"Oogruk didn't use [the dogs] but simply kept them for memories" (Chapter 1, page 7).

"At first it was hard to know where the smoke ended and Oogruk began"
Chap. 1, p. 14

"The girls smiled at [Russel] with round faces and merry eyes but he was not ready for women yet and so knew nothing of them"
Chap. 2, p. 18

"Eyes and meet taste better when cooked by women. That's the truth"
Chap. 2, p. 18

"Fat was everything. And while deer fat wasn't as good as whale or seal or even pig lard from the trading post, it was good enough when it was hot."
Chap. 2, p. 23

"[Russel] thought of cold not as an enemy but as many different kinds of friend or a complicated ally."
Chap. 3, p. 48

"[Russel] might not make it, he might die on the ice, but he would not die with fear. He would die working not to die...