<p>"The End of the 19th Century" is the third in a quartet of novels starting with An American Memory (Algonquin, 1988), followed by I Am Zoë Handke (Algonquin, 1992), and leading to this present book, The End of the 19th Century. The fourth in the tetralogy will be The Decline and Fall of the American Nation. Together, the books tell the story of two American families, one with mid-nineteenth-century roots in Norway, the other in Germany. Malcolm Reiner is the central character in An American Memory" while the beautiful and grave young woman he marries, Zoë Handke, narrates the book that has her own name in its title. Both Malcolm and Zoë are lucky to survive childhoods and early adulthoods in dysfunctional and severely tortured families, a dysfunction that symbolizes the broader dysfunction of the larger American society and culture around them. The portraits of characters in the novels are detailed and close, while at the same time the settings Malcolm and Zoë live in are symbolic of greater themes-as with the "disappearing" farm that Malcolm Reiner lives on as he comes of age, a farm that suggests the change in America from a successful nineteenth-century agrarian society to a late-twentieth-century place that proves incapable of knowing itself "in the context of no context." The novels are sometimes closely analytic, sometimes sweepingly poetic, while both their author and their narrators remain determined to find and know the truths of their own lives and of the lives of those around them-both present and past-as well as the truth of the nation they live in. That kind of knowledge can become almost more than one can bear-and yet if people don't try to gain that knowledge, what will they be left with? Ignorance of self, nation, or the meaning of existence can lead only to the loss of all three.</p>

The End of the 19th Century

Literature & Fiction

Eric Larsen

Contemporary

THE PROGRESSIVE PRESS

In March 2014, Eric Larsen and Ryan Waters set out to traverse nearly 500 miles across the melting Arctic Ocean, unsupported, from Northern Ellesmere Island to the geographic North Pole. Despite being one of the most cold and hostile environments on the planet, the Arctic Ocean has seen a steady and significant reduction of sea ice over the past seven years due to climate change. Because of this, Larsen’s and Waters’ trip—dubbed the “Last North Expedition”—is expected to be the last human-powered trek to the North Pole, ever.Filled with stunning, full-color photos and GPS maps plotting his progress, On Thin Ice is Larsen’s first-person account of this historic two-man expedition. Traveling across the retreating sea ice on skis, snowshoes, and even swimming through semi-frozen arctic slush, Larsen and Waters each pulled over 320 pounds of gear behind them on sleds through temperatures that plummeted to nearly 70 degrees below zero. At times, they covered little over a mile a day. They were stalked by polar bears and ran out of food. It was, in Larsen’s words, “easily one of the most difficult expeditions in the world.” More than just a heart-stopping adventure narrative, however, On Thin Ice offers an intimate and haunting look at the rapidly changing face of the Arctic due to global climate change.

On Thin Ice: An Epic Final Quest into the Melting Arctic

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Books by Eric Larsen

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Eric Larsen. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The End of the 19th Century

On Thin Ice: An Epic Final Quest into the Melting Arctic