Rating: 
Summary: Worst journey - indeed
Review: I had my doubts about this book in the beginning as it seemed that it owuld never end. But the more I read, the more I hoped it would be even longer.
It's so easy to sink into this book and picture that you are actually living a hundred years ago.
Rating: 
Summary: The unknown face
Review: I liked very much reading this book. However I am disappointed that not a single picture of Cherry-Garrard is enclosed. So the reader still doesn`t know the face behind the story.
Rating: 
Summary: It's my Benchmark
Review: I read this book two years ago, and have read a lot of true adventure books since then. I can honestly say that I have compared all others to "Journey" - it has become my benchmark!The level of human suffering combined with positive life affirming attitudes in this book is overwhelming! It's difficult to apprehend the challenges these men faced, and for such long periods of time. Their feats are nothing short of miracles. To top it off, "Cherry" recounts the story with superb style and grace. In todays world of "keep it simple", "dumb it down", and "shorter is better", it's refreshing to read an author who lets the language flow and uses it with a beauty of it's own. Granted, it was "normal" language at the time that it was written, but even among his peers, he excelled at the written word. That's why "this" book is a better choice that other books on the same topic. You get this one from Cherry's own diary and words, not a modern author looking at it from the outside in. In spite of the illustrations included in the edition that I read, it would be helpful to consult other maps of the area. There were times when it took some digging to figure out exactly where the authors were (geographically) and the terrain difficulties that they discussed. Once you figure it out, though, there is usally another "WOW" moment attached to it. If there is anything wrong with this book, it would be that it needs better maps in a variety of scales for frames of reference, and MORE PICTURES! There are times when your imagination just won't do justice to reality. Seeing it in a photo would be fantastic. There are many other sources for those photos... check them out while reading this book. All in all, a GREAT adventure book. If you are interested in true life adventure which tests the limits of the human soul, spirit, and physical abilities, this book is an absolute MUST read.
Rating:
Summary: It's my Benchmark
Review: I read this book two years ago, and have read a lot of true adventure books since then. I can honestly say that I have compared all others to "Journey" - it has become my benchmark! The level of human suffering combined with positive life affirming attitudes in this book is overwhelming! It's difficult to apprehend the challenges these men faced, and for such long periods of time. Their feats are nothing short of miracles. To top it off, "Cherry" recounts the story with superb style and grace. In todays world of "keep it simple", "dumb it down", and "shorter is better", it's refreshing to read an author who lets the language flow and uses it with a beauty of it's own. Granted, it was "normal" language at the time that it was written, but even among his peers, he excelled at the written word. That's why "this" book is a better choice that other books on the same topic. You get this one from Cherry's own diary and words, not a modern author looking at it from the outside in. In spite of the illustrations included in the edition that I read, it would be helpful to consult other maps of the area. There were times when it took some digging to figure out exactly where the authors were (geographically) and the terrain difficulties that they discussed. Once you figure it out, though, there is usally another "WOW" moment attached to it. If there is anything wrong with this book, it would be that it needs better maps in a variety of scales for frames of reference, and MORE PICTURES! There are times when your imagination just won't do justice to reality. Seeing it in a photo would be fantastic. There are many other sources for those photos... check them out while reading this book. All in all, a GREAT adventure book. If you are interested in true life adventure which tests the limits of the human soul, spirit, and physical abilities, this book is an absolute MUST read.
Rating:
Summary: A remarkable look at adventure as it never will be again.
Review: I was lead to The Worst Journey by Elizabeth Arthur's Antarctic Navigation. That novel tells of a woman's quest to recreate the real-life expedition described here.
The Worst Journey in the World is not a suspense tale in that we know the outcome even before beginning to read; but it is as captivating as the best-woven mystery.
Apsley Cherry-Gerrard drew from the diaries of his companions and quotes from them extensively. He and his fellow adventurers are skillful writers, and their stiff-upper-lip diaries and letters vascilate from scientific observation to joyful description of the wonders of their environment.
These diaries and Cherry-Gerrard's narrative make extraordinary conditions and events seem rather matter-of-fact. Reading the chapters about the Winter Journey one must step back and consider what is being described in modern terms. Three men crossed a frozen sea in the arctic night, dragging a sledge with all of their food and supplies. The average temperature was around -60. Making a camp and cooking a meal too hours, and when they finally defrosted their sleeping bags they could hardly sleep for the shivering. They knew nothing of vitamins, and only a little about scurvy. Their food was biscuits, butter, jerkey, and tea. Their goal? To collect emperor penguin eggs. They returned with three.
In 1911, these men were adventurers. Today they would be lunatics. In 1911 their venture was funded by governments and sponsors, and considered well-equiped. Today it seems beyond reckless. Today the US Military mans a post on the spot where Scott's group lived for two winters--their hut still stands, surrounded by military buildings.
Fortunately, the Antarctic continent remains largely unspoiled, just as Scott and Cherry-Gerrard found it.
Rating:
Summary: One of greatest true adventure stories.
Review: In search of adventure, Cherry-Garrard joined Captain Robert Scott's expedition to the South Pole, even though he was extremely nearsighted. His book is primarily devoted to a trip that he and two other members of Scott's expedition to the South Pole made to retrieve penguin eggs that were only laid during the depths of the Antarctic winter. Given the lack of knowledge of the terrain, and the horrible weather the men faced, the trip seems crazy to a modern day reader. However, these men were strong believers in the Victorian/Edwardian cult of heroism and science. Of course, they were nearly killed several times, and Cherry-Garrard's companions died with Scott on his trip to the South Pole. Cherry-Garrard's prose style is underrated -- although not a trained writer, he succeeds in vividly reporting on the horrors and joys of his experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A Worse Time Than An Emperor Penguin
Review: In the first paragraph of Apsley Cherry-Garrard's introduction to this book, he starts his tale of Antarctic travails with the droll line, "I do not believe anybody on Earth has a worse time than an Emperor penguin." This displays his very modest and understated tale of what was really the worst journey in the world. This book deserves its reputation as an adventure classic, as Cherry-Garrard outlines the disastrous expedition for the South Pole by Captain R.F. Scott in 1913, in which the author was a young expedition member. This book certainly has its share of great adventure narratives and tales of hardship as experienced by the early explorers, including many falls into crevasses, continuous deadly weather, and near-madness brought on by the midnight sun or snowblindness. There are some unexpectedly interesting tales from before the actual expedition as well, as the author describes the voyage by ship to Antarctica with the trouble of having ponies and sled dogs on board, while the ship got trapped in pack ice for weeks. This book can be a tough read however, because Cherry-Garrard was a rather tedious writer. Note that the book was written in 1922 and styles were different back then, while the author admits that he meant to create a field guide for future explorers and not armchair adventurers, like most of us are today. However, this doesn't alleviate some of the writing difficulties. About a third of the time the author's style is very conversational and light-hearted, especially when he is praising his teammates in the expedition and describing their personal interactions. Otherwise though, the book often gets stuck in extremely verbose technical explanations of provisions and logistics. An example is an episode early in the book when the author, a few colleagues, and their horses were trapped on shore ice that was breaking up, and they had to jump the horses and themselves from floe to floe, over stretches of frigid water, all the while being observed ominously by a troop of killer whales. The author describes this harrowing episode with such clinical, detached understatement that all the obvious horror and heroism are ironed out. This problem is alleviated in the later stages of the book, as Cherry-Garrard describes the tragic death of Captain Scott and other team members in the doomed return trip from the South Pole. Plus, the final chapter is very moving as the author philosophizes on the loss of his comrades and the ethics of such dangerous exploration, with an eloquent sense of survivor's guilt. So while some portions become a tedious technical manual rather than a tale of heroism and exploration, this classic book is still a very worthy read for adventure fans.
Rating: 
Summary: A. Alvarev rave review in New York Review of Books
Review: In the New York Review of Books, noted critic A. Alvarez gave us possibly the best review we have ever had of a book: " 'The Worst Journey in the World' is to travel writing what 'War and Peace' is to the novel ...: the book by which all the rest are measured. Cherry-Garard gave Scott and his companions a different kind of immortality by making them the occasion for a literary masterpiece 'The Worst in the World' is the gerat literary testimony to fortitude. But it is also a great book because it is full of life and appetite. [Cherry-Garrard's prose] is perfect...: lucid, vivid, bone-simple, and full of feeling..., a perfect balance of precision and pleasure."
Rating: 
Summary: overrated and lengthy tale-for hardcore pole readers only
Review: In this instance..quantity does not equal quality. The book is ponderous, repetitive, poorly edited and not even very descriptive. With so many Antarctic exploration reading choices available...there are much better books available..unless you're into reading day-by-day expedition logs. For Scott fans..read A First Rate Tragedy or even Scott's Last Voyage-(with those superb Ponting photos). For Shackleton fans..Endurance or South. Cherry-Garrard should have used an editor as Sir Ernest did to scope the story down. Your story doesn't have to be long to be dramatic or effective. Lastly...to see how an Antarctic tale should be done..read Douglas Mawson's hugely underrated The Home Of The Blizzard. The Worst Journey In The World should be read..just after you've finished better crafted pieces first and when you have the time to plow through its' almost 600 pages.
Rating:
Summary: God save us from amateur critics from Hong Kong!
Review: It is wholly irrelevant to appraise this book in terms of literary style. If the author can relate his experiences only with the artistic flare of a washing-machine manual anyone with any iota of imagination will be transported to the Antartic tundra and be astounded to learn of the incredible hardships endured by Apsley-Cherry and his team for the sake of a penguin egg. As it is the book is a very compelling account of his own expedition and Scott's. How on earth can anyone criticise this book, what do they want flowery fiction? It's mainly a diary of events for Christ's sake. This book needs no embellishment it is a fantastic testament to a fantastic journey. Read it, read it indoors and thank god for central heating. For God's sake look after our people!
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