Shackleton's Boat Journey by Frank Worsley

Vanellus

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Just finished now - so exciting! Some truly beautiful descriptions of the harsh landscapes. Worsley was obviously a huge admirer of Shackleton as a leader of men, and of his overwhelming concern for their safety. It could be argued that the most dangerous part of the journey was the trek over mountainous icy South Georgia to the whaling stations on the opposite coast: done partly in darkness because of rations and weather. Shackleton chose the three fittest men who were roped together because of the danger of crevasses. Oddly, afterwards each of them reported that they sensed the presence of a fourth person during the trek. istr this kind of thing has been experienced by mountaineers as well but I can't remember any specific examples.

Their appearance was so off putting when they reached one of the whaling stations that it took a while before they could communicate who they were and what they had done. Afterwards a large number of the whalers wanted to hear their story and shake their hands. "These are men" one of them said.

Suffering from heart problems probably made worse by what he had endured, as described in the book, Shackleton tried to volunteer (over age) for the western front in WWI. He was involved in a war mission to Spitsbergen and as a military adviser in the British intervention in the Russian civil war. Afterwards he could have settled down to the lecture circuit and writing, but he had to go on one "last" expedition and died of a heart attack while anchored off South Georgia. His wife asked that he be buried in the Grytviken cemetery in South Georgia.
 
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Brother-Mike

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Great recommendation! In our modern age where mis-pronouning someone is enough to have them collapse on the fainting couch the story of these men and their unwillingness to quit gets my vote for the most heroic, beyond-belief amazing accomplishment. Astounding.
 
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Vanellus

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Great recommendation! In our modern age where mis-pronouning someone is enough to have them collapse on the fainting couch the story of these men and their unwillingness to quit gets my vote for the most heroic, beyond-belief amazing accomplishment. Astounding.
I read fiction as well but the added frisson of stories like these is that they actually happened.
 
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Brother-Mike

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I read fiction as well but the added frisson of stories like these is that they actually happened.

If someone wrote the Shackleton Expedition as fiction it would be rightly condemned for being unbelievable.
 
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