Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

There's not much to add to the almost 400 reviews preceding-other than another five stars.

Working almost exclusively with a palette of black, white, gray and blue, Lansing manages to craft a vivid account of the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition of 1914. As others have mentioned, this story, as interpreted by Lansing, is so engrossing you won't want to put the book down. (Even after a second or third time!) It's also an interesting perspective on leadership under the most dismal conditions that can be imagined.

A tidbit from one of the one star reviews that deserves mention: there was more than one publisher for the paperback versions of this book; Carroll & Graf, and Tyndale. As I understand, the Carroll & Graf edition contains the familiar secular foreword followed by Lansing's original text. The Tyndale edition has a Christian themed foreword from James C. Dobson, followed by Lansing's text edited for a Christian audience. IF this bothers you, make sure you're getting the Carroll & Graf version! (Thanks, Joel Abrams, for that information.)

Utterly astonishing book, that builds and builds, leaving the reader in near disbelief at the display of sheer will-power, persistence---and yes, endurance--of all these heroic survivors. After reading this, I went and read the several negative reviews here, and while at first I was puzzled and of a polar-opposite (pun intended) opinion, I quickly came to see how worthless said reviews are, when considering the sources, with their concomitant, atrocious grammar and spelling. One can only conclude that such reviewers, being more familiar with the "airport fiction" genre, are persons unfamiliar with the reading of history, true-life narratives, or maybe even of reading itself. Seriously, even a fictionalized account could hardly have been more gripping, especially toward the mid-point of the book and onward. The fact that this was real makes the book all the more fascinating and riveting.
Indeed, the book does not begin by suddenly plunging the reader into break-neck-pace action. Rather, there is a deliciously slow build-up---the descriptions of the preparations made for the journey ahead, and of the men and their individual temperament and personalities----which became more fleshed-out as their individual contributions toward survival was told. Yes, the first 1/3 of the book is low on pure action and adventure, since basically the men are merely camping (on an ice flow probably the size of a city), and the book narrates day-to-day life on the flow. But this is indispensable in fleshing-out the personalities of the characters, and in bonding the reader to these men; we truly care about them, as things get dangerously more dicey as the books proceeds.
Once the ice flow breaks-up, and the men take to the boats, there is no end to the excitement and exhilaration in reading this book. The reader will be amazed at how, right to the very end, fate seems to erect constant, seemingly insurmountable, barriers and impediments to their ingenious and courageous efforts at self-preservation.
One small criticism of the book: I wish there was a follow-up, prologue chapter, describing what happened to the men following their rescue---maybe a "where they are now" summary.
Again, I can't, for the life of me, understand how someone could give this a poor rating, unless, as I stated, one concludes such reviewers are ignorant and inexperienced practitioners of the reading and historical arts (again, you be the judge, after noting their misspellings and grammar).
Anyway, I will probably get this in hardcover, if available, as it is a worthy addition to my permanent library collection. And I will likely seek out more books and information on the subject.

This is not a book I would typically choose but a friend recommended it as "the best book I've ever read" and so trying to determine what would constitute this recommendation, I read it. It is the true tale of a group of men trying to explore the antartic in 1916. How their ship gets trapped in the ice and how they manage to survive until they are rescued or I should say, how they rescue themselves. This is really a gripping story that I would recommend as an excelent read.

Alfred Lansing wrote this in 1959, but its popularity has been revived recently when PBS broadcast a documentary on the book. It tells the story of how Ernest Shackleton led a crew of 27 on an exploratory expedition to the South Pole in 1914. It reminds me of Roosevelt exploring the River of Doubt, a book I reviewed at hungerisgood.blogspot.com.

My recommendation is that you read this book in the summer, outside in a hammock, drinking lemonade, with the warm breeze blowing your hair. After all, Shackleton and his men are experiencing extreme, bitter cold, and this book has the capacity to make you feel cold even on a hot day. However, if you want to get the full experience, go to a walk-in cooler at someplace like Costco, and read it in short sleeves.

You won't be able to put this book down, so don't start it until you are sure you won't compromise your work or family obligations. I suggest you wait until you get influenza, or perhaps take a trip to Mexico. Whatever you do, don't read it while you have influenza in Mexico. That would be a little over the top.

My favorite part was their encounter with a rogue wave. The worst part was so bad that I can't discuss it. The best news is that Shackleton brought all his men home alive.

This book is an excellent study of leadership. Shackleton had an uncanny ability to know the strengths and weaknesses of his men. He was able to control the troublemakers, and that is no small feat when you are crowded in total darkness for months at a time in the bottom of a wooden ship. Remember, they hadn't invented antiperspirants yet.

Read and enjoy!

In August 1914, Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven set sail from England to Antarctica, their goal to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. These guys didn't have any kind of luck but bad. First their ship gets stuck in the ice for ten months, then the ship is crushed in the ice, and then they float on the ice for another five months before taking to the small boats. And that's just the beginning. Given up for lost, it would be 20 months before the rest of the world knew they had survived, against every imaginable force the sea could throw at them. Whenever you think you can't do whatever it is that you must, read Endurance by Alfred Lansing.