Customer Reviews

Death On The Ice: The Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster Of 1914

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I read Death on the Ice because of a novel study in my class, which I ended up doing a book report on. Death on the Ice is a wonderful reconstruction of the 1914 'Newfoundland' Sealing Disaster. It's very slow, almost boring for the first 6 of 18 chapters, but after that it is an exciting and detailed retelling of that horrifying event, in which two hundred fifty-three men died, most of them because of a string of stupid mistakes. It's also a very sad book in some parts. I liked it very much, and would definitely read it again.

I knew nothing of the 1914 sealing disaster before I bought Death On The Ice, but the reviews looked good, so I took the plunge. I'm glad I did. The story is a fascinatingly tragic tale - of bravery, greed, fear, stupidity, human error, and dreadful weather. I read the book in a couple of days, then went back and read it again.

As a liberal British landlubber, I feared I'd find it difficult to empathize with the sealers, but Cassie Brown makes it clear that few, if any, regarded sealing with much pleasure. It was pretty much the only opportunity available - if they wanted to make enough money to survive till the summer, they had to take a berth on a boat. The boat owners and, in some cases, the captains were the villains of the piece, caring little for anyone's welfare but their own, and hoping only to bring the most pelts back to St John's. That said, I did feel as though Brown wasn't quite able to fully address the reasons behind the Newfoundland disaster, and I also found myself wanting to know more about what happened to the sealers that survived. Nonetheless, Death On The Ice is an excellent book about an event that happened less than a century ago, yet seems in many ways as though it could have occurred in the Middle Ages. Highly recommended.

This is a tale of the loyalty and courage of Newfoundland sealers in the face of greed, arrogance, inhumanity and stupidity. The book moves slowly for the first 40 pages of background information and then it becomes a can't-put-down tale of inhumane treatment,unimagineable hardship,courage and tragic miscommunications. The arrogance and coldheartedness of the merchant captains and ships' owners are not to be believed.The story haunts me still.

No one should miss reading this tale of the greed of "swiler" (seal) captains and merchants...and the innocence and courage of those poor souls who they commanded. As I stood and the gravestone which marked the burial of 3 members of the Jordan family in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland who perished in this incident...I could only choke by the understatement written on the Marker: "Killed on the ice-fields April 1, 1914" That the mores of these times did not regard these deaths (and the other 70 odd others) as the most treacherous form of murder is astonishing.

Such a well written, informative interesting book especially for those of us who had very little knowledge of the Sealing disaster.

Reason for Reading: I read the book a long time ago and knew it was a good read.

This book is a chilling tale of how 132 men were stranded for two days and nights during a freezing storm on the ice-fields of the North Atlantic with only one-third of them surviving to be rescued. First, though, it is the story of the harsh life of the early 20th century Newfoundland fisherman who scraped a living from the sea. Fishing when it was warm and sealing at the end of a long winter when the money was direly in need. The fur seals came up onto the ice for a brief period of time and it was a race against the clock to get out to the seals until the sealers were done and home, safe, again. It wasn't a job anyone liked, there was no sport in clubbing baby seals and the conditions on the frozen ocean were dangerous, but it was one of only a few ways to make a living.

The year of 1914 would prove to be one of the worst tragedies the Newfoundlanders had seen in their entire harsh way of life. The men from one ship, the SS Newfoundland were stranded on the ice, and none of the captains of any of the other ships including the Newfoundland knew they were out there. Everyone assumed they were aboard another ship. The Newfoundland had been stripped of its wireless the previous year as the company found it unprofitable, thus communication with this one ship which was stuck in the ice was impossible.

A harrowing tale of what men will do to survive under the most extreme conditions. How the will to survive kicks in, the mental state one goes into to come out of such an ordeal alive. A gut-wrenching tale of how men slowly succumb to the elements, how it affects first the body then the mind causing some to end their own lives by walking off the ice into the ocean, others to lay down and die and many more died frozen in mid-step; these are the worst as they had the will but their bodies just couldn't hold out.

"Death on the Ice" also shows the complete and utter folly of those in charge to do anything to save these men. The disaster could have been prevented if one of any number of things had been done either prior to or during the expedition. "The men" were concerned for them and spoke to their superiors who then spoke to their superiors but word never got beyond that point because "Old Man" Kean was out there and he was the one who had sent the men out into the upcoming storm. No one questioned Kean or told Kean what to do; he was a seasoned Captain, as well as a respected and feared man. The complete mess that goes on back on the ships while these men are freezing to death is unbearable. A riveting and compelling read of human survival, suffering and death versus company greed and disregard for human comfort at a time when employers counted human lives as expendable.

An overwelming story, told simply and truthfully. The ease in which this book consumed me astounded me. I have never before been so moved. A MUST READ.

I think that this book was that best i ever read. The people that died and survive showed what Newfoundlanders have to do and put thier lives into danger just to put food on their table. I only wish that someone in the world today do a movie on Death on the ice just like the titanic. This book is the best and prove what newfoundlanders went true in there lives.

I had to read this book for a novel study in school. I really didn't want to read it but once I started, I couldn't stop. The story gets going after the long first and second chapters. I found the book interesting to read, it makes me proud to be a Canadian.

I couldn't put this book down. It was unbelievable as to how the sealers were treatedand the disregard for human life. Great book for anyone, specially people who is familar with Newfoundland or has some family ties. My father's family all from Newfoundland