Shackleton's Voyage by Donald Barr Chidsey is the most dramatic tale of survival against all odds that I have read since Gary Paulsen's Hatchet. The thing that fascinated me most in this book was the fact that after Shackleton had failed on his first attempt to discover the South Pole, he proceeded to try again, some six years later, with a crew of 26, aboard the greatest ship of the time, the Endurance. It fascinated me because I couldn't understand why, after seeing the devastation and hardships that could, and would be faced, he would do it again. The best part of the story occurs in the last 30 pages or so, when Shackleton decides the only way they will ever make it out alive is by walking out of their own icy tomb. There's a quote in this section that I especially liked, where things finally turn around. It is the last paragraph, on page 161. "Why not? Somebody had to go and get help. The men might survive a winter on this highly inhospitable island, but with the coming of spring in September, they could not reasonably hope to be spotted and rescued by some stray whaler. So they would have to go and get their own help; and the person to do that, obviously, was Earnest Henry Shackleton. They were his boys weren't they?" I was mesmerized by this quote, because it shows that these explorers were finally taking things into their own hands.

The theme of this story is that no matter how bad things are, you should never give up hope. The commitment to hope, to overcoming what seems impossible, is something that I feel very strongly about because it is a decision to always push forward, to go on with life, to not surrender. The only thing that these stranded men had left was hope, and with no safe shelter, inadequate clothing, nothing but pemmican to eat day after day, and sheer, unbearable boredom, hope was the only thing they had left. With things going so horribly, if they gave up hope, they might as well have given up their lives. This theme relates to me, being the eternal optimist that I am, because I hold hope close to my heart. As an optimist, and also an athlete and a person with a learning disability, I have found over and over again, that it is the belief that things can always be better that keeps you in the game of life. Without hope that belief would be gone.

This is a book well worth the read. It is an exciting and intriguing adventure that introduces you to the early exploration of the Antarctic. It is an awesome adventure where 26 ordinary men battle the elements and themselves . I recommend this book so strongly because it's one that even if you're not an explorer you would like to imagine yourself as one.

I first became interested in Shackleton's incredible story after seeing photos and a short version of Caroline Alexander's book in the National Geographic a couple of years ago. Since then, I've read and reread Lansing's account, as well as Alexander's, and twice seen the new Butler documentary which incorporates the photos and early film of the expedition's photographer, Frank Hurley.

This is quite simply one of the most amazing stories I've ever read. Survival in the face of incredible hardship. Astonishing bravery, persistence, and resourcefulness, all in the face of unimaginable bad luck. This story should have ended in death at least five times. Instead, after 16 (or 20, depending on who you're counting for) months marooned in the antarctic circle, not a single member of Shackleton's crew was lost.

Lansing's account is creditable and more interesting than Alexander's, though her book has the better pictures. I'd suggest buying both.

...because I would still be thawing out from Shackleton's wild romp in the Antarctic. And a few years have passed since their adventure and those fateful seventeen months in 1914-16 when Shackleton and his men encountered the worst Murphy's Law could throw their way. The book is a testament to human endurance, to Lansing's writing, and the leadership of a man like Ernest Shackleton. It is an enjoyable read from front to back, from launch to recovery, from freezing to thawing.

As far as adventure/disaster books go, I would rank it behind Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air." Though the author Lansing does an incredible job placing the reader "there" with Shackleton's men as they get their ship stuck in the ice pack in the Weddell Sea, float on ice floes, launch across treacherous seas in lifeboats, and go where no man has gone before on a last ditch desperate land jaunt, the fact doesn't change that Lansing, himself, wasn't there. I think no matter how hard an author can apply his trade to a story, it is difficult to relay to the reader the immediacy of impending doom and the cold and dread and the spirit that drives men to survival. Don't get me wrong, Lansing does a fine job bringing off this task, but it is short of the immediacy Krakauer gives the reader of putting you "there" in the desperate situation and knowing what it is like to survive from the worst nature and man has to offer.

If you want to read the best in adventure/disaster writing start skip by Junger's somewhat thrill-lacking "The Perfect Storm," and head straight for "Into Thin Air," followed by Lansing's "Endurance." Be warned though, you will be losing out on some sleep in the process since these books absolutely prove impossible to put down. Stoke the fire, turn the thermostat up, because you will be chilled to the bone and will probably have nightmares of Sea Lions chasing you across ice floes once you finish the book and finally get some sleep.

I enjoyed this book, and read it in one day, pouring through the various chapters and one tragedy to the next. My only complaint is that many of the chapters were excerpts from other books, and the stories sometimes felt unfinished. Those excerpts would cover the hit (or near miss) of the summit, then cover some sort of trial to the participating climbers. The climbers may or may not survive the trial, and then that would be the end of it. I actually craved a little bit more of the post-expedition soul-searching.

this is a really great compilation of a bunch of different climbing stories. Real climbers own and read this book. in fact, you can be like them if you read this book. Experience the magic, live the dream.

This book contains the greatest short stories about climbing that I have ever read. Each story is unique and as entertaining as the other.