Since Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1912, controversy has raged about the correct interpretation of and explanation for the tragedy. Some writers have drawn a picture of Scott as a bumbling incompetent, whose lack of experience and preparation condemned his men to their deaths. Aspley Cherry-Garrard's account The Worst Journey in the World written ten years after his narrow escape from the fate of his companions tells another side of the story. Here he portrays Scott as a fearless and noble leader whose only thought upon his death was concern for his companions on the expedition and for his wife and child. Cherry-Garrard was also a member of the search party that ultimately discovered Scott's frozen body along with his last notebook entries.
Showing posts with label Antarctica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Antarctica. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Antarctica
R-Lo recommends Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World (Antarctica).
Since Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1912, controversy has raged about the correct interpretation of and explanation for the tragedy. Some writers have drawn a picture of Scott as a bumbling incompetent, whose lack of experience and preparation condemned his men to their deaths. Aspley Cherry-Garrard's account The Worst Journey in the World written ten years after his narrow escape from the fate of his companions tells another side of the story. Here he portrays Scott as a fearless and noble leader whose only thought upon his death was concern for his companions on the expedition and for his wife and child. Cherry-Garrard was also a member of the search party that ultimately discovered Scott's frozen body along with his last notebook entries.
Since Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1912, controversy has raged about the correct interpretation of and explanation for the tragedy. Some writers have drawn a picture of Scott as a bumbling incompetent, whose lack of experience and preparation condemned his men to their deaths. Aspley Cherry-Garrard's account The Worst Journey in the World written ten years after his narrow escape from the fate of his companions tells another side of the story. Here he portrays Scott as a fearless and noble leader whose only thought upon his death was concern for his companions on the expedition and for his wife and child. Cherry-Garrard was also a member of the search party that ultimately discovered Scott's frozen body along with his last notebook entries.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Antarctica
Historia said, "Talking about fiction in Antarctica, you might want to consider Decipher by Stel Pavlou. An 'end of the world' novel set in Antarctica because Atlantis was in Antarctica. Here's my post about the book. It's a big book (over 500 pages) but I really enjoyed it."
In Decipher by Stel Pavlou, the story is that mankind has had 12,000 years to decipher the message, with now only one week left. There is a signal emanating from deep within the ice of Antarctica. Atlantis has awoken. Ancient monuments all over the world from the Pyramids of Giza, to Mexico to the ancient sites of China are reacting ... to a brewing crisis not of this earth, but somewhere out in the solar system. Connecting to each other through the oceans. Using low frequency sound waves to create an ancient network. The earth is thrown into panic stations. For it seems that the signals emanating from Atlantis are a prelude to something much greater. Could it be that the entire city is in fact one giant ancient machine? And to what end? For what purpose?
It is the year 2012, the same year Mayan belief prophesised the end of the world. Two armies, American and Chinese, stand on the brink of war for the control of the most potent force ever known to man. The secrets of Atlantis. Secrets which are encoded in crystal shards retrieved from the sunken city. Secrets which mankind has had twelve thousand years to decipher ... but which will now destroy it within one week.
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NOTE: Historia, I apologize, but I saw this comment from 9-16-07 for the first time today, when I read another comment you posted today. I don't understand why I was not notified by the blog, which usually happens. I would have jumped on this book because several years ago I read a book about Atlantis being in Antarctica; it was fascinating. I'll have to look up that title and post it, too. And I do want to read Decipher by Stel Pavlou as well. Thanks for this recommendation.
In Decipher by Stel Pavlou, the story is that mankind has had 12,000 years to decipher the message, with now only one week left. There is a signal emanating from deep within the ice of Antarctica. Atlantis has awoken. Ancient monuments all over the world from the Pyramids of Giza, to Mexico to the ancient sites of China are reacting ... to a brewing crisis not of this earth, but somewhere out in the solar system. Connecting to each other through the oceans. Using low frequency sound waves to create an ancient network. The earth is thrown into panic stations. For it seems that the signals emanating from Atlantis are a prelude to something much greater. Could it be that the entire city is in fact one giant ancient machine? And to what end? For what purpose?It is the year 2012, the same year Mayan belief prophesised the end of the world. Two armies, American and Chinese, stand on the brink of war for the control of the most potent force ever known to man. The secrets of Atlantis. Secrets which are encoded in crystal shards retrieved from the sunken city. Secrets which mankind has had twelve thousand years to decipher ... but which will now destroy it within one week.
__________
NOTE: Historia, I apologize, but I saw this comment from 9-16-07 for the first time today, when I read another comment you posted today. I don't understand why I was not notified by the blog, which usually happens. I would have jumped on this book because several years ago I read a book about Atlantis being in Antarctica; it was fascinating. I'll have to look up that title and post it, too. And I do want to read Decipher by Stel Pavlou as well. Thanks for this recommendation.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Antarctica
C.B. James said, "There's not a lot of fiction about Antarctica. I recommend The Brief History of the Dead which has one plot line that does take place in the antarctic."
"Remember me when I'm gone" just took on a whole new meaning.
The City is inhabited by the recently departed, who reside there only as long as they remain in the memories of the living. Among the current residents of this afterlife are Luka Sims, who prints the only newspaper in the City, with news from the other side; Coleman Kinzler, a vagrant who speaks the cautionary words of God; and Marion and Phillip Byrd, who find themselves falling in love again after decades of marriage.
On Earth, Laura Byrd is trapped by extreme weather in an Antarctic research station. She's alone and unable to contact the outside world: her radio is down and the power is failing. She's running out of supplies as quickly as she's running out of time.
Kevin Brockmeier interweaves these two stories in a spellbinding tale of human connections across boundaries of all kinds. The Brief History of the Dead is the work of a remarkably gifted writer.
"Remember me when I'm gone" just took on a whole new meaning.The City is inhabited by the recently departed, who reside there only as long as they remain in the memories of the living. Among the current residents of this afterlife are Luka Sims, who prints the only newspaper in the City, with news from the other side; Coleman Kinzler, a vagrant who speaks the cautionary words of God; and Marion and Phillip Byrd, who find themselves falling in love again after decades of marriage.
On Earth, Laura Byrd is trapped by extreme weather in an Antarctic research station. She's alone and unable to contact the outside world: her radio is down and the power is failing. She's running out of supplies as quickly as she's running out of time.
Kevin Brockmeier interweaves these two stories in a spellbinding tale of human connections across boundaries of all kinds. The Brief History of the Dead is the work of a remarkably gifted writer.
Antarctica
Historia said, "For those who wanted me to find that book from Antarctica, well, Here it is. Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole, by Jerri Nielsen (2001)."
Ice Bound is Dr. Jerri Nielsen's account of her experience at the Pole, the sea change as she becomes "of the Ice," and her realization that she would rather be on Antarctica than anywhere else on earth. It is also a thrilling adventure of researchers and scientists embattled by a hostile environment; a penetrating exploration of the dynamics of an isolated, intensely connected community faced with adversity; and, at its core, a powerfully moving drama of love and loss, of one woman's voyage of self-discovery through an extraordinary struggle for survival. Jerri Nielsen was a forty-six-year-old doctor working in Ohio when she made the decision to take a year's sabbatical at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica, the most remote and perilous place on Earth. The "Polies," as the inhabitants are known, live in almost total darkness for six months of the year, in winter temperatures as low as 100 degrees below zero -- with no way in or out before the spring.
During the long winter of 1999, Dr. Nielsen, solely responsible for the mental and physical fitness of a team of researchers, construction workers, and support staff, discovered a lump in her breast. Consulting via E-mail with doctors in the United States, she performed a biopsy on herself, and in July began chemotherapy treatments to ensure her survival until conditions permitted her rescue in October. A daring rescue by the Air National Guard ensued, who landed, dropped off a replacement physician, and minutes later took off with Dr. Nielsen.
__________
10-12-07 UPDATE: Historia has now read this book. Read her review.
Ice Bound is Dr. Jerri Nielsen's account of her experience at the Pole, the sea change as she becomes "of the Ice," and her realization that she would rather be on Antarctica than anywhere else on earth. It is also a thrilling adventure of researchers and scientists embattled by a hostile environment; a penetrating exploration of the dynamics of an isolated, intensely connected community faced with adversity; and, at its core, a powerfully moving drama of love and loss, of one woman's voyage of self-discovery through an extraordinary struggle for survival. Jerri Nielsen was a forty-six-year-old doctor working in Ohio when she made the decision to take a year's sabbatical at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Antarctica, the most remote and perilous place on Earth. The "Polies," as the inhabitants are known, live in almost total darkness for six months of the year, in winter temperatures as low as 100 degrees below zero -- with no way in or out before the spring.During the long winter of 1999, Dr. Nielsen, solely responsible for the mental and physical fitness of a team of researchers, construction workers, and support staff, discovered a lump in her breast. Consulting via E-mail with doctors in the United States, she performed a biopsy on herself, and in July began chemotherapy treatments to ensure her survival until conditions permitted her rescue in October. A daring rescue by the Air National Guard ensued, who landed, dropped off a replacement physician, and minutes later took off with Dr. Nielsen.
__________
10-12-07 UPDATE: Historia has now read this book. Read her review.
Antarctica
Historia said, "I also found 2 more Antarctica books as well: Life on the Ice: No One Goes to Antarctica Alone by Roff Smith and No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women and Their Extraordinary Journey Across Antarctica by Liv Arnesen [and Ann Bancroft]."
In Life on the Ice, Roff Smith provides an account of several trips to Antarctica, where he visited the South Pole, the large American base at McMurdo, and the smaller bases that other countries maintain. He witnesses the final run of a geriatric sled dog team, the very last time dogs would be used in Antarctica and, in addition, he sailed through the Drake Passage and then around the coast in a yacht. (Note: There is also a book by this title for primary grades, but by a different author.)
No Horizon Is So Far narrates the story of two women making history. International educators and millions of students in 116 countries participated in an online curriculum as the two ex-schoolteachers began their grueling 2,300-mile journey in mid-November 2000. Liv Arnesen, 50, an Oslo resident, was the first woman to ski solo to the South Pole; her book about the journey was a bestseller in Norway. Ann Bancroft, 48, of Minnesota, was the first woman to cross the ice to both the North and South Poles; she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In February 2001, Bancroft and Arnesen, who started as total strangers, became the first women to cross Antarctica on foot.
In Life on the Ice, Roff Smith provides an account of several trips to Antarctica, where he visited the South Pole, the large American base at McMurdo, and the smaller bases that other countries maintain. He witnesses the final run of a geriatric sled dog team, the very last time dogs would be used in Antarctica and, in addition, he sailed through the Drake Passage and then around the coast in a yacht. (Note: There is also a book by this title for primary grades, but by a different author.)
No Horizon Is So Far narrates the story of two women making history. International educators and millions of students in 116 countries participated in an online curriculum as the two ex-schoolteachers began their grueling 2,300-mile journey in mid-November 2000. Liv Arnesen, 50, an Oslo resident, was the first woman to ski solo to the South Pole; her book about the journey was a bestseller in Norway. Ann Bancroft, 48, of Minnesota, was the first woman to cross the ice to both the North and South Poles; she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In February 2001, Bancroft and Arnesen, who started as total strangers, became the first women to cross Antarctica on foot.
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