Against the Ice: The Classic Arctic Survival Story
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- Create Date：2022-03-06 06:52:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Ejnar Mikkelsen
- ISBN：1586423347
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Summary
Soon to be a Netflix feature film co-written by and starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau （Game of Thrones）
The harrowing， amazing， and often amusing personal account of two mismatched Arctic explorers who banded together to keep themselves sane on an historic expedition gone horribly wrong。
Ejnar Mikkelsen was devoted to Arctic exploration。 In 1910 he decided to search for the diaries of the ill-fated Mylius-Erichsen expedition， which had set out to prove that Robert Peary’s outline of the East Greenland coast was a myth， erroneous and presumably self-serving。 Iver Iversen was a mechanic who joined Mikkelsen in Iceland when the expedition’s boat needed repair。
Several months later， Mikkelsen and Iversen embarked on an incredible journey during which they would suffer every imaginable Arctic travail: implacable cold， scurvy， starvation， frostbite， snow blindness， plunges into icy seawater， impossible sledding conditions， Vitamin A poisoning， debilitated dogs， apocalyptic storms， gaping crevasses， and assorted mortifications of the flesh。 Mikkelsen’s diary was even eaten by a bear。
Three years of this， coupled with seemingly no hope of rescue， would drive most crazy， yet the two retained both their sanity as well as their humor。
Indeed， what may have saved them was their refusal to become as desolate as their surroundings…
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau， who co-adapted the book into a screenplay， provides a new foreword to this brand-new edition of the classic exploration memoir， which was one of The Explorer's Club’s 100 Best Books of the 20th Century。
Originally published as Two Against the Ice: A Classic Arctic Survival Story and a Remarkable Account of Companionship in the Face of Adversity。 Translated from the Danish by Maurice Michael。
The harrowing， amazing， and often amusing personal account of two mismatched Arctic explorers who banded together to keep themselves sane on an historic expedition gone horribly wrong。
Ejnar Mikkelsen was devoted to Arctic exploration。 In 1910 he decided to search for the diaries of the ill-fated Mylius-Erichsen expedition， which had set out to prove that Robert Peary’s outline of the East Greenland coast was a myth， erroneous and presumably self-serving。 Iver Iversen was a mechanic who joined Mikkelsen in Iceland when the expedition’s boat needed repair。
Several months later， Mikkelsen and Iversen embarked on an incredible journey during which they would suffer every imaginable Arctic travail: implacable cold， scurvy， starvation， frostbite， snow blindness， plunges into icy seawater， impossible sledding conditions， Vitamin A poisoning， debilitated dogs， apocalyptic storms， gaping crevasses， and assorted mortifications of the flesh。 Mikkelsen’s diary was even eaten by a bear。
Three years of this， coupled with seemingly no hope of rescue， would drive most crazy， yet the two retained both their sanity as well as their humor。
Indeed， what may have saved them was their refusal to become as desolate as their surroundings…
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau， who co-adapted the book into a screenplay， provides a new foreword to this brand-new edition of the classic exploration memoir， which was one of The Explorer's Club’s 100 Best Books of the 20th Century。
Originally published as Two Against the Ice: A Classic Arctic Survival Story and a Remarkable Account of Companionship in the Face of Adversity。 Translated from the Danish by Maurice Michael。
Reviews
Barbunderdown
，
I am fascinated by survival stories…。 I wanted to read this because I saw that it was recently made into a movie。 The story is compelling， the writing not the greatest， but I’m glad I read the story of these two explorers who survive incredible hardships in the desolate ice floes of Greenland。 I’m looking forward to watching the movie。
Richard Derus
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I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+。 THANK YOU。My Review: It was the Postscript that did me in。Ejnar， a man I'd come to see as a massively egotistical narcissist and manipulative user by now， became an old， old man out of his time and out of his element。 Writing in the 1950s about the world he had thought inviolable forty years before， he sounded like I feel in this hideous， distorted Hellscape of a 21st century， hag-ridden by preachers and haters and assorted other lowlife scum e I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+。 THANK YOU。My Review: It was the Postscript that did me in。Ejnar， a man I'd come to see as a massively egotistical narcissist and manipulative user by now， became an old， old man out of his time and out of his element。 Writing in the 1950s about the world he had thought inviolable forty years before， he sounded like I feel in this hideous， distorted Hellscape of a 21st century， hag-ridden by preachers and haters and assorted other lowlife scum empowered by their lack of opposition to usher in Armageddon seemingly at will。 His awe at a 12，000-horsepower diesel motor that powered US forces （whose presence as saviors there must have rankled at least a bit， given the impetus for his entire ordeal in 1910） to victory over the Nazi regime's outpost in Greenland， was unbearably poignant to me。This world has never stood still。 It is hard for me to remember that punch-card tabulating machines were the dernier cri， unimaginably advanced tech， to Mikkelsen。 He died in 1971， so he lived to see Humankind step on a different world。 A man whose life was almost lost because his technology was not up to the job of taking him to a very harsh and hostile environment here on Earth watched people walk on a place that makes Greenland look like the Riviera。Wow。But what made this read come alive for me， what caused the whole exercise in storytelling to be extraordinarily enhanced， was the extraordinarily beautiful and accurate adaptation。 I don't like Mikkelsen any more than I did。。。he plays Iver's heartstrings like a virtuoso violinist。。。but he， as Coster-Waldau embodies him， truly reciprocates the devotion and affection Iver offers to him。 That he found this in the text， that he saw the truth of their mutuality and interdependence was enough for me to overlook the sheer absurd heteronormative gloss of the thing。 Days in the film version are numbered， and the count becomes astonishing。。。Day 793 is memorable。。。and a deeply affecting and effective way to offer the experience as the supreme ordeal that it truly was。Maurice Michael， the translator whose work was largely unsung for generations， rendered Mikkelsen's prose so beautifully that there were moments I sat still and just。。。was。。。in the moments depicted。 No， quoting them out of context won't do a damn thing because there's just no way to being their most important advantage。。。interrelationship。。。with them。These photos are in the book， and are astounding to me。。。that they survived， that they made themselves records like this， what a miracle that must've seemed to the men of the 19th century！ And I， stuck to my bed by disability， can not only reproduce the photos with a few clicks of a computer's mouse。 These are the two men themselves。。。the resemblance of Coster-Waldau to Mikkelsen is remarkable。The film， the story of it， is also very interesting， and I encourage you to look into it。 More important to me than that is to say that I， who absolutely abhor animal cruelty in my reading， was deeply upset by the treatment of the dogs in this tale。。。not because it was cruel， but because it was necessary and because the men were quite upset by it on more than one level。 This is not a straightforward triumphalist tale of Conquering The Elements。 This is the reckoning of a life lived on his own terms delivered by the man who grew and changed， who resulted from the brutalizing battle to survive that would've killed anyone not as powerfully self-motivated and indomitably self-willed as Mikkelsen was。Truth be told， it's just the fact that had such good luck in his filmic avatar that rescued him from my "that whole postcard thing is a stupid， bad smokescreen" judgment of his manipulative and overbearing character。 Had I not been made to see the vulnerable side of him， I'd've stuck with "what a relic of a bad time" and missed the subtle and worthwhile nuances。 。。。more
Silvia
，
（Sorry for any mistakes， English is not my mother tongue。）I learned about this book thanks to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau （who wrote the foreword of the new edition of this book）， he's my favorite actor and I've been following his work since around 2007。 It was thanks to "Against the Ice"， his next film based on this story （written， produced and performed by him， on Netflix the day after tomorrow） that I got curious and wanted to find out more before watching it。I couldn't be happier with the choice I （Sorry for any mistakes， English is not my mother tongue。）I learned about this book thanks to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau （who wrote the foreword of the new edition of this book）， he's my favorite actor and I've been following his work since around 2007。 It was thanks to "Against the Ice"， his next film based on this story （written， produced and performed by him， on Netflix the day after tomorrow） that I got curious and wanted to find out more before watching it。I couldn't be happier with the choice I made。 This is an overwhelming， engaging， desperate， yet hopeful story。 A story of trust and true friendship。Narrated by the main character of the story， Ejnar Mikkelsen， during the reading you live all the events following his point of view and， above all， his thoughts and his state of mind （which changes A LOT over time） and you get to appreciate both characters， especially Iver， the best and genuine person in the world （my favorite between them， without a doubt）， thanks to the way Ejnar tells the whole story。 His way of describing events is detailed and very engaging。I must say that initially I struggled to get into the story， I found it slow and a bit confusing （perhaps because I read it in English， or because there are many names and places that I don't know， or perhaps because I just had to get a little fond of the characters。）But then as I went on I realized how， all in all， the pace was right， it makes you experience all the fatigue， despair and desolation that they themselves have experienced。 （Don't worry， the second part of the story is faster than the first one）I let go of rationality and TRIED to relate to their situation。This is a raw story， many times I had to stop to take a breath， imagining what I would've done in their place。 I closed the book， looked at it and thought about it。 Then I reopened it and went on reading， hoping that things would improve。 But， as the pages went by， I realized that I kept closing the book often because I didn't want to finish it， I didn't want to get to the end of this story that slowly entered my heart， I didn't want to abandon Ejnar and Iver and what I was living with them， their fears， their hopes， their pains。 Towards the end of the story I was so involved that many of the things told also moved me。I absolutely did not expect to be overwhelmed so much by this story， one of the most beautiful books read lately。 I wanted to tell what I felt while reading， but remember that reading is always a subjective thing and the things that I've loved so much maybe some will not like at all。I hope this story has affected you / it affects you as it did with me。（PS: the photos。 Wonderful。 A huge round of applause to those who've chosen to include them！） 。。。more
Ken Pagel
，
One of the best reads I have had for a long timeThe shear will to survive and the distances they traveled is insane。 Excellent story from a different time。 How they hunted and what they had to eat will make me appreciate every meal I have。
Theediscerning
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In which our author， sat on his jacksie wondering where the funds for a further Arctic expedition will be coming from， receives a suggestion from Lord Northcliffe – go to North Greenland， find the remains of some compatriots recently lost there， possibly see if any clues exist about lost British explorers， and the Daily Mail will fund and print the lot。 Hang that， he thinks， us Danes should be the ones to do it。 And they are， and off he goes – with poor dogs， an engineer on board not up to the j In which our author， sat on his jacksie wondering where the funds for a further Arctic expedition will be coming from， receives a suggestion from Lord Northcliffe – go to North Greenland， find the remains of some compatriots recently lost there， possibly see if any clues exist about lost British explorers， and the Daily Mail will fund and print the lot。 Hang that， he thinks， us Danes should be the ones to do it。 And they are， and off he goes – with poor dogs， an engineer on board not up to the job， and so many delays someone else might have bided his time a year。 Nearly broken up in the ice， the ship they're in labours to Greenland， with ahead of them bad weather （and not only that， but the wrong kind of bad weather）， and so much else。 So very much else， that this in the spring of 2022 will be a N*tflux drama。It actually resulted in two trips – the first， a much-extended， arduous sledging trek up the coast， where the remains of one of the three Danes were found， but time had put paid to any chance of witnessing the other two， and their papers。 That's bad enough， but there was to be a second， much longer， two-man journey， once the sun had resumed its visits to the sky。 This， again with nothing like the dog power needed， seems rather hubristic， at least in hindsight。Knowing that this has been filmed， it left me wondering what the TV version will be like， not only because our author admits to using whips on the sledge dogs – the ones that aren't eating each other， that is – quite copiously。 And how do you convey inching along through ice and snow in an Arctic winter， with no discernible scenery？ Good job I'm not a director of photography， then – I'll leave it to those who know how。 Also， of course， are the sheer ordeal， arduous terrain and every mental and physical complaint to get onto the screen， and complaints there certainly were。 Not for nothing is Chapter XII called "Things Get Worse"。This， then， is a first-person account， told decades after the events yes （and while slightly retitled， seemingly still in the original 1950s translation）， but from a man who was a go-to-guy in Greenlandic and Arctic matters well into his seventh decade。 Mikkelsen got to have a boat and a mountain range named after him， and the pair is a perfect fit in one way – he skippered a boat to the shores of Greenland， and while he never got to come back on it he couldn't have been a waste of time – indeed he was asked to be on the expedition resulting in the deaths he was chasing up here; and he certainly got to learn the attrition Greenland could force on one， hence the almost miraculous development of this region that is discussed in the postscript here。His reportage， many years after the event， is kind of stymied by telling us he survived， as did his companion， but manages in an unliterary， almost naive， way， to show us a trek that seems almost implausible。 Here are not one but two guys doing the seemingly impossible – going so far on so few calories， washing about twice in three years， and managing to argue about once， if this is to be believed。 I doubt I've read a book with a higher proportion of the words being 'alone'， and while this leaves you aware the author is no master of the form， you do have to shelve this alongside the likes of the great Shackleton endeavours， such is the unearthly stamina credited to the characters。 So what if the trip's result would seem a minor achievement compared to some others – they and their accomplishments deserve four stars， if not more。 。。。more
Cassandra
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