Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure

one review said there's a bit of hero-worship here. i don't find that especially accurate or fair. Shackelton is shown to be "paternally" obsessed with keeping the men safe, but he isn't absolved of his mistakes, and he isn't idealized, distant from human worry and the craving for reassurance.

honestly a little hero-worship wouldn't go amiss, here. what these men did should not have been possible. it'd be frankly unbelieveable if it weren't documented so thoroughly, including by photographs.

and then they went home and went off to fight in WWI, because of course they did.
i can barely get up in the morning.

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Worsley was described (elsewhere) as being a bit of an ass, and humorless, and that comes through here -- but again i feel like show more that's unfair, not the least because his narrative is anything but unfeeling. He's obviously entranced with the beauty of the place, describing the effect of sunlight on floes, the particular tint of winter clouds, the brutality of a sea lion, the way the penguins talk and bow.

At one point he describes himself as having been awaken via two kicks to the head, which he didn't notice at the time, having gone without sleep for several days; he was only told about it years later, during the war. The anecdote is delivered without comment but it seems to me he was amused -- that he wouldn't say it if he weren't amused. He certainly omits plenty about the men's fear and complaints etc, barely even acknowledging all that. So maybe he just doesn't like whining ...?

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Most of the men ("all who were able" wrote Worsley, with what i assume to be his characteristic tact) who went to the Antarctic with Shackleton signed up to see the Arctic with him, leaving the comforts of home to go again into horrible grisly murder-ice and the prospect of losing a limb to frostbite.
hard to think of a better show of faith and trust. show less

The term epic is thrown around quite a bit these days, but this adventure rightfully earns the label. A fabulously concise and gripping account of some of the most amazing explorations ever done by mankind. This piece of history is virtually guaranteed to make any modern day human feel like a lazy couch potato, but you'll enjoy the experience. I'd recommend this book to anyone, anywhere.

Worsley was Shackleton's friend, comrade and admirer from the moment they met. No one could better tell the dramatic story of the wreck and rescue of the Shackleton expedition, dipping into hero worship occasionally, but ready to defend those who criticized his hero without the full knowledge of Shackleton's orders from the admiralty.

First hand account of Shackleton's doomed 1914-16 expedition to the Antarctic written by his "Skipper" and friend Frank Worsley who greatly admired him. Descriptive of the perils sailing if the Antarctic pack ice and of their incredible journey back to civilization to save the men left on Elephant Island and on the other side of the Antarctic that Shackleton's team was supposed to join up with. Ultimately, Shackleton died of a heart attack on another Antarctic expedition.