire (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

" The North Water...is a great white shark of a book - swift, terrifying, relentless and unstoppable." ( The New York Times)

"Riveting and darkly brilliant.... The North Water feels like the result of an encounter between Joseph Conrad and Cormac McCarthy in some run-down port as they offer each other a long, sour nod of recognition." ( The New York Times Book Review)

"[An] audacious work of historical suspense fiction.... It's the poetic precision of McGuire's harsh vision of the past that makes his novel such a standout...absolutely transporting." (NPR's Fresh Air)

Fiction for men

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The author brilliantly creates a world you can nearly inhabit

Who was your favorite character and why?

The deplorable but resilient Drax. Who will be left in his wake?

What about John Keating’s performance did you like?

Amazing performance with accents tilted just enough to carry you onto the ship and ice

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The men gathered in the tent burning the last vestiges of wood

Any additional comments?

Will listen to this one again

strong in words as in tension, absorbing

What made the experience of listening to The North Water the most enjoyable?

The performance of the reader was magnificent and the description and choice of words very precise (although I not always knew all of them - as a non native English reader)

What did you like best about this story?

The unexpected turns and twists of the story

Which scene was your favorite?

Many different once. For example: In the captain Brownlee's office when Sumner asks to be allowed to examine Drax or when they catch the polar bear cub. I was fascinated how the writer described smells and sounds.

If you could take any character from The North Water out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I think the only one I would feel safe is Patrick Sumner

A "Man's Man" Book

Women and Ladies will find this repulsive of language, description, jargon and assault. That said, this is compelling writing, historical fiction and heroism under fire. The surgeon is dragooned into a mid 19th century whale ship fitted out with the worst of humanity: Read Psychopaths in small quarters. But the plot and style draw you in to adventure writing, the horror of a singular profession and prose colored with a broad, expressionist brush. This is the literature equivalent of German Expressionist painting. It is brutal in scope and yet fine in insight.

The North Water

is a rare gem in contemporary literature. I can only hope the other books are half as good.

Good but too graphic

I like reading both non fiction and fiction writing about men and ships in the cold, unforgiving regions both north and south. I feared at first that this book was going to be a re-telling and simplification of Moby Dick, but even though there were a few similarities, the story stands on its own. It is a good story, and I liked the narrator, but some of the graphic detail was too much. Yes, I know it’s a ship of hardened seamen and the coarse talk is to be expected, but some of the detail of violence and bodily functions seemed unnecessary. Would I recommend this book? Yes, with a caution about the graphic content.