Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

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I listened to Endurance in October, exactly 105 years after the ship Endurance was crushed by the ice pack in the Weddell Sea, off of the continent of Antarctica. What an exciting and powerful account of Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the Antarctic region in 1915.

Through this exceptional leadership, he was able to keep spirits high which gave his crew courage and fortitude. This 2000 documentary narrated by Liam Neeson is not based on Alfred Lansing's book, but on a similarly-named one: The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, by Caroline Alexander.The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age. The author also renders an excellent picture of the day-to-day life of these people, including how the men live, pass the time, and work to keep their spirits up when not on the seas. After the Endurance was crushed by ice, the explorers attempted to drag their two remaining ships across the ice. Other than the bazillion amounts of bonus points that I got from my history-loving father for reading this one, I found Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage to be a little underwhelming.

Add to that the diet that these men had to endure and the increased strain it placed on the bowels and my privileged mind was aching with imagined pain. Considering how bad their situation was to begin with, this may be hard to believe, but seriously, they go from months of unending misery on the ice to living in conditions that make their ice camp seem relatively comfortable in retrospect. They were amazing and reinforced, even more, the courage and resilience needed to endure this catastrophe.It doesn't depict him as perfect, noble, and without flaws -- he's a glory-hound, he's a little petulant, he's stubborn, he will not admit the possibility that he might be wrong. If you don’t already know the story then I’ll not spoil it by giving a full run down of how it played out but what I will say is that quite early on Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, was crushed by ice flows leaving everyone stranded on the ice pack.

This didn't go well and finally, after many hardships, it was up to Shackleton to attempt the rescue of 22 of his men stranded on a barren island locked in by ice.Although I hazily remembered Shackleton's voyage from history class, it wasn't until Kelly's Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery that Alfred Lansing's book was brought to my attention. Not trying to be overly graphic here, but can you imagine the soreness and chafing that this led to in a part of the body that does not abide chafing. I’m not sure which fact was more astounding to me but they are both truly worthy of an eye-bulging jaw-drop. I highly, highly recommend this classic true tale of survival to anyone who seeks to be inspired by the sheer indefatigable will, courage and nobility that humans can be capable of. This is the juncture in which Shackleton's voyage became an epic adventure in the most remote part of the globe.