The Snow Tourist

Do you live (or have you lived) in a place where winters are filled with snow? Do you like to ski? Have you ever enjoyed a snowday? Do you think snow is magical? If you have answered yes to any of those questions... Charlie English's lovely The Snow Tourist may be for you. The Snow Tourists takes its author (a London-based writer for the Guardian) around the world searching to understand snow. He begins in Northern Canada in Iqaluit, Qikiqtarjuaq (the "iceberg capital" of the world and continues around the world over the course of two winters. I liked the narrative style of the book because it was part travel writing, part historical story. I learned so much about snow (like about the first guy that photographed snow in Jericho, Vermont) to the origins and growth of skiing as a sport and a pastime. English does a great job of interweaving his experiences in the place; as the guardian review correctly points out, "his humble, gentle tone is what makes the book so refreshing, so different is it to the slew of recent travel books in which even the smallest event is hammed up for comic or dramatic effect. Here, combined with an audacious lack of incident, is a deliciously calm pace, a seriousness and honesty that couldn't be further from the silly quests we've grown accustomed to." I loved that the book ended with a little "A Snow Handbook," detailing facts and instructions and quotes related to snow ("how avalanches occur" to "10 glacier facts" to snippets of Japanese poetry related to snow). While this book was not political at all, it was a soft reminder of the loss of snow and the impacts of global warming; English write, "Wherever I travelled, I had asked the people I met the same questions about the changes they saw in the snowfall: had they observed less, and what effect would it have on them?" (230)  This was a perfect travel book and wonderful for all who feel something towards snow. Rating: ★★★★