And its all the more inspiring for the way in which it is recounted with typical English reserve and modesty, further enhanced by the subtle reading of Simon Vance. But it is none the less, in the sense of the fortitude and courage of the men who undertook the trip. It seems wrong to say that this expedition is inspiring to a modern day reader. Furthermore, scientific work continued after it became clear that Scott and his select band had perished on the return leg of their journey, having been beaten to the Pole by rival Norwegian explorers who had taken a different route and were more accustomed to cold weather exploration than the British.
And there were many men involved in the trip that did not make the fatal attempt on the South Pole. Do not miss this book!.Ĭontrary to what is often believed, Scott's expedition to Antarctica was as much as a scientific expedition as it was an attempt to reach the South Pole. The narration by Robert Whitfield.is superb - he inhabits the world and the people, bringing out the social differences between officers and men with great skill and subtlety. I was totally transported and gripped, and the last days of the polar team ( from Scott's diaries) are so moving. The personal details are so telling - Apsley Cherry-Garrard should never have gone (he was shortsighted, young and unskilled) and often he could not wear his glasses because of the cold but still plugged on without a complaint.
Apsley Cherry-Garrard's account is beautifully written (apparently with some help from his neighbour George Bernard Shaw) and though in the early stages you think he goes into too much detail, it all builds up to a tapestry of triumph and disaster. What those men went through was so extraordinary that it almost beggars belief. This outstanding account was written some ten years later by the youngest participant, clearly still guiltridden for not finding the party returning from the Pole. Read it and be awestruck by what the men of Captain Scott's last expedition did in the days before modern technology and communications.
0 kommentar(er)
