I literally couldn't believe what the author goes through... and that's BEFORE he runs the Iditarod! I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For any dog lovers out there, this one is a must-own.I haven't laughed so hard in years! I made the grave mistake of trying to read this book while on a public bus. It wasn't long before I realized the folly in this, as I repeatedly had to stifle the wild guffaws that threatened to pour forth without my consent. The other passengers probably came to the conclusion that I was either very sick or slightly deranged as I rocked back and forth in my seat and tried to pretend that I was, in fact, merely coughing. Gary Paulsen has offered us one of the most hilarious accounts of running the Iditarod that I have ever come across.
Living in Minnesota, Paulsen had a small team of five dogs that he used to work his traplines. Over time he became more and more entranced with mushing, until he eventually realized that wanted to, needed to, run the Iditarod - the 1,100+ mile dogsled race stretching across the state of Alaska between Anchorage and Nome. The first half of the book deals with his preparation for the race - finding more dogs, training the dogs, getting the right equipment, etc. We soon see that he has quite a bit to learn. Over the course of this training period, Paulsen finds himself attacked by dogs, run away with by dogs, and often spending many miles being dragged along on the ground behind his sled by dogs. He manages to break his sled repeatedly, get separated from his team, and one night, get sprayed by five different skunks in rapid succession. He is, in short, one of the least qualified of all possible Iditarod candidates.
The second half of the book takes us through the race itself. In the beginning, he makes every possible rookie mistake. He gets lost before even leaving the city of Anchorage, after putting the wrong animal in the lead-dog position:
"We went through people's yards, ripped down fences, knocked over garbage cans. At one point I found myself going through a carport and across a backyard with fifteen dogs and a fully loaded Iditarod sled. A woman standing over the kitchen sink looked out with wide eyes as we passed through her yard and I snapped a wave at her before clawing the handlebar once again to hang on while we tore down her picket fence when Wilson [the lead dog] tried to thread through a hole not much bigger than a housecat. And there is a cocker spaniel who will never come into his backyard again. He heard us coming and turned to bark just as the entire team ran over him; I flipped one of the runners up to just miss his back and we were gone, leaving him standing facing the wrong way barking at whatever it was that had hit him" (pg. 145).
Much of the first half of the race is a series of such uproarious follies. Unbeknownst to him at the time, the other mushers had voted Paulsen the least likely competitor to get out of Anchorage. But he eventually did, and he ultimately manages to muddle his way through the entire race. As the journey goes on, the book becomes a little more serious as we see Paulsen undergo a transformation. He learns about himself, about the dogs, and about life. He feels himself become one with the frozen world of the north, eventually feeling more at home there that he had with his wife and family in Minnesota.
There are sad parts, too. We see a beloved dog trampled to death by a moose before the first day is over. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurence. Moose do not yield the right-of-way to dog teams, and can be extremely dangerous when upset. We also see a maddened musher kill one of his own dogs in a fit of rage. Killing or abusing dogs during the race is strictly prohibited, and the man was duly disqualified, but I still found this the hardest part of the book to read.
'Winterdance' is a magnificent story of a man following his dream and gaining a wealth of knowledge about himself and the world. Paulsen's easy, self-deprecating humor and vivid verbal imagery bring the story to life. It is also a fast read - I finished the book in one day. I have rarely read anything that has made me laugh so hard, or that has moved me so much by the end. Growing up in Alaska, I always watched the Iditarod start in Anchorage. I've met some of the winning mushers. But Paulsen's story is entirely unique. He was not a race champion or mushing hero, but the rankest rookie out there. And yet he endears himself to our hearts. For any fan of dog mushing, wilderness survival stories, or both, I recommend this book without hesitation.
The guy writing the book tells the story of his adventure training for, and running, the Iditarod. As you likely know, this is an extremely long dog sled race across a part of Alaska. From the moment he decides to do this, a litany of bad decisions and on-the-fly learning experiences make the author realize that nothing is ever as easy as he thinks. This is especially true when you line up so many sled-pulling dogs and try to contain them in any way, shape, or form. The story plunges through miles of snow packed narrative that makes you laugh with almost every paragraph. In addition to his hilarious trials and tribulations, the author comes to love the outdoors and be at one with his dogs. His relationship with the dogs grows to a point where considers himself one of them. He comes to understand this is part of what the Iditarod is; becoming part dog. Together they endure the brutal weather, the long days, and slowly become a team.
The narrative is engrossing, pulling you in and letting you out only when the words run dry. The book is short; you could read the entire thing in a long afternoon. But it's too good to read that quickly. Consuming it in one sitting would be a waste of enjoyment. It's much better to give yourself small doses of laughter instead of ingesting it all at once.
It's a great book. I'm not sure there's much more to say about it than that. Well worth the read. I highly recommend it.
Winterdance kept my interest in different ways. It was hilarious and I always wanted to find out what happened next. Paulsen was in the middle of the race when the snow picked up. The next thing he knew he was in the middle of the snowstorm. He went in his sleeping bag. When he woke up the next morning, Paulsen found out that he was covered in snow. When he stood up to go to the bathroom, he was surprised and you will be too. I think Winterdance would be a good book for anyone into adventure books with lots and lots of laughs.
Winterdance is told through Gary Paulsen's eyes but is not limited to him as the main character. Some of the other main characters include but are not limited to Cookie, his female lead dog, Devil, his crazy mean male dog that eats anything that moves or at least takes a bite out of it, and Max, male his weakest link.
Normally I only read fantasy books, but I found that Gary Paulsen's Winterdance both funny and entertaining enough to please me.