FArTHER

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These often thought-provoking stories look at the reactions ordinary people have to the unusual situations they find themselves in and feature a host of different illustrative styles ranging from collage to painterly Edward Hopper-esque scenes. A great book full of beautiful illustrations and many underlying themes and context about obsession, family, loss and devotion.... Read Full Review Obviously, his life is more complicated than that. Martin Dugard does a great job using Cook's own journals, and other historic documents. Knowing that the 1770s was during the American Revolution, and technology was very primitive, I am impressed with the art of navigating by moon and stars. Cook himself was quite complicated too. He had a drive to discover all that was possible, to the point of abusing his crew to make them cooperate and share his vision and passion. He became obsessed with the power of discovery, and thus his ending was brutal. His personal life was fraught with troubles too, considering medical advances were also far in the future. His lovely wife Elizabeth was faithful, as was James Cook, despite being separated for years at a time. Several of their children died in infancy. A young boy, bewitched by his father's unrelenting passion to fly; a desperate craving that absorbs his every waking minute, finds himself entranced by the dream. When his father goes to war and does not return it seems the spell is broken. Yet discovering that enthusiasm for birds taught him that he could transform frustrated feelings of helplessness into useful action; if he could just “run toward...pain and anger and despair, rather than away from them,” he could turn hobbies into impassioned journalism: “I started taking on a new kind of journalistic assignment. Whatever I most hated, at a particular moment, became the thing I wanted to write about.”

How easy and natural love is if you are well! And how gruesomely difficult—what a philosophically daunting contraption of self-interest and self-delusion love appears to be—if you are not!” Overall, I couldn't connect with Franzen's writing style. His prose is usually devoid of emotion and sentimentality. Even in 'formal' writing, I prefer a bit of heart and a sense of nostalgia to come across in essays and speeches. At times, I felt like a crusty English teacher, urging her student to make me feel why saving endangered bird species or whatever other cause is meaningful. I don't typically find reading challenging in this way, which sums up Franzen's brilliance. While his topics vary to the point of mania, sharp intellect, and what I can only describe as earnest expression are a common factor amongst Franzen's essays. There are some good essays in this collection, but I think I already read them all on the internet already, and then there are just like A BILLION OF JONATHAN FRANZEN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT BIRDS.In James Cook geval is hij de grote ontdekker van wat er niet was (terra incognita) sinds hij op zoek was naar het zuidelijke continent wat uiteindelijk niet bestond. Antarctica bleek heel klein en hij voer er rondom heen, en Nieuw Zeeland en Australie waren deels al ontdekt (Abel Tasman) en zelfs Tahiti waar Cook’s naam bijna synoniem mee is was al door een Fransman ontdekt. Paaseiland was ook al een keer bezocht (Roggeveen). Op zijn derde reis ontdekte hij hij wel de Hawai eilanden waar hij bij een tweede bezoek spijtig ook gedood werd door de lokale bevolking.

It’s sad to see the idealistic, professional, ambitious, and adventurous Cook of the first voyage degenerate into the sloppy and unpleasantly cruel Cook of the third, the one whose arrogance got him killed. The transformation of Cook’s character that led to his death gives this book a touch of Greek tragedy, and turns it into a morality tale proving the point that power corrupts.

The winning book, Farther by Grahame Baker-Smith, tells the story of how a son takes up his father’s unfulfilled dreams of flying, and finally takes to the air. But on the whole the book was interesting and informative, and where it fell short (James Cook discovered the cure for scurvy - um, not exactly...) I did a bit of internet research and filled in some gaps. At the end of the book I felt like there were still questions in my mind about how I should feel about Cook, but at least now I know more about where he came from and what a remarkable life he led. If I have a chance to read more analysis on his place in history and where he went wrong near the end ("almost as if Cook were suffering from dementia..."?) I probably will. FArTHER is another beautiful book by Grahame Baker-Smith – whose first picture book for Templar, Leon and the Place Between (written by Angela McAllister) received critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the 2010 Greenaway Award.