Rating: Summary: Shackelton's Journey Review: This is a great book. It really started to pickup after the first 100 pages. When I was reading this book from the beginning, it was dull and uninteresting. All they were doing was staying on the ship and talking about all their provisions and the things that they would need to survive. Once the Endurance sank, and they got on the ice, the story picked up pace. They floated on the ice for quite a while until it broke up. Shackelton was a great decsion maker, because he knew exactly when to launch the boats. The most exciting part was when the open boat journey from Elphant island to South Georgia was taken. I thought that all the men left behind on Elephant Island would die through the winter, but they didn't. Shackelton came back for them and it was all over. I felt that the story ending was incomplete. Alfred Lansing Could"ve told us more about what happened. I always read fiction books because I like them better, but this was one of the best non-fiction books thatI had read.
Rating: Summary: Simply remarkable. Review: If you find yourself frustrated by the mundane hassels of everyday life, read this humbling, awe-inspiring story of human survival in the face of the most absurd conditions. Shackleton and his men display an unextinguishable optimism and courage rarely seen these days - not even Hollywood could devise a script this gripping and powerful.
Rating: Summary: Enduring the Endurance Review: Due to the braveness shown by the men throughout this book, and it being a true story I gave this book a 5 because it couldn't have been written in any other way. It shows the hardships the men had to face. The details about the men's desparity to live and how they had to kill their own pack of dogs were gruesome, but show the hardships the men had to face. Alfred Lansing made the moment by moment details make the book come to life along with the seemingly doomed men. His own personal hands-on research on the ship and the voyage make it a very honest story to believe. The wind, the dampness, the bitter cold and the long months of darkness in the winter seem like more than any man should be able to stand. They slept in wet sleeping bags in sub-freezing temperature; ate unappetizing foods; and still managed to keep their hopes alive. It is only the resourcefulness of Sir Ernest and the hand of God that allows these men to avoid a certain death. These are men who went to Hell and came back alive. At the end of the book all 28 men who started on the voyage survive. This is one of those books that truly puts life into perspective. What these men went through--had to go through--simply for survival is utterly amazing and inspirational. I could not imagine any more desolate and hopeless conditions. The book speaks a lot for the endurance of the human spirit, its willingness and strength to continue on at all odds as long as a shred of hope still remains. Having the photographs from the voyage included in Alexander's book adds an important extra advantage point to the story. This is a must-read book about leadership and courage in almost incomprehensible circumstances. I have NEVER stayed up all night reading a book and admit I read for extra points in English class, but once I started, I couldn't put this one down. I was exhausted the next day from lack of sleep, but enjoyed the journey.
Rating: Summary: Overcoming Adversity and Defining Heroism Review: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is a story of heroism, bravery, courage, and survival of twenty-eight men on their way to Antarctica to cross the mysterious continent on foot. Lansing makes clear the motives that drove the men to take on such a journey and analyzes the personality and ambition of the only man who would take that risk. Fore it was none other than Sir Ernest Shackleton who dared to take on this challenge because no one else had the heart or the audacity to do it first. After their ship, the Endurance, got stuck in the sea ice and was eventually crushed by the immense pressure that it created, the men had no choice but to carry on foot with three small vessels. They had no control over their Fate, and they simply had to battle whatever Mother Nature heaved their way. And Mother Nature did not spare any mercy for the men. However, despite all the times they could have given up, the men held on to a certain faith and hope that everything was going to be all right, and it is bewildering to ponder where that inner force came from. Alfred Lansing does an excellent job to portray and let the reader feel the desperation the men could of had in that situation. Usually its the reader that tries to subconsciously reassure the characters that in the end all will be well, however in this suspenseful adventure, its the men on board the Endurance that reassure the readers with their optimism and trust that they will be all right. Until the final moment of rescue, Nature did not give the men any slack, and instead she seemed to slap them in the face every time they came close to a major step in their journey. Yet in the end, the men defeated all the odds against them, which there were many, and embraced civilization with a deeper understanding of themselves as well as the forces that run their lives. Lansing makes us realize that in the end, we are so small in the scale of life, and we seem to think that the existence of the world revolves around us. Yet, we forget that there is another world that is bigger and more powerful than ours and in the end it will leave us dumbfounded and in awe with amazement. This amazing power, however, can only be understood through the compelling and powerful words of Alfred Lansing.
Rating: Summary: What was the point? Review: As I read Endurance, I searched for a point a morale in the book, I was very disappointed because there wasn't one.Endurance was some what like Robinson Crusoe, full of useless details. Do I seem like one who would care how many seals you killed? The book could have been shortned by a lot if the details were removed. Don't get me wrong some parts of the book did provide for some good supspense, ie would they make it to South Georgia?,but I just didn't enjoy it.Another problem with the book was the point of view the book was written in, Who was the narrator? You could never tell who was talking, and the diary exerpts just simply needed to be removed.
Rating: Summary: Incredible and totally fascinating true story Review: I had never heard of this story before and I must say it has to be one of the most astonishing and fascinating non-fiction stories of all time. In fact, this story of 27 men living and ultimately surviving one of the most terrifying conditions one can imagine, is almost too hard to comprehend. This is also a great story of leadership and teamwork which should be an example of how one can overcome the worst odds imaginable and should be required reading in history and management classes. One can really learn and be inspired by these men who did not achieve what they had outset for, but achieved much more, the ultimate reward - survival - in the end.
Rating: Summary: Gripping Story Review: This is one of the best books that I have read. The story is told with varying degrees of detail that the author has woven into a suspenseful story. The series of events that these men are exposed to leaves me in complete awe of there ability to endure and continue on. The author does a masterful job of telling the story in enough detail to give you the feeling that you are there with the men. This book is a quick read and was difficult to put down once I started it.
Rating: Summary: One of the finest adventure chronicles ever written Review: Amazing, awe-inspiring, gripping. Expertly explores the immensity of the human spirit. The Best of the Best. It's been years since I last read this account, but it still causes me to shiver when I recall the adventure of the men of the Endurance. It is mind-boggling that men such as these existed less than 100 years ago. Daring, heroic, and intelligent...and caught up in a time before the widespread use of some of our most powerful technologies...their story is practically without equal in the annals of adventure writing. Whenever I feel I am having a difficult time, I think back to this story, and it certainly helps me to put things in perspective. People who have never known a time without radio, motorized travel, telephones, 911, or rescue helicopters will hardly be able to believe the true events chronicled in this book. A more exciting, tension-filled, true-life chronicle will be very difficult to find.
Rating: Summary: ADVENTURE PERSONIFIED Review: This is, bar none, one of the best adventure stories ever lived. You will be amazed when you start reading this story and will find it hard to put down. Being a military man I often finding myself in rather cold, wet and miserable conditions. After reading this story, whenever I feel sorry for myself, I think of Shackelton and his men and how they survived what must of been the most harrowing ordeals ever recorded. Highly recommended. Bought it for my father-in-law last Christmas and he was equally enthralled with the story.
Rating: Summary: What an amazing tale of courage Review: This is one of those books that truly puts life into perspective. What these men went through--had to go through--simply for survival is utterly amazing and inspirational. I could not imagine any more desolate and hopeless conditions. The books speaks a lot for the endurance of the human spirit, its willingness and strength to continue on at all odds as long as a shred of hope still remains. And this is what Shackleton gave his men: always a shred of hope. And that is precisely what this book is about--hope. I recommend its reading highly; it is a tale you will remember and talk about and a tale that will impact how you see the world.
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