Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Alfred Lansing
Read August 2008
Copy borrowed from Ramsey County Public Library, Mounds View branch
Essay written Friday, October 17th, 2008
Wonderfully compelling. An adventure tale in the vein of Kon-Tiki, which I loved. I had sort of shied away from books about the British Arctic and Antarctic explorers because, as a Norwegian, I know that the sun rises and sets with Roald Amundsen. But Endurance looked good, short, I gave it a whirl and I'm glad I did. It's a special book not only because the subject matter was such a spectacular event, but also because it was written by a clearly superior master of the verbal arts. I've never heard of this Lansing guy, but man oh man he nailed it with this book. Expertly done.
It's a rare book indeed that can still come across so compelling even after fifty years. This book was written fifty years ago. Absolutely marvelous.
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