When her husband asks Christiane to join him for a year in Spitsbergen, Ritter imagines many days spend cooking and painting while her husband hunts artic foxes. But the Arctic is far from peaceful: normal temperatures are 25 degrees below, hunting foxes, seals, and even polar bears are vital for survival, and in wintertime the sun doesn’t rise for four months.

Ritter wrote only this one book. A travel classic, it has never been out of print in German but had been for 50 years in the UK. Pushkin Press reissued the English text in 2019 with a foreword by Sara Wheeler, a few period photographs and a hand-drawn map by Neil Gower. In Anbetracht der Erstveröffentlichung und der davor angetretenen Reise muss man den Mut der Autorin anerkennen. Die Malerin ließ ihr Kind bei der Mutter und reiste zu ihrem Mann nach Spitzbergen. Aufgrund der damaligen Zeit war Ritter eine wahre Abenteurerin. veeta terve aasta, sh polaaröö JA talv (selgub, et need ei kattugi) Teravmägedel mingis imetillukeses onnis koos kahe mehega, süüa ainult hülgeliha ja hahamune, loota üle kõige sellele, et saaks vahelduseks jääkaruliha, lõbustada end põhiliselt õmblemise, söögitegemise ja koristamisega? ei iial, aga samas tundub, et Christiane'il oli suurepärane aasta :)The writing is part memoir and a travelogue of sorts that does not keep its arc or sights on geographical indicators. Rather, it is a brisk yet deeply philosophical look at nature, the bonds between human and animals, the way human comfort can be stripped down to the barest essential when faced with the existential crisis of survival and the way, the human mind and spirit can wax, wane and make small steps to start all over again when nothing familiar exists except your own solitary self. It is a slim book that carries within valuable insights of how the desperate search for food means having to let go of sentimentality or how the need for human company can be fraught. Ritter's wry commentary over house duties, the depth of her contemplations on life and social ties, her emotional bonding to the animals she grows familiar with, the way she takes to life in sub zero temperatures on her own, all make for a compelling read. Everything breathes the same serenity. It is as though a current of the most holy and perfect peace were streaming through all the landscape. ....this stupendous and glorious world.

Then gradually the diaries that arrived in summer from the Far North began to fascinate me. They told of journeys by water and over ice, of the animals and the fascination of the wilderness, of the strange light over the landscape, of the strange illumination of one’s own self in the remoteness of the polar night. In his descriptions there was practically never any mention of cold or darkness, of storms or hardships. mulle nii kohutavalt meeldib, kui mõni inimene reisib kohta, kuhu (või asjaoludel, millistel) mina iial ei reisiks, ja siis suudab sellest kirjutada raamatu, mis peaaegu et paneb mu ümber mõtlema.

Success!

Many nights I fell asleep with Ritter painting images in my mind of sublime, polar land. Her unbending, positive attitude makes her life a joy to follow, and her story an inspiration to read. Obwohl der Inhalt des Buches sehr alt ist, ist es trotzdem interessant und ausgenommen einiger Punkte tatsächlich zeitlos. Klar, über gewisse Dinge/Ansichten muss man einfach hinwegsehen können und man darf nicht vergessen, dass aus dem Jahr 1934 berichtet wird. Wenn man das jedoch kann, wird man mit einem tollen Bericht belohnt. Layout - so on top of being bored to tears with the subject, I actually didn't understand a lot of her writing. Most of the time I had no idea where she even was, she referred to every stopping point as 'the hut' which had me totally lost - taking me yet further out of the story. And I felt she almost wanted her writing to be so 'beautiful' that she never actually got to the point, it was just descriptive words. My partner and I have spent weeks looking at cruises to Svalbard. It’s not such an unusual choice any more. We’re drawn to the landscape, the wildlife, the excitement of the experience. We’ve decided not to go because it seems wrong. I’m not saying it’s wrong for everyone but it feels wrong for us. Looking at the convoys of cruise ships rounding Cape Horn and exploring the Alaskan fjords, we don’t feel we want to contribute to the commercialisation of once wild places and would rather leave the wildlife and wild places in peace. I’ll leave the last words to Ritter.