Endurance
Author: Alfred Lansing
Genre: Non-fiction
Traits: Adventure, Tragedy
Language: English
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In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice, it was finally crushed between two ice floes. With no options left, Shackleton and a crew attempted a near-impossible journey to the closest outpost of civilization.
The book starts with a brief introduction of all the characters, and how the Endurance set sail despite all the political dramas during World War I. The onward journey till the ship was beset has been covered in a relatively small section, where the author has touched upon the life onboard, the previous attempts to Antarctica, and covered in a dramatic way of how the shipwrecked!
While they were waiting for the drift to take them close to civilization, the monotony in life, the survival at subzero temperatures, the fear of running out of food, getting frostbitten, all their emotions have been captured well. The scenes where they start the open boat journey in agony, with their desperate attempts to survive in one of the stormiest pieces of open water has been extremely well written and will surely glue the reader till the end!
By the time the book is finished, the reader will surely know what it is like to watch an ice floe crumble and crack around us! And after months of deprivation and despair, what it is like to be saved.
Although the overall journey was for about 2 years, the writer has chosen the right sections, making sure there is never a dull moment in the book.
Overall, an intense read which will rank as one of the classic tales of the heroic age of exploration!
R/W Rating: 8.5/10
Goodreads rating: 4.44/5
(As on date of publishing of post)
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