Alfred Lansing (1921–1975)

Ernest Shackleton has long since wanted to be the first in some South Pole related expedition, but somehow other people kept accomplishing things before he even managed to get out of the harbor. Until the (ill-)fated year of 1914, when he finally sets out to cross the South Pole from west to east, aboard the Endurance.

Unfortunately, his ship gets stuck in ice in the Weddel Sea, long before he reaches land, and the crew ends up spending close to a year stuck there, hoping to forge a way show more through the ice. Eventually, Shackleton and his crew are forced to abandon the ship lest they be crushed by the ice, along with their ship. What follows is a harrowing story of survival spanning several months, that nevertheless sees Shackleton lead his men back to civilization alive against all odds.

If there is one genre that you'll see me run away screaming from, that's survivalist non-fiction. I may hate poetry, but the worst it can do to me is make me fall asleep. Survival stories on the other hand, will stay with me for eons on end, strategically rearing their ugly head while I'm planning my next holiday retreat. Not that I've been anywhere without a 4-star hotel in its relative vicinity... That being said, ever since I've joined a book club two years ago, I've been steadily eating my words.

This book's biggest asset is without doubt its unassuming, yet riveting, writing style. Even though it lacks any particular figures of speech (a big plus in my books!), it managed to transport me on board the Endurance, and had me weather the terrifying journey through the Antarctic permafrost alongside the crew. I would marvel at the amount of wildlife they encountered, the inexplicably hot and icy summers of the land, the joys of hard work that effectively stops you from spiraling into deep depression, and of course Shackleton's increasingly crazy yet effective survival plans being played out.

For someone like me, who's scared shitless of anything with even a whiff of survival story, this book is actually the perfect introduction into the genre. We are told from the beginning, that this is the unbelievable success story of how one man essentially saved the life of all his 27 crew members, so you're not left stressing about your favorite's demise coming just around the corner. Instead, you're forced to take it step-by-... well page by page, gradually discover yet another of the vicissitudes of the South Pole, while hoping to hell that your rising dread will not overwhelm you.

Score: 4.4/5 stars

As soon as I posted my first status update of this book, I was all but inundated with support and well-wishes, from fans of the book. At the time, all I could do was dread having to review it, because of my deep dislike of the genre. I may not shy away from gleefully pushing back the critics who love to harp on my woefully wrong opinion on their favorite books, but the prospect of challenging half of Goodreads to a fight is a bit intimidating.

Luckily, this was not the case, so here's your review: it's an amazing book, kept me riveted through many a sleepless night, and you should all give it a go. I on the other hand am spent, and will be giving the genre a huge berth for at least a while. Too much excitement.

For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of travel give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton

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The amazing story of Ernest Shackleton’s foiled attempt to become the first man to trek across Antarctica, and his long odyssey to lead his crew of 27 men back to civilization is truly hard to fathom. Shackleton left England on the day it entered WWI with the government’s blessing, and after leaving a whaling station in South Georgia in December 1914, his ship the Endurance got trapped in ice a month later. They hoped the ice floe would break up but it never did, and like a small speck show more on an ice cube, they drifted along helplessly, away from land, for about 10 months. Conditions aboard the Endurance were actually reasonably good, aside from the inevitable boredom that set in, as they were warm and had food. However, the pressure of the ice eventually crushed it, forcing them to abandon ship and live in tents on the ice itself for 5 and a half months, where conditions were much worse, and would get worse still. The floe they were on would ultimately break up, forcing them to take to the lifeboats and face brutal conditions in the sea before successfully landing on a deserted island a few weeks later. And all of that’s not even the stunning part. Shackleton and 5 others then had to leave the others behind and pilot the best of their lifeboats 650 nautical miles through the Drake Passage, one of the stormiest and most dreaded bits of ocean on the planet. They miraculously landed a few weeks later, and even then still had to scale a mountainous glacier to reach the whaling station on the other side of the island. This included a free fall, “tobogganing without a toboggan”, in order to descend and avoid freezing conditions at night, one of many memorable moments. When they stumbled into the station, covered in the grime from burning blubber, dressed in what seem to be rags, and completely unkempt, it was the first time they had seen civilization in 17 months – an ending I might roll my eyes over if I saw it in a movie.

To survive and save his crew, Shackleton had to make difficult decisions, take risks but not those which were unnecessary, and keep morale up, so he’s often cited as an outstanding leader. He’s not always right, and to the book’s credit, he’s not idealized in this account. There are many moments throughout this odyssey where all truly seems lost, and yet they carry on. The conditions are extraordinary, starting with the bitter cold, of course. It’s impossible to truly know what they went through, but you do get a sense for what it means to be in each of the conditions they found themselves in – seeing ice showers from the sky and icebergs tower over the ship as they approached Antarctica, enduring blizzard winds, seeing giant ice floes battering against one another, hearing the haunting sounds of their pressure on the ship at night, and watching helplessly as it’s mangled and slowly sunk. Trying to haul lifeboats across the barren snow, but having feet and legs sunk in freezing water while making ridiculously slow progress. Having to (very sadly!) kill their trusting dogs as the supply of food from killing defenseless seals abated, at one point being attacked themselves by a sea leopard, and one day being surrounded by thousands and thousands of migrating penguins. The inevitable frustrations and irritations from being in close quarters with the same people for so long, and some of the ingenious ways to cope. Having the ice as both the safety of something solid, and yet a menace, as it would crack while they were on it and threaten their boats while at sea, ramming them, and possibly closing up around them. Starving and undergoing severe rationing while having to do things like cut off one man’s gangrenous foot. Getting to the sea but then enduring freezing water, giant waves, and dehydrating while getting little to no sleep over periods of several days. Relying on the incredible navigation of Frank Worsley to hit tiny islands hundreds of miles away, and then when getting there, having great difficulty landing … and on and on, it just boggles the mind. (Phew)

The book reminded me of The Martian in the sense that it shows human perseverance under extreme conditions, and ultimate success against long odds after being marooned, but it’s better written, and all true. Alfred Lansing wrote it four decades after the fact, but he did painstaking research, reading diaries several men kept, and interviewing many of the survivors. He knew a great story when he saw it and has a flair for the dramatic as the events unfold, but his writing is dry-eyed and highly authentic. The photographs included are also outstanding. It’s a miracle that Frank Hurley’s negatives survived, and I found the images and their quality level to be extremely good, and something you might see printed in a book from today. Non-fiction is not usually my thing, but the book was given to me as a gift from an old colleague, along with a bottle of whiskey recently recreated from those Shackleton brought along to the Antarctic. Needless to say, I enjoyed the pairing. :) show less

In 1914, an expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton set out on the ship Endurance with the aim of crossing Antarctica. But before ever reaching the continent, the ship became immobilized by ice, and months later it was finally crushed by the pressure and sank. Its crew then set out across ice, across some of the worst seas on Earth in open boats in horrifying weather, and overland across an island whose interior no one had ever successfully navigated before. All told, it was nearly two years show more before they made it back.

It is an absolutely incredible story. Almost literally incredible: if it were a work of fiction, you'd never believe it. It doesn't seem like something human beings ought to be capable of. And what do you mean, every single one of them survived? Seriously?

And yet, it's all true, and extremely well-documented, to boot, as a number of these mean kept careful diaries of their experiences.

This book covers it all in considerable detail. Lansing's prose, for the most part, isn't fancy, but it does precisely what it needs to do. He describes the moment-by-moment, wave-by-wave progress of those open boat voyages in a way that brought my heart repeatedly into my throat, making the frustration and weariness and uncertain hope of it all thrillingly palpable. And when, instead, the narrative is one of endless days of waiting and monitoring the winds and trying hard just to get some rest in miserably sodden sleeping bags, he captures all of that faithfully, too.

It's a hell of a story, told in a way that brings it vividly to life without any (utterly unnecessary) sensationalizing, and I'm very, very glad to have read it. It really is the sort of thing that helps you recalibrate your sense of what humans are capable of.

One can only admire these men's, well, endurance. But, I must say, while I imagine some might find it inspirational, it mostly sort of leaves me wondering why anyone with an ounce of sanity would ever leave home at all to go wandering through places that seem like they so desperately want to kill you. It also makes me stop for a moment to really, truly appreciate being warm and dry and fed, which is a very worthwhile thing to do once in a while. show less

what — and i say this sincerely — the Fuck.

so Shackelton went to the Antarctic for the third time, because he had not yet managed to walk across the land and that made him mad. “FUCK THE ANTARCTIC,” i presume he said. “I DO WHAT I WANT.”

... and that was his motivation for literally everything afterwards, including traversing hurricanes in an open boat, stomping all over the worst damn island in the world (preciously thought impassable but Shackelton was NOT HAVING THAT), show more literally sliding down the side of a glacier, and getting all 28 men of his crew rescued after well over a year of living on ice floes and eating nothing but seal.

seriously, there about ten thousand times that these people should have died in a very predictable way (hunger, cold, navigation issues, weather, hunted by a sea leopard, an ice floe breaking beneath your feet in the dark so you plunge into the frozen sea, murdered by your shipmates). every day they should have died many many times. and none of them did! pretty much because Shackleton refused to let it happen and everyone, including THE ANTARCTIC ITSELF, just shrugged and let him have his way.

honestly, the most impressive thing is how bloody skilled the men were. every time something horrible happens they just kinda get on with things, and do it brilliantly. at one point they navigated 800+ miles to find a tiny island using medieval instruments during a sort of hurricane in a tiny open boat in the middle of the ocean — wearing mittens, because it’s 15° below freezing, and with maybe five minutes of sunlight a day to use for direction.
and they did it.

gosh, i feel lazy now. show less