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Mar 23, 2015GLNovak rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Humphreys says this is" a long meditation on the nature of ice" but not as you might think. There are no explanations, no maps, no scientific authorities quoted to explain the freezing of the Thames, and the great thaws that followed. These very short snapshots of stories barely four or five pages are about the changeableness of it. It begins as water, becomes ice, changes again, and can even become airborne. Such is the nature of humanity and its various ways of dealing with the world. The forty little vignettes are taken from accounts, some contemporary, of the forty times the Thames has frozen over, and are presented in such evocative language you can imagine the scene vividly. Some stories, of course, are more successful that others, but each will leave you shivering. Read this with the fire going and your coziest quilt wrapped around you.