Fiction Faceoff

The North Water, or In The Distance?

Hi, I’m Matt, and welcome to Steady Beats: a newsletter for those of us into books and body at midlife.

It’s the eternally burning question.

“What should I read next?”

Sometimes, knowing what to read next is no question at all. A book can lock us into its tractor beam, yanking us into its orbit all on its own.

That was the case with Erik Larson’s “The Demons of Unrest,” the story of how Fort Sumter became the flashpoint that ignited the American Civil War. I’m working on a review, but if you’re interested in that book please check out

Jeff Giesea

’s unique essay Southern Bridge and Fort Sumter, where you’ll join him for a warm Florida evening walk while discussing some key passages.

Other times, however, there’s no tractor beam.

When I’m not sure what to start next, I start two books at once. It’s fun to let them battle it out in my brain. I’m in the audience, watching and waiting to see which book seizes my attention and interest.

The Process

There are two main ways I facilitate a book faceoff:

1. Borrow both books from Libby. Libby is the app that’s (probably) connected to your library that lets you borrow Kindle books. I love Libby, but there can be a long wait for popular books.

2. Download free Kindle chapters. Most Kindle books on Amazon will let you download a sample, usually a chapter or two. Enough to get a feel for the story and the author’s writing style.

From there, I’ll dive into a few pages of one book, and then the other. Back and forth, letting them spar in my brain.

Eventually, one book takes control, gaining an attention and interest edge, and that’s the one that gets read.

So let’s get ready to rumble. Two books enter, one book leaves.

The Contenders

The North Water: A Novel, by Ian McGuire

In this corner, a rough-and-tumble tale that became an AMC TV series. Here’s a synopsis from Amazon:

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.

[…]

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.

And in the other corner …

In The Distance, by Hernan Diaz

This contender was a Pulitzer finalist. Here’s the teaser:

A young Swedish immigrant finds himself penniless and alone in California. The boy travels east in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great current of emigrants pushing west. Driven back again and again, he meets criminals, naturalists, religious fanatics, swindlers, American Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a legend. Diaz defies the conventions of historical fiction and genre, offering a probing look at the stereotypes that populate our past and a portrait of radical foreignness.

The battle

The North Water comes out swinging. McGuire writes in short and powerful sentences, one after another, that leave little room to breathe. The subject matter and descriptions are sharp and biting. The book will not spare your feelings or give you respite. In the first chapter, Drax commits two heinous crimes in calculating fashion. It’s a book about hard men sailing rough seas in raw weather, and you’re going to feel it.

In The Distance takes you on a difficult journey through the unforgiving American West during the Gold Rush. But the book’s pace and writing is more even than The North Water. There is appreciation for nature and moments of humanity and epiphany. Like the desert landscape the main character, Hakan, traverses, Diaz writes with the long horizon in view. You can see the trouble coming. He works with you methodically, walking you up to, and then through, each situation.

The Winner

I flip-flopped between the two books, and In The Distance slowly pulled ahead. The even, steady pace of the writing and the story’s central question — can Hakan ever find his brother—is a solid hook. There’s no way Hakan can find him, right?

Let’s find out.

Honestly, I may read The North Water, also. Sometimes it’s enjoyable to get into a tussle with a book. The book challenges you and makes you uneasy. You get mad at it and punch back by turning another page. The North Water is a sailor’s bar brawl, and in the right mindset, I’ll enjoy it.

But I have enough going on right now. The bar brawl will have to wait.

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Thank you for reading Steady Beats #248