Obviously Shackleton is the idol of Worsley's life, and so Sir Ernest is painted in only the most flattering light.

It's understandable that Worsley felt a real debt of gratitude to Shackleton for launching his exploration career and for saving his life. Shackleton liked to hire on based on gut feelings and intuition, and some have criticized his choice of Worsley as he was captaining a ship on a major polar expedition with no polar experience. He was hired on as captain after having a dream about Shackelton's upcoming expedition and went to meet Sir Ernest. I don't hesitate recommending it to anyone who wants to 'go deeper' on the subject, and for that it was quite satisfying.įrank Worsley was the navigator and skipper aboard the Endurance. While these qualities were understandable (and something that only Worsley could have written) it made for a less engrossing reader experience than the other two books. While I enjoyed the book for its unique voice and singular viewpoint, it was quite dated in tone and a bit hero-worshippy. I found Tyler-Lewis' The Lost Men to provide valuable historical context, and so it was a fitting pleasure to have a story in the skipper's voice. I first read the 'other' Endurance by Alfred Lansing, which was a reportage page-turner and relied on some interviews with survivors. The third book this month on Shackleton's famous 1914 voyage to Antarctica. Moreover, this impression was shared by both Shackleton and Crean.' (pg 164) Whenever I reviewed the incidents of that march I had the sub-conscious feeling that there were four of us instead of three.

There was indeed one curious thing about our crossing of South Georgia, a thing that has given me much food for thought, and which I have never been able to explain.

There was no doubt that Providence had been with us. Incidentally I learnt afterwards that we had crossed the island during the only interval of fine weather that occurred that winter. It could blow as hard as it liked up there-now. In one of my favorite bits, he wrote that soon after they had made it through their mountain crossing 'a blizzard came blowing down from the mountain range we had just crossed. Also what happened to the men after they got back home? And what about the Ross party, that was supposed to meet up with Shackleton on the other side of Antarctica? What did they do when Shackleton never showed up, with no way to contact each other? This book finished the story better.Īlso, it was written in first person by the ship's navigator, who kept a diary throughout. For instance, I wanted more details about their rescue. I liked this Endurance better than the other Endurance book, just because it answers all of the questions I wondered about when the other book wrapped up pretty fast.

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