2 comments about Through the First Antarctic Night - Centennial Edition.

1. It is a treat to see this work available again to the general reading public for a number of reasons. First, the book remains as fresh, exciting, and stylistically pleasing as it did when first appearing many years ago. Also, the book helps clarify and confirm the skills of the remarkable Frederick Cook as a writer of great merit, a photographer of immense talent, an intrepid and resourceful explorer, and perhaps above all as a kind and helpful human being both toward his fellow travellers and toward the indigenous peoples through whose lands he travelled over his long exploring career.

   These talents of Cook's have been too often obscured by the intense and often acrimonious debates that have raged for nearly a century over whether he really achieved his claims of having been the first man to climb Alaska's Mount Mckinley and the first man to reach the North Pole. Whether he achieved those claims or not, his achievements on the expedition to Antartica recounted in this book cannot be denied as he played a vital role in keeping the crew as physically and psychologically sound as was possible during the long Antarctic night while their ship, THE BELGICA, lay trapped in the grinding ice. Cook was ahead of his time in realizing that raw penguin meat would protect the crew from scurvy and that sitting in front of a hot bright fire would help counteract symptoms of what we now call "seasonal affective disorders" that include depression, withdrawal, and other emotional problems. Cook was also instrumental in devising a system of digging and blasting out canals through the ice that allowed the ship to eventually escape into open water many months earlier than would otherwise have been possible. During their many months of confinement, Cook and his companions were pioneers in being the first to travel out onto the continent and experiment with Cook's novel ideas of sleds (they used a sail when the wind was favorable) and tents (Cook's design became a lightweight and sturdy standard for many future espeditions.)

   But Cook is generous with praise for the other members of this international crew that included the Captain, Adrian de Gerlache who, though first forbidding Cook to serve raw penguin, was in general an enlightened leader who was instrumental in helping Cook in the planning and execution of their strategy for digging out of their predicament. We meet, too, the young Roald Amundsen who would become a lifelong friend of Cook's and who would later become famous for being the first man to reach the South Pole in his famous race against the ill-fated Scott expedition.

   Cook's extraordinary photographic gift is amply shown in his famous moonlight picture of THE BELGICA as it sits trapped, its deck and rigging glittering in a sheath of ice. This picture, and others, astound when we consider the primitive equipment in use at the end of the Nineteenth century.

   Cook brings home the excitement, the beauty, and the tragedy of this remarkable tale with a wonderfully descriptive writing style that will win over those readers with a yen for adventures of exploration, not only of a place but of the human heart and mind.




2. A rambling long-winded travelogue. Very short on information on Cook's professional capacity as surgeon on the ship. Almost useless as a source of information but may be enjoyed by those who value verbosity for its own sake. To be fair, I have just read a reprint of this old out-of-copyright book from a different publisher so maybe this edition is enlivened by the new photos?

No comments about Patagonia & Antartida = Patagonia & Antarctica: Guia de Campo = Field Guide.

1 comments about SILAS: THE ANTARCTIC DIARIES AND MEMOIR OF CHAR.

1. This book provides an excellent, (annotated) first-person narrative by an early polar explorer. The annotation provides just enough supplementary material to provide context and clarification for the modern reader, without interrupting Charles Wright's voice. The illustrations are really marvelous.

   Having read the book about five years ago, I don't remember a great deal of detail, but one moment stands out: Wright describes, off-handedly, waking up in a sleeping bag soaked by a puddle of ice that melted as he slept on it. Anyone who has spent the night in a drenched, cold sleeping bag knows how hard a person you have to be to take such a thing as a matter of course.

   (I should mention that I am the son of the editor of this book, so my views are perhaps not entirely unbiased.)

No comments about Women in the Antarctic (Haworth Innovations in Feminist Studies) (Haworth Innovations in Feminist Studies).

No comments about Conservation Problems in Antarctica.

5 comments about South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage.

1. His party stranded on an ice floe hundreds of miles from their destination, beyond the reach of the outside world -- even had the outside world known they needed help, or where to look -- his ship crushed by countless miles of pack ice and supplies running low, Ernest Shackleton spent not a moment in lamentation. He set about saving his crew and himself. They made their way to a small, desolate bit of island shore, from which Shackleton and five men journeyed 800 miles in a 22-foot open boat across the most dangerous sea in the world. A trek through miles of snow-covered mountain wilderness finally brought rescue. And everybody survived! Shackleton's is an epic tale of true adventure and derring-do, and he tells it with the straight-ahead momentum of an ice breaker diving into the pack. He sees beauty in the Antarctic, and he carries a touch of poetry (Browning, anyway) in his soul. He is also a detail man, and his flights of descriptive eloquence bog down amid facts, figures, wind speeds and diatomous striations. But this piling-on of minutiae proves riveting in the action sequences (most of the book). We feel like we are there. Having told his own party's tale, Shackleton gives a useful if anticlimactic account of the Ross Sea wing of the expedition - a story with its own generous measure of adventure, heroism and poignancy.



2. This is a great adventure book. Exciting adventures and heroic deeds make for good reading.



3. I've noticed numerous people complaining about how Shackelton seems to be neglecting character development in his narration. This isn't a work of fiction, the people involved are not characters Shackelton just pulled out of thin air and could mould to his choosing. They were real, flesh and blood human beings, and to say that one man no matter how well he knew them could actually put their thoughts and personality to paper would be not only incredibly foolish, but also woefully inaccurate, and seriously can you honestly picture Shackelton dragging various members of the crew out onto the floes and sitting them on a snow band before asking, "How does that make you feel?".
   
   Of course it's not going to be the most exciting piece of literature you've ever read. The book is written as a journal and journals tend to cover the day to day dealings of the person whom is writing in them. Longitudes, latitudes and the general functioning of the ship were Shackelton's daily concerns.
   
   It's amazing how many people overlook the enormity of the task these men undertook simply because the authors writing style tended to focus on the here and now and the little details of daily life rather than some hugely embellished fantasy designed simply to make a profit. Anyway.
   
   To those of you whom appreciate this for what it is, you have my applause.



4. I was very disappointed when I received this book. I had ordered the hard cover edition at a premium price expecting to get a quality reproduction of Sir Ernest Shackleton's classic book. The original book published by Heineman had many plates of photos taken by the photographer who travelled on the voyage. This version published by North Books had no photos, was on cheap paper and had a fairly basic hard cover. I sent it back and managed to source a second hand copy of the version published by Heineman.



5. This review refers to "South - A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage" - Ernest Shackleton-(unabridged audio cassettes/Blackstone Audiobooks)
   
   If I was just rating this book for myself, I would give it 5 stars. But as a reviewer making recommendations, I have to say that this personal account of Shackelton's important and historic expedition - destined for Antarctica- may not be a great read for everyone.As a lover of the sea, sea adventures and voyages combined with historical journeys of exploration, I became addicted to this book. However about one third of the way through, I realized that had it not been for my knowledge of nautical terms I would not have known what he was talking about half the time. The reading would have lost me early on. It may seem also at times a bit monotonous to those seeking a great adventure story. Ernest Shackelton was a great explorer and mariner, the story is one fraught with peril and survival,but his personal account of the voyage is a bit matter of fact.
   
   On the eve of WWI, Shackleton and his crew took on this ill-fated journey with high hopes and high moral. Prepared for the worst was not enough though. They met with the most horrific of conditions, losing their ship,much of their essential supplies, their much needed team of dogs, and much more. They spent months on months literally living on the ice. Making it to Elephant Island, a handful of men including Shackleton formed a party to search for help and once again were to fight the elements for months on end. The account also includes the story of the Aurora and her crew that also fought the climate trying to bring supplies to the Shackleton crew.
   
   This unabridged edition has nine 1 1/2 hour tapes. The read, by Geoffrey Howard helped quite a bit in putting some emotion into this memoir and had me wanting to find out what happened next. So my recommendation on this book would definitely be for the audio edition. And at that I would say, it is for those who love anything to do with the sea voyage. For History lovers I would suggest checking out some of the other books written about "The Endurance" and these very brave men.This book is also avialable in paperback at:South a Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
   
   There are some great memoirs of explorations out there. One I would highly recommend, isThe Essential Lewis and Clark Selections also on audio(see my review for book and audio details).
   
   
   Thanks...Laurie

No comments about Antarctica.

2 comments about Straying Afar: Antarctica-Alaska-Japan-Asian Siberia; Across the Waves of the Sea & Over the Sands of Time.

1. Author W John Maxey has a new offering in the literary world. Straying Afar is not only a travel adventure story but can be classified as historical as the author while travelling through the areas where part of World WarII was fought recalls the days of the bitter conflict that took place, the struggles of the American Military might and the strong resolve displayed to defeat the enemy.

   The author with his immediatre family aboard an ice cutter ship
   braves the danger in Antarctica aboard the ship and views the beauty of the icebergs jutting to the diamond like peaks and walks among the penguins,birds and other inhabitants of this barren region of the world. Author Maxey is very family orientated and enjoys having his wife and children share in the adventures of travel and the mixing and viewing of the different cultures they witness on the cruise as well as airflights to different regions.

   I have personally had the honor of conversing with this world traveler. He graciously shares the adventures and stories of their visits to these foreign places as well as visitng Alaska.

   When I started reading this book I spent sometime looking at the unique cover, which I can only say is sensational. You couldn't put the book down as the author captures you from beginning to the end with content that isn't only adventuresome, but educational, historical, and a book that moves your mind into a craving for more of Author Maxey's travels. You feel that you were onboard the ice cutter rolling with the frigid waters and passing through the south Pacific you could almost hear and feel the impact of military combat. I recommend this book very highly. We need to hear more from you Mr. Maxey. Congratulations!!!




2. Straying Afar provides the reader with an exciting look at Human Nature around the world. While Maxey's 1st book "Overnight Stay" looks at the colorful spectrum of Human Nature, based on observations of the people who pass by the Maxey's Verona Beach, NY business at Oneida Lake - The DwarfLine Motel & Cottages - "Straying Afar.." continues this look at Human Nature as kind of a pseudo-sequel, not by looking at Humanity as it comes to the Maxey's, but rather it observes Humanity as the Maxey's travel out to the people at the far reaches of Planet Earth. From stormy voyages across raging, windswept seas to Antarctica; to the wild and beautiful coastline of Alaska; and on to the unique Asian cultures of far off Siberia, Japan, and Korea. While these places are far removed from Central NY, they still provide both a personal "one-on-one" setting, as well as a "grand view" of Humanity for the "Straying Afar" story. Over 110 photographs and maps assist the reader on this exciting, 316 page journey!

   The book is divided into two sections; each defined by a voyage in the opposite direction from the other. The 1st trip is to the far south to Antarctica and its theme is man and his struggle and embrace with Nature. The 2nd trip is to the far north, then west and its theme is man and his struggle and embrace with HIMSELF.
   "Straying Afar..." is a must read for anyone who seeks adventure and inspiration while satisfying a thirst for exploring the world around us. By sitting back in a comfortable chair with a copy of "Straying Afar...", one can go to the frozen remoteness of Antarctica after crossing a sea so stormy that just reading about it will put butterflies in the stomach. And as you join John Maxey on his adventures, you'll not just live the present day experiences, but you'll cross the barriers of time to the adventures and struggles of the ones who went before. But that is only half the excitement - after a short break, come back and follow John up to Alaska and then across an endless ocean to Siberia and the Orient. Experience the range of Humanity that exists around the Earth that is emerging into a new world of optimism, from the interpersonal encounters along the coastal way in Alaska to the Grand Awakenings of whole societies as they step over the fallen political barriers of another time in Siberia. All the while these dramas are played out against a backdrop of natural scenery so grand and beautiful it defies description.

   I recommend this book to all!

No comments about Blue Ice: Travels in Antarctica.

3 comments about Shadows on the Wasteland: Crossing Antarctica with Ranulph Fiennes.

1. A fascinating epic with all the hardships and truths told. An honest account of human mental and physical strengths and weaknessness. At times it unecessarily draws you into the on going ego battle between Stroud and Fiennes.



2. Adverturers come in all shapes and sizes - of ego, that is! And this book is an excellent opportunity to see the diversity of people who succeed at extremely challenging outdoor pursuits. I thoroughly enjoyed this account from a relatively modest style of person, who took on and succeeded at a challenge, the difficulty of which left me aching and bleary eyed just thinking about it.

   In an era where many traditional sports have taken on some kind of "extreme" variant, this book defines "extreme" in a way that makes other pursuits pale by comparison. I was gripped that it provided an interesting insight into what life is like when you take on the genuinely extreme challenge.

   People that merely, say, base jump from a helicopter onto the top of a snow-covered mountain in order to snowboard from apex to base, are amateurs compared to these chaps. They - voluntarily! - walked across the Antarctic continent via the South Pole just because they thought they could. Of course, they did raise a legendary amount of money to benefit research into multiple sclerosis, but that is not central to the story told in this book.

   Mike Stroud gives one side of the story, in a manner that reveals his concerns over his own fallibility, whilst at the same time providing a case study in how an apparently ordinary bloke does an extraordinary thing. He is clearly not the ego-on-two-legs-type that many imagine these guys would be - but the writing reeks of someone committed to his views and those views involving a huge amount of thought. So, despite a self-effacing style, he seems unlikely to lack belief in himself - despite acute and moving accounts of his struggles to retain focus on a harrowing and debilitating slog across the most incredibly inhospitable tract of terrain. I liked the fact that he did things well beyond ordinary, despite not being ten-foot-tall-and-bulletproof the way we imagine many of these guys to be!

   The other side of the story is told by his trek partner, Ranulph Fiennes (Sir, actually, with a bunch of that English stuff about being a Baronet and all), in his book "Mind over Matter". In many respects of style and personality, he is most things that Mike Stroud is not, so anyone with a picture of the larger-than-life-ego-on-two-legs kind of adventurer might well here some bells ringing when they read this account.

   The contradictions between the two accounts are not black and white, but, in the shades of grey, there was enough interest at the time of their publication to put them both into that elite class of public figures - where they were the subject of a newspaper cartoonist's pen. Another thing that I like about Stroud's account is that he highlighted this, rather than papering over it.

   Frankly, I liked Fiennes' account of the trip as well, but it was more predictable in a curious sort of way. Possibly the most can be gained from Mike Stroud's book when Fiennes' acount is read also - classic stuff where neither is completely right or wrong, and that is probably less important in any case than gaining a picture of how you are seen by others, or how divergent your image of yourself can be from that harboured by close colleagues.

   This book - and Fiennes' - may well give you an appetite for more along the same lines, if you don't have one already! Try reading "The Worst Journey in the World" by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, or "Home of the Blizzard" by Douglas Mawson.




3. Englishmen Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud together made four failed attempts on the North Pole. Their major success was an expedition both inwardly expected to fail - the unsupported (carry everything) crossing of Antarctica.
   
   There had already been an unsupported trip to the South Pole. Indeed, as they were making their crossing, the Scandinavian explorer Erling Kagge - who claimed the first unsupported trip to the North Pole, disputed by his rivals Stroud and Fiennes - was making the first solo unsupported trip to the South Pole.
   
   The crossing of the Antarctic continent, however impractical, was the next logical goal. This account, and another by Fiennes entitled "Mind Over Matter," stress the grinding wear and tear on the human body, the bleak, black thoughts that accompany every labored step, and the life-threatening hazards of weather, crevassed terrain and starvation.
   
   The difference in their stories is entirely point-of-view and personality.
   
   Fiennes, the leader, sounds a practical, matter-of-fact note - his appendices on leadership, equipment, history and topography are nearly as long as his personal account. Stroud, the younger and smaller man, is more volatile and impassioned, resentful of the very notion of leadership in a two-man expedition.
   
   They began the trip unsure that they would even be able to budge their sledges - loaded with 485 pounds of food, fuel and equipment. "It would be so embarrassing if, once in our harnesses, our efforts came to nought and the sledges refused to budge," says Stroud.
   
   After four hours they had moved only a couple of miles on their 1,700 hundred mile journey. And the next day they had their first equipment failure - a thermos that left one of the major respites of their day, hot soup, cold and full of gelatinous fat globs.
   
   On they went. Sails, parachutes inflated by the wind, had been an early bone of contention between them. Stroud was insistent, Fiennes, dubious about their usefulness and the added weight, agreed reluctantly. On their first try both found them terrifying and exhilarating.
   
   Says Stroud, "Compared with the toil of manhauling, to be pulled forward at high speed was a delight so intense that to ignore it, merely because it was difficult and dangerous, was near impossible."
   
   And Fiennes, "After a hectic ten minutes of being dragged over ice ridges, crossing ski tips and being struck in the back by the sledge....I suddenly spotted a blueish shadow some forty feet ahead."
   
   Fiennes threw himself to one side. Stroud, used to seeing his companion fall, started to go around. Going too fast to stop, he plunged into the crevasse. Says Fiennes, "Appalling thoughts crowded my mind: chiefly how I would explain Mike's death to his wife and mother."
   
   But Stroud had landed on a precarious snow bridge. The description of extricating him and his sledge is harrowing. The sledge was permanently but not crucially damaged. On they went.
   
   Black thoughts, with no other outlet, turned on one another. Their chief friction was pacing. Stroud believed Fiennes was going slower than necessary because of brooding over his age (47); Fiennes believed Stroud was wasting energy by going too fast and later attributed hypothermic episodes to this depletion. Both experienced intense anger toward the other, most of which they avoided expressing except in their diaries.
   
   Consuming 5,200 calories a day, they were using 6,000 to 8,000, even 10,000. Slow starvation far outpaced the lessening of weight on the sledges. Because of Stroud's medical record keeping, (ironically described in greater daily detail by Fiennes) chemical changes and physical debilitation were documented with appalling exactitude.
   
   Both were subject to digestion problems, chronic frostbite infections, sores from chafing clothing and harnesses, skin damage from the depleted ozone layer, blindness from white-outs and from the absence of anything to focus on. But starvation was chief among their troubles, leading to muscle loss (even of the heart muscle) as well as every bit of insulating fat.
   
   When Fiennes finally called a halt after Stroud experienced several life-threatening bouts of hypothermia and hypoglycemia they had crossed the continent, although not the ice shelf which intervened between continent and ocean. They had succeeded, raising millions (at a penny per mile) for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, accomplishing major physiological research and being first to cross the continent unsupported. This, despite all the practical, idealistic reasons given, was their reason for going, a reason incomprehensible to most of us.
   
   Both books are well-written, expressive of separate personalities undergoing the same grueling physical and mental hardships. Both acknowledge they could not have made it without the other, for mental reasons as well as physical. Both are riveting accounts of exploration in a place few of us ever wish to go.