Book review: Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083

Strange world, isn’t it?

In a tragic way it’s the ratings-chasing of too many TV programmes that killed famed naturalist Steve Irwin two weeks ago, and continues to endanger the lives of people in a bid for fame. One blogger is quoted in the Digital Life magazine as calling the Discovery Channel a “modern-day version of the Running Man”, alluding to the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie about a TV show where grisly executions of criminals are staged and filmed. I'm sure you know where we’re going—in a culture that glorifies quick ratings fixes and cold numbers above all else, don’t be surprised if lives are thrown away in the scramble to have fresher, more innovative ideas brought to the screen. Fear Factor, anyone?

I thought back to this very issue after reading Andrea White’s Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083. I’m always on the lookout for good Young Adult books, particularly since the quick-fix culture seems to have claimed me as a victim. I now rarely read full-length novels; a YA book gives me the pleasure of a solidly entertaining tale with as few twists and meanders as possible. And they’re (usually) short…
Anyway SART 2083, as I’ll refer to the book henceforth, is set in a future America (Reality TV 2083, duh) where a Department of Entertainment exists to bring education to children, in addition to entertainment that, quite frankly, isn’t that far of a stretch from today’s programming. Even the title is borrowed from the TV series Survivor, and the challenge driving the story is for a team of five fourteen-year-olds to re-enact the ill-fated expedition to the Pole by Captain Robert F. Scott in 1923. Trouble is, people really do relive and die, and the book never stops reminding you of that. Two men are killed in a D-Day edition of the show, and that’s just the beginning. Of course, Scott’s expedition was trouble-plagued from the start—Scott himself perished with four of his men.

And the references to Scott is where SART 2083 really shines. Large sections of Scott’s diaries, and the writings of the men with him, inspire our young heroes to weather the odds against them—White makes us root for the five, and a surprise ally thousands of miles away.
Overall SART 2083 proved an excellent read, if distracting. White’s plot moves along well enough, and the story remains true to character throughout—unfortunately she sacrifices a little coherence. We care about the kids too much to look away, and get in their heads too little to actually know what they’re thinking. For one character whose viewpoint White used extensively, we still don’t know if he fully recovers from frostbite by the end of the book. It was annoying and detracted from my enjoyment of the book, but then again that’s just my opinion.
Anyone disillusioned by so-called ‘reality’ TV, check this one out. You can’t beat the printed word.