The Terror - Dan Simmons, Book Discussion

A #BookTube discussion of "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. This is a long, complex novel, so I'm only focusing on two key aspects:
1. The literary allusions (particularly Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" and Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death").
2. What is the monster? Why does Simmons include a supernatural monster in this story, when certainly there should be enough drama and tension in trying to endure the arctic without the need for an external malevolent force hunting down the sailors. In short, I'm theorizing that Simmons is exploring the idea that humans hate a void, an absence, a pale nothingness, so they construct their own monsters to attribute motive (especially when tragedy seems to be free of motive or malevolence).
Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Follow Nathan on Twitter: @nathansmknapp

[@valinormons]

Very interesting... Soon after it was published, I bought the book and read it and I couldn't stop reading it. I took it with me in my backpack everywhere I went, even to work. I was there with them somehow. It was strange... As soon as I returned back to my Army base from an excursion to a far off jungle back in the 1970's, I was sent to Alaska to be on the mountain glaciers and enjoy the freezing cold temperatures and the blue ice in the mountains with the Aurora Borealis always there in the night. So those times have never left me. I always think of them. And then years later I found this book. I'd never heard of the Franklin Expedition, so it was an eye opening experience for me. I've read the book twice, and started it again for a third time but then set it aside. Maybe I'll go back. But something you said about the Whiteness has intrigued me. "...You can see everything, and there's nothing there..." I was reminded of the Air New Zealand flight 901, where the pilot flew his airplane with over 200 passengers and crew into the side of a volcano in Antarctica... Mt. Erebus... Because even though he could see everything, there was nothing there. And Mt. Terror is a few miles away from that location also. And I did enjoy the AMC production. Even though it was a 10 part series, they couldn't included everything in the book. But they did a good job. They also had to change it round because the Canadiens and Inuktitut had actually found the ships as they were filming the series. It was good to see the characters in the flesh, even though I prefer the book overall. But the series was great. There's another book about British explorers called 'Into the Mist' by Wade Davis. It's about their attempts to climb Mt. Everest in the early 1920's. That book changed my life. Have you read it?

[@mitchellwilliam95]

Thank you for the discussion.

[@Matt-km1ek]

This video is two years old so I hope I’m not replying to nobody! But I just finished the book and wanted to find some discussion on it! Major spoilers to follow so if someone is reading this that hasn’t read the book for some reason, STOP NOW! I liked the book overall, and I really liked your review. I haven’t read Moby Dick, but I’m very familiar with the story and can definitely see the parallels. I did read The Masque of the Red Death in high school and it was one of my favorite short stories of all time. When I was reading the Carnivale chapter I thought to myself “no way he’s just blatantly ripping off Poe, right!?” and was reassured when Aylmore references Poe directly haha. I obviously saw the connection between the Catholic communion and Crozier becoming a spirit seer or whatever the term was, but I didn’t think about the parallels between him taking a Catholic mass and now adopting a new faith. Good call! I personally think the tuunbaq stalking the sailors did pretty significantly impact the story and I don’t think that the men’s struggles would have had the same impact without the looming threat of the tuunbaq. The third-person limited perspective of the characters lender itself well to an unreliable narrator, and that unreliable narration combined with the fact that we never get a truly definitive description of the tuunbaq go well together. Are they being stalked by an actual supernatural monster, or are men in an extraordinarily difficult situation personifying their struggles in an extraordinary beast that in reality is only a larger, more aggressive polar bear (which we eventually learn it isn’t of course)? Like you said, people trying to find a greater meaning where there is none fits in well with the themes of the story. What I really didn’t like about the book was how abrupt and drastically everything changed near and at the ending. I think it was a massive stretch with too little connecting it that Crozier was picked up by Silence and they very quickly form a strong spiritual bond where previously there had been none. Crozier never at any point previously had any feelings for her; to the contrary his character had a single-minded purpose throughout all of the book: keep his men alive. Now in the span of twenty pages he’s married to an Inuit and taking a journey to have the bear he wanted dead for years bite his tongue off so he can be a shaman? Huh? I also was bothered by how the chapters detailing the origins of the tuunbaq and the mythological history of the Inuit people and planet were just a totally different writing style. They truly felt entirely separate from the rest of the book and that’s just lame. If he wanted the Inuit mythology to be present to that extent in the book, he should’ve used some of the 700 or so pages prior to that building in some in-world mechanism to have that told to people. Lieutenant Irving easily could’ve come across a translator or a journal or SOMETHING prior to being murdered by Hickey that could’ve given a more immersive descriptor of the mythology. Totally agree though about how excellently he researched the history and subject material, and I also loved the Carnivale chapter. It was such a cool, terrifying scene! Overall really liked the book, just think the ending was a bit phoned in and a bit of a dud. Think Crozier’s character realistically would’ve never married Silence, and would’ve died trying to find the crew or kill the tuunbaq, and I think that would’ve made a better ending. Oh well!

[@nicoleannecollet]

This is one of the best analysis of The Terror, thank you! I loved the book and the series, although in the last two episodes the series went a bit downhill to me.

[@nikkivenable3700]

I could literally listen to you talk about this book, or heck, any book for hours. This was just so damn good! I just finished this book a few minutes ago and immediately came here for your discussion. Were you satisfied with the tv show? If you liked it and think it’s worth the watch, I’ll give it a go. I thought the book was bloody brilliant and if the mini-series is tepid, or worse, then I’ll skip it. I don’t see how it could do the book justice but I’ve got an open mind. Thank you, again!

[@NathanSMKnapp]

Thank you SO much for the kind words. I honestly haven't made it through the TV series. I was able to watch the first couple episodes and elements of the show were good (the tone and atmosphere), but there were some strange choices about characters. Most notably, Silna (Lady Silence) not only has her tongue, but she acts as the translator for her family, so there's that... Lady Silence literally is THE speaking character for the Inuit, which makes no sense if you've read the book. I also had trouble finding a good way to stream it, and since I was already a little disappointed I decided to not work too hard at finding the rest of the season. I very likely will watch the rest of the series if I get a chance. I'm still curious about how the Masque of the Red Death scene is portrayed on screen. If I get a chance to watch it, then I'll make a podcast about it (my podcast episodes are on this channel or you can download/stream audio only versions on most podcast apps). Thanks again! I'll keep making BookTube videos, but I'm working as an English professor right now and so I'm spending the bulk of my reading time on student essays and not reading great literature (which seems like a strange irony for an English prof).

[@nikkivenable3700]

@@NathanSMKnapp I was actually going to ask you if you taught Literature/English. I KNEW IT! You really nailed everything and you brought up references to Poe and Melville. I didn't even think about Poe so I'm wanting to now read the MOTRD. I really hope you continue doing BookTube videos because you are seriously one of the best I've seen and I watch so many reviewers, too many to count. You kind of check all of the boxes for me as a viewer. I understand that your job must keep you very busy and at the end of the day the last thing you probably feel like doing is more reading. Thank you for your reply about the series. I was actually going to ask for it as a gift for Christmas. It's out on DVD, but man oh man, if Lady Silence can talk, well, that's already taken me OUT of the story. Nope. I'm not going to bother unless I can stream it for free and I can't figure out how to make that work. Thank you again!

[@louiseyoung9112]

Huge fan of the book, and was so excited about the TV series! I found the changes made from book to TV hard to understand. Yes, Lady Silence talking, her relationship with Dr Goodsir (which didn't happen in the book) and they changed the ending.....I loved the ending of the book and was looking forward to seeing that, so disappointed that they changed the ending completely. On the plus side, the acting is first rate, atmosphere and build up are great in the TV show. Hickey was exactly as I imagined him to be when reading the book! I do have a question about the end of the book; who do you think was in Crozier's bed at the very end when he went back to HMS Terror? Been trying to work out who it could be!

[@gabyocampo94]

The book is good. But it's long so I never finished it, it's annoying to leave something that's not bad but it felt not worth the effort

[@DuncanMcCurdie]

So, do I need to read Moby Dick before this novel? I have a copy buried somewhere amongst my books.

[@NathanSMKnapp]

Not at all. You could definitely read and enjoy The Terror without having ever heard of Moby Dick. But, if you do know the themes of Moby Dick, then you'll probably have a deeper appreciation for what Simmons is doing. I think it would be really interesting to see how many connections there are between the two, but I'm sure even just doing a quick Coles Notes review of the themes from Moby Dick would be rewarding.

[@DuncanMcCurdie]

@@NathanSMKnapp I've watched the Gregory Peck movie a good few times so I know the themes pretty well of Moby Dick I just don't know the nuance. It is definitely one of those books I want to read though.