I read Endurance by Alfred Lansing.I just started Shackleton's Boat Journey by Frank Worsley.
Modern ones by the book's author, but quoting contemporary reviews all the time, and reviewing them in turn.Are these contemporary reviews, or modern ones by the book's author?
I read Endurance about 5 years ago. It is a great book and one I recommend frequently to others. I can barely imagine what it was like to live through such constant danger and difficulties. It kind of makes me ashamed to think of my complaints about the weather here.I read Endurance by Alfred Lansing.
You will be so amazed at what that crew did to survive... and then be even more amazed at how they finally accomplished their own rescue.
Anytime specific "seas" or "Straits" or "passages" (like the Drake Passage**) are mentioned , take the time to look them up (Wikipedia will do fine for that info), also have handy a maplink to the Antarctic land mass and its bays,, inlets, islands etc.
It will help you visualize what you are reading about, and also put you in awe of what these men dealt with.
** Most especially the Drake passage
Did you have to look things up (like Antarctic maps, the seas, current etc?).I read Endurance about 5 years ago. It is a great book and one I recommend frequently to others. I can barely imagine what it was like to live through such constant danger and difficulties. It kind of makes me ashamed to think of my complaints about the weather here.
Kind of makes me ashamed when I complain about any "hardships" 🙄I read Endurance about 5 years ago. It is a great book and one I recommend frequently to others. I can barely imagine what it was like to live through such constant danger and difficulties. It kind of makes me ashamed to think of my complaints about the weather here.
I have to have maps whenever a story (real or fiction) has "epic" proportions... and Endurance was most definitely "epic".
If they ever make a movie about the Endurance Expedition (and it would be a "docu-drama") I ain't watching it , no way, no how.Sigh. I really don't like this thread.
Now I need to add Endurance and The Ghost to my reading list. I suppose there's some movie out there based on Endurance too... certainly this one The Ghost Writer looks interesting...and has a couple actors who have a skill or two into the bargain.
Meanwhile I keep reading on Bombadil. 2 1/2 new books to go, and a whole lot of essays...then a review of all "the real material" at his root... then some writing of my own..
"Learning never ends, Watson. It's a series of lessons with the greatest for the last." (Sherlock Holmes.)
Yes, undoubtedly.Cheapen Endurance
Harris is a competent writer. One caveat on this one: it's set in "contemporary" times, i.e. 2007, and therefore a bit dated. If you haven't read anything by him, one of his historical novels might be a good place to start -- Enigma, about the WWII code breakers, or Fatherland, an "alternate" WWII story. I particularly enjoyed Pompei, where I learned a lot about Roman engineering. I read that one twice.Now I need to add Endurance and The Ghost to my reading list.
I struggled with Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein. Since it was in distinct sections I took breaks between reading each section. I was secretly hoping the Martian old ones would discorporate Jubal Harshaw who I found to be the worst kind of pub/bar bore - pontificating at such great length - snooze! In fact, it seemed to me the Martian SF aspect was just a set up so that Heinlein could pontificate his own views via Harshaw - though he may have denied that. I can't be bothered to check. There was some similarity to Wyndham's Midwich Cuckoos but Wyndham's novel built the tension to an exciting conclusion, and Heinlein here did not.OK fine. Let me know when you’re finished, so i can share my opinion of this particular book.
J Harshaw was a stand-in for RAH.....(not just my opinion; lots of people saw that)...and the older RAH fell into pontificating (or bloviating) a lot, beginning with SIASL.I struggled with Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein. Since it was in distinct sections I took breaks between reading each section. I was secretly hoping the Martian old ones would discorporate Jubal Harshaw who I found to be the worst kind of pub/bar bore - pontificating at such great length - snooze! In fact, it seemed to me the Martian SF aspect was just a set up so that Heinlein could pontificate his own views via Harshaw - though he may have denied that. I can't be bothered to check. There was some similarity to Wyndham's Midwich Cuckoos but Wyndham's novel built the tension to an exciting conclusion, and Heinlein here did not.
I also found the overuse of the word "grok" greatly grating - especially towards the end.
It's in a book I have which lists the 1000 books one should read but it wasn't for me.
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