No comments about Antarctica Wildlife 5th (Bradt Guides).

No comments about You Wouldn't Want to Be a Polar Explorer! (You Wouldn't Want To¿).

2 comments about Antarctica Unveiled: Scott's First Expedition and the Quest for the Unknown Continent.

1. Recent writings on Antarctic exploration have not been kind to Scott's leadership. If you're interested in a different look at the man (to some degree) and the first (Discovery) expedition try this book. The author gives one a sense of life on the expedition and takes one along through daily life on the ship, over the winter and on the sledging journies. Heavy on detail and a bit too focused on 'righting the wrongs' of Huntford, etc., the result seems an extremely well-researched view of the scientific goals and results of the expedition. (And, perhaps the author can be forgiven for the emphasis on righting wrongs--previous works have certainly emphasized contrary views.) I've long felt that viewing the turn-of-the-century expeditions through today's 'lens' is problematic. Scott and the others were English men of their time and subject to those values, just as we are products of our time. I recommend the work to those interested in a detailed view of that first expedition, how its course affected the Terra Nova expedition, and a different view of the explorers and the expedition--placed in their time.



2. Historian David Yelverton takes a long overdue look at Scott's Discovery expedition, the first significant attempt to probe the interior of that great southern continent. He pays great attention to Scott's difficulties in securing funds, crew, supplies and so forth. And, of course, Yelverton writes at length on the Discovery herself, an leaky craft that would have never made it south were it not for the constant struggle at the pumps. There is also a good deal on the cooperative effort with the Germans (!) on making often difficult magnetic observations, one of the principal reasons for the expedition in the first place.

   This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the history of the Antartic continent, Scott and, to a lesser degree, Shackleton. It is, without question, the most complete review of the Discovery expedition.

   Although Scott's disaster in 1912 overshadows the Discovery effort, it could be said (and this is the point of "Unveiled") that there was much more meaningful work accomplished during this 1901-03 expedition.

   Most readers will find "Unveiled" ponderous a times, although that is to be expected in a work of this depth and precision. I was disappointed with the occasional childish snipes at Roland Huntford's monumental "Last Place on Earth," a book that is a sore point with Scott's many fans. It's too bad that writers on Antarctic exploration feel as if they have to be one side of the fence or the other. Scott accomplished more than most other polar explorers -- but he also made many, many blunders.

   But, in the main, "Antartic Unveiled" is worth looking into.

5 comments about End of the Earth: Voyaging to Antarctica.

1. The man wears his pretensions on his sleeve. OK, I could deal with that. His recurrent environmental proclamations are annoying, primarily because he glories in an expedition that invades the space he wants to keep pristine. Major contradiction.

   But his prose is often stunning, his descriptions riveting, and the sense of place striking. I came away from the book with an appreciation of Antarctica and its wildlife. Not a bad achievement for an author.




2. I've always enjoyed Peter's books, especially the Snow Leopard. I've travelled to many spots all over the world (unfortunately, not to Antarctica yet - although my husband is a pilot on "the Ice"). His prose is a little drier and more austere, but then again, from what I hear from my husband and various travelers to Antarctica (including Shackleton and Scott), that is what Antarctica is like. I do enjoy Peter's environmentalist views, and I don't think there is any irony in the fact he wishes people wouldn't travel to the Ice - at least, not in large, damaging numbers. I think we need people like him to describe these things for us and WHY it is so important to protect these fragile environments. I have heard about many stories of many people - wealthy and otherwise - coming to the South Pole Station and other spots around the continent, stealing the geographic South Pole markers, leaving their trash behind, disrespecting the National Science Foundation rules and the Antarctic Treaty stipulations. There are all kinds of people in the world, and no one can stop them from making jerks of themselves - but we can read this book, be educated, and have a little healthier respect for such places, and in turn educate other people.
   
   This is an interesting travel book, and a good addition to anyone's collection who is interested in travel to far-flung places and especially to anyone who is interested in the south polar regions.
   
   As for Anne Olsen's comments - while I normally do not comment on other people's reviews (and I've done so twice! Yikes!) , I have to say, she is the one completely, totally, absolutely and embarrassingly in the wrong. Mattthiessen describes the first sentence that he "fetched up in Punta Arenas, Chile...." and she claims he made a gross error and states Punta Arenas is in Argentina. I'm sure he's made some mistakes in his book - I have over 1,000 books in my library and it's safe to say every one of them probably has a mistake or two. We are not perfect, we human beings. HOWEVER......... Peter Matthiessen didn't say anything wrong. Punta Arenas is, in fact, in Chile - not Argentina. There are actually a few Punta Arenas (Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru), but it is NOT in Argentina. Can't argue with the map!



3. This rambling memoir details two trips that the author made to Antarctica with Victor Emmanuel Nature Tours, which specializes in birding trips. Peter Matthiessen beautifully describes several scenes from the Antarctic, which made me long to visit this stark landscape filled with life.
   
   However, the book has no real direction. It reads like a journal, albeit a well-written one with a greater-than-average literacy quotient. The author makes little attempt to introduce any of his fellow-travelers or to show a personal journey of the mind to mirror the Antarctic voyages. Eventually, it just stops, rather than ends. He digresses from accounts of his voyage to describe the adventures of early polar explorers, or to comment on issues such as global warming and whaling. Although these asides are interesting and well-reasoned, there are better sources for each topic.
   
   Birders and armchair travelers may enjoy the descriptions of his wildlife encounters, however.



4. Peter Matthiessen is most honestly characterized as a "writer's writer" in that his works most favorably impress literary critics more than they garner mass reader appeal. This effort is a mediocre travel memoir of two different voyages to Antarctica and for each trip the author fills the pages with interesting historical, geographical and natural facts. Unfortunatly this book has no "heart and soul". "End of the Earth" merely 'reports' two stories on Antarctica as if Peter Matthiessen could take it or leave it. The usual book jacket accolades recite "...he blends a vision of harsh beauty, a traveler's love of adventure, and a profound appreciation for the splendors and extraordinary wildlife of a forbidding yet fragile world of ice". If only that were true this could have been a great book.



5. I'm a Peter Matthiesen fan. I loved "the Snow Leopard", "At Play in the Fields of the Lord", "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse", "The Tree Where Man Was Born", and "The Cloud Forest". So I was excited when I saw he had written a book about Antarctica.
   
   Ugh, factual inaccuracies, sloppy writing, just a dreary effort from a long time master. Nearly inexcusable for a writer of his stature.

No comments about MGA 1: The Worst Journey in the World, Volume 1 (MyEclectica.com Great Adventures).

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

1. Poor Shackleton. In all his life it seems he allways came late or second, allmost made it or, as in this story, did not reach his goal at all.
   Most amazing in his last expedition is that no lives were lost, though probably encountering the worst circumstances of the expedions I know of.
   Most remarkably are the stunning photo's by Frank Hurley. The negatives were either transported over ice and sea, or (no book provided me with that information) were allready developed on the ice. In my copy of this book (printed probably around 1935), but not found in all later editions, one of these negatives is in good quality full-colour, made in 1914!



2. 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.



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



4. 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.



5. 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.

No comments about Hooray For Antarctica! (Our Amazing Continents).

1 comments about In Shackleton's Wake.

1. people feel the urge to risk their lives in endeavors like this one! I had to wonder about the incredible amount of money that must go to re-enact such a dangerous voyage, too. But the story makes fascinating reading. A first-person account of sailing some of the most treacherous seas in the world really brings out the dangers faced--involuntarily--by Ernest Shackleton and his men.
   One change I wish for the book: a detailed map comparing Fuchs' journey with Shackleton's. Fuchs mentions several options Shackleton might have taken, but without a map, I can't see them for myself. Otherwise, this is a very readable (though I did have trouble with nautical terms, not being a sailor myself) and interesting addition to the literature of polar adventure.

5 comments about Arctic Crossing: A Journey Through the Northwest Passage and Inuit Culture.

1. in Arctic Crossing Jonathan Waterman, Kabloona extraordinaire gives us a a great gift. This guy can write, this guy can listen to the silence, this guy can paddle,hike, take in the wonder and freezing cold andbring it back home to those of us all warm in our living rooms. this guy is amazing.



2. Who was it who said, "less is more"? That's one truth that stands out in Jonathan Waterman's "Artic Crossing" - a epical solo trip of the Northwest Passage done without fanfare, without oodles of sponsorship dough. I liked the author's cool, understated writing style, the wry observations about his sufferings and about the Inuits. No hyperbole, none of self-inflation that is so common in adventure writing, this book is truly believable. A wonderful read.



3. Jon Waterman is a writer who belongs between the hardcovers. His explorations and introspection make for compelling reading.



4. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The author keeps you engrossed in his story through thick and thin. He admits his faults and mistakes and you learn along with him. I doubt anyone will not like this book.



5. Jonathan Waterman travels over 2,200 miles across the roof of the World. He tells us about the people, places, and history of the land he moves over. Sometimes moving by boat and sometimes moving by dog sled he absorbs the culture, good or bad, of the Inuit life. Alone for weeks at a time he has to deal with the cold, the bears and the weather. Along with fear and loneliness. Sometimes sad, something wonderful, always truthful, this is the book for people who love history mixed with travel and adventure.

No comments about A Fabulous Kingdom: The Exploration of the Arctic.