4 comments about What the Ice Gets : Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition 1914-1916.

1. This epic poem brings Shackleton's attempt to reach the South Pole to life! Some of the chapters tell the story from the point of view of individual members of the expedition; some describe particular events. Each fact is documented. Its one thing to know that Shackleton and a part of the crew left the rest of the crew behind, and travelled 800 miles in a dory on a rescue mission. Mueller brings the situation to life, describing the plight of both the rescuers and the rescuees. And then, in a moving and haunting conclusion, she tells of some of the individual's lives after the voyage. In sum, its an adventurist's story, a naturalist's story, a poet's story. A book you will want to reread, read out loud, and give to your friends.



2. This is a case where the economy of a well-crafted poetic line accomplishes what might take a page of prose. The imagery and emotion evoked by this slim volume more than capture the beauty and desperation experienced by Shackleton and his company. No space is wasted on mundane logistical cataloging and diary-keeping. Instead the reader is in the grip of perilous nature from beginning to end. The final section sketching the fate of the men after their great adventure on the ice shows that miraculously overcoming one peril does not innoculate you against life's other afflictions.



3. The Shackleton story is amazing, but this accounting of it is stunningly thought through and executed. Read it over and over.



4. The story of Shackleton's expedition alone is an amazing one, and this telling of it does an admirable job of getting across the feelings as well as the details. Mueller mixes the men's words with her own descriptions seamlessly. She uses noteworthy quotes and adds her own with that same feel, such as when Crean recounts returning from an earlier Antarctic expedition:
   
   "More than how you look, 'tis what
   you see that changes most."
   The first time I saw trees again,
   they looked to me like green ghosts." (p. 18)
   
   Overall, this is one hell of a project for a poet to take on, and she more than just does it, she does it justice. She takes not just the expedition but the broader tale of the changing world as these survivors find themselves alive but lost and passing away in a world where a World War is changing everything:
   
   "The men whose lives Frank Wild helped to save are all
   long dead. Their deaths have fallen
   so far behind us they are become, as Worsley would say,
   quaint." (p. 70)
   
   This is a book well worth picking up.

No comments about Antarctica: Beyond The Southern Ocean.

No comments about The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica.

No comments about Race to the South Pole (The Great Adventures).

5 comments about The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (G K Hall Large Print Nonfiction Series).

1. My only wish for this world today is that Shackleton could lead us the way he lead the men of the Endurance. Yes, he made mistakes, we all do. But he triumphed over those errors and brought all souls home. He was able to keep his men together emotionally while they were apart physically until they were reunited again. This is a story that I have read numerous times and one that I will return to again and again. Well written and well illustrated with actual photographs from the ship's photographer.



2. Excellent book; well presented with photo's. Difficult to put down. It was recommended by Jeff Masters from Weather Underground and is well worth reading. It is surprising the amount of difficulty that people can experience and survive. It really shows how leadership and discipline, something we lack in our socitey, can be used to assist in goal attainment.



3. The Endurance, by Caroline Alexander, is an exceptionally well-written epic about the human will to survive. The story begins with legendary Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew's daring quest to be the first to cross the continent of Antarctica. But bad luck and poor planning leave their ship, the Endurance, trapped in the Antarctic ice. As their ship is slowly crushed by the ice, the crew realizes that their journey is no longer about discovery, but survival. The crew eventually leaves the safety of their ship to brave the dangerous floes of the Antarctic ice, because "what the ice gets, the ice keeps" (Alexander 3).
   Now laid before the crew is a situation that is "not merely formidable; it was, as every sailing man of the company knew, impossible" (Alexander 133). Shackleton's brilliant leadership and determination bring his men to safety from the brink of death, and his optimism keeps his crew believing that they can still survive. The diary entries of the crew leave nothing to speculation about the hardships of the men of the Endurance. From their lack of food and dry clothes, to the freezing Antarctic weather, the men of the Endurance survive for almost two years in a land not at all hospitable to humans.
   As with every story, a picture is worth a thousand words. The breathtaking pictures by Frank Hurley put the reader right onto the ice with the crew. The reader can witness the sheer cliffs, never ending ice floes, and the break up of the Endurance, just as seen by the men of the ship themselves. Alexander truly puts the reader into the minds of the crew, and shows the Antarctic from the crew's eyes. This tale of survival brilliantly documents one of history's most daring stories of survival.



4. Caroline Alexander's The Endurance, the memoir of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctic expedition, is a relentlessly intriguing story, even with its few passages of slow, monotonous detail. This recollection of the voyage and survival of the Endurance is consistently awe-inspiring in its seemingly mythical events and journeys of Shackleton's 28 men. The artistic weaving of the crew's diaries and quotes with the haunting photographs of Frank Hurley, the expedition's photographer, is powerful and, for the most part, attention consuming. Its only problem is a few passages of too much detail, creating a slow, less interesting pace for the story.
   
   The amazing situations and actions of the men, particularly Shackleton, is what made the book so enjoyable. The men lived in sub zero degree weather for over a year, eventually journeying almost 80 miles in three wooden life boats, but still come across as normal human beings. They argue about wives and hold grudges over dead pets. It is Shackleton, the timeless leader that he is, who creates something special from these men and drives them to safety. His ability to draw from others and please all (only Chippy McNish expressed any unhappiness during the journey) is an awe-inspiring feat that exemplifies what a great leader is and should be. The most amazing accomplishment of the expedition, created by the men and Shackleton alike, was the 800-mile journey by six men in a 22-foot-long life boat through a hurricane in the most inhospitable ocean in the world. When they finally made contact with civilization, they met another sailing crew. Frank Worsley recorded the following interaction with one man in particular: "He said he had been at sea over 40 years; that he knew this stormy Southern Ocean intimately, [...] and that never had he heard of such a wonderful feat of daring seamanship as bringing the 22-foot open boat from Elephant Island to South Georgia [...]. All the seamen present then came forward and solemnly shook hands with us in turn" (Alexander 166-167). To impress fellow seamen of the day, not to mention Norwegian seamen, truly displays the power of the accomplishments of the Endurance and the intriguing nature of the book. What made it all better was the care and leadership of Shackleton. After such an unbelievable adventure, he did not take time to celebrate, but turned to the help of the Chilean government in order to complete his journey. According to Shackleton, "[...] the grace and strength that had brought them so far would count for nothing if, when they eventually arrived, they found even one man dead on Elephant Island" (Alexander 169) The incredible strength and leadership of Shackleton, along with the endurance and misfortune of the crew in The Endurance leads to a very interesting read and an unforgettable story.



5. Caroline Alexander's work of non-fiction The Endurance is a wonderful read, effectively portraying Shackleton's Antarctic expedition in an exciting and enjoyable manner. Alexander effectively uses the journals of the members of the expedition to demonstrate the feelings of the crewmen about their plight, their leader, and other members of the crew. One such example would be from the diary of Frank Worsley, the skipper of Endurance, describing crewmate Timothy McCarthy. "`He is the most irrepressible optimist I've ever met,' Worsley wrote in his navigating book,'" (Alexander 148). In addition, Alexander also demonstrates how optimism can lead to survival in situations in which the odds are heavily stacked against it. "`Optimism,' Shackleton once said, `is true moral courage'," (Alexander 56). Alexander's choice to include this Shackleton quote demonstrates how she believes that optimism is important in a time of crisis. The one aspect of the book that is mildly irritating, however, is the placement of the pictures. There are many pages of pictures placed at seemingly random intervals throughout the book, and this can cause quite some confusion due to the fact that the pictures often interrupt a sentence or a paragraph. However, overall The Endurance is a wonderful book about facing impossible odds and living to tell the tale.

4 comments about Antarctica: The Blue Continent.

1. Great book including history, geology and fauna of antarctica. Excellent photographs. Very recommendable book for a cheap price for everyone who is interested in the blue continent.



2. A beautiful book that arrived in excellent condition...well packaged and in a very timely manner! Excellent service! Thank you! MW



3. This large format style book has excellent photographs, illustrations, and maps on virtually every page in addition to text and related detailed captions.
   
   It is broken down into four parts - the Antarctic environment, regions, wildlife, and exploration history. Each of these four main parts are broken down further into smaller topics. For instance the wildlife section has several pages detailed to each animal type (whales, seals, penguins, seabirds, etc) and then broken down further into each specific species of them by seperate text section with stats and a map showing that specific animal location around Antarctica. The exploration section similiarly is broken down into smaller timeframes (three timeframes) of discovery and expeditions.
   
   Ovearall a great overview of everything Antarctica. Great book for reading and also for just for browsing through.



4. This book is full of gorgeous pictures and well-written segments that provide information in easily digested and very informative pieces. It covers topics like geology, ancient and present day ecology, geography, flora and fauna, really everything you could ask for. It would make a good reference for schoolwork that doesn't need to be highly scientific or extremely detailed. If it had that kind of additional detail, I'd give it the last star, but then it would likely be twice as thick and much more difficult to read. For the person who just wants to learn more about antarctica, this is the book for you and probably a five star purchase!

No comments about The Shackleton Expedition (Survivor).

1 comments about Footsteps on the Ice: The Antarctic Diaries of Stuart D. Paine, Second Byrd Expedition.

1. During the Great Depression, Stu Paine signed on as a dogsled driver for Admiral Byrd in his attempt to reach the South Pole. It was Paine and his companions who set the record for the "farthest South" any American had yet gone. Now his daughter has edited his diaries for publication, with lots of contemporary photos. The result is a book that is raw and real. Paine's diaries have given me more of a picture of Antarctica than a dozen books I've read about that vast, cold land.
   
   For example, he wrote on August 14, 1934: "Nature, strong + big, has let human ambitions contaminate her realm only at great cost. But it is only for a while -- We will return. Other expeditions will come + go, hanging like flies on an edge of a dish, to the edge of Antarctica, here to-day, gone tomorrow. And all the while the blizzards come, the temperature sinks to the seventies +eighties [below zero F], the seals + penguins + gulls come +go, the overwhelming forces of the ice pressing down from the plateau will go on, tremendous, grand + awful. How few see it -- what a pity, a land of inspiration and to most people a land of monotony + terror. As in no other place, peace holds sway, the peace of God perhaps --"
   
   A great book for Arctic and Antarctic fans and also for those who love reading diaries to get a glimpse of the person who wrote them.

3 comments about Trapped by the Ice!: Shackleton's Amazing Antarctic Adventure.

1. Congratulations to shackleton. And the pictures were great!! My favorit part was where they slid down the maountain.



2. This book is good for the kids, it skips some of the material covered in the movie to keep it short. The movie is great too.



3. My 8-year old avid reader was thrilled to receive this gift and read it almost immediately.

1 comments about Ambassador to the Penguins: A Naturalist's Year Aboard a Yankee Whaleship.

1. While my husband reads a steady and salty diet of historical sailing sagas, I generally feed on fiction. But when he finished AMBASSADOR TO THE PENGUINS, he passed the book over the wicker table that sits between our armchairs and insisted I dig in. Set in 1912-13, the book intimately follows Robert Cushman Murphy who worked as a naturalist for ten months aboard a Yankee whaleship. Under the leadership of the cranky and parsimonious Captain Cleveland, the Daisy sailed for South Georgia Island in the Antarctic waters, successfully gathering blubber and spermaceti from the hapless whales it encountered along the way, unsuccessfully hoping for the valuable ambergris.

   Through Murphy's meticulous observations of every albatross, cockroach, shark, and crew member, I felt as though I was on the ship with him. His delight at every encounter with the natural world---penguins, whales, leopard seals, and skua colonies---pulled me into his scientist's mind. I worried about the marooned prisoner colony on the islands of Fernando de Noronha, the slaughter of elephant seals, and the ferocious storms Murphy braved on solo trips in his dory to gather specimens. I fretted over the crews' symptoms of beriberi late in the voyage, and the disappointments at ports when Murphy got no word from home. Fortunately for all readers, the young naturalist had made the difficult decision to leave his new bride, Grace Emeline, to leave on the chance-of-a-lifetime trip. The resultant letters to Grace, from which the author (his granddaughter) produces many of his quotes, are full of celebration, despair, and humor. This gorgeous book with plenty of photographs, illustrations, and excellent writing, held me spellbound. It may take me a few days to get my land legs back under me and start to live in our "easy" century.