Paulson's Winterdance is the story of one man's attempt to take part in a dog sled race across the snowy wastes of Alaska from Anchorage to Nome.Winterdance is extremely funny at times - especially when Paulsen is learning how to sled and training the dogs. But there are also moments of sadness and even horror. But always the cold. It's like an additional character. Biting, needling, cruel, stabbing.
This is a book to read snuggled up under a duvet and preferably in front of roaring fire with a hefty helping of comfort food. It's a perfect Autumnal or Winter read.
You don't get to know all of the dogs - but a few leave a clear impression. There's Cookie - a profoundly smart and loyal dog, and the kill/eat anything dog called Devil who leaves impressions of a rather different kind.
The book isn't without a few faults. I got deja-vu a few times with some of the phrasing. A sentence or a turn of phrase would appear in one chapter and then reappear perhaps twenty or thirty pages later. I guess there are only so many ways you can describe some things. It is also leans towards prep - rather than the Iditarod race itself. More than half of the book is on the lead up. Perhaps that was the right choice as the race itself feels in some ways less impactful on the author.
Verdict: Beautiful and bleak.
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