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Ice: Stories of Survival from Polar Exploration
Ice is a riveting collection of writing about polar exploration -- stories of self-sacrifice, beauty, and heroism by eminent adventurers who have endured 50-below-zero temperatures, gale winds, and starvation to explore the farthest reaches of the globe. Robert Scott's journals recount his long march to and from the South Pole, which ends with the death of all his men and Scott himself. Ernest Shackleton offers an account of his heroic efforts to save his men when their ship was crushed by ice thousands of miles from civilization. Richard Byrd writes of his own near-breakdown under the stress of spending a winter alone at the South Pole.
from Mawson's will / Lennard Bickel --
A bad time / Nancy Mitford --
from The worst journey in the world / Apsley Cherry-Garrard --
from Scott's last expedition: the journals / Robert Falcon Scott --
A simple quest / Michael McRae --
from Alone / Richard E. Byrd --
from The voyage of the Jeannette / George W. DeLong --
from Arctic dreams / Barry Lopez --
The last pork chop / Edward Abbey --
from The snow people / Marie Herbert --
from Six came back / David L. Brainard --
from South / Sir Ernest Shackleton --
from I may be some time / Francis Spufford --
from Beyond Cape Horn / Charles Neider --
from The birthday boys / Beryl Bainbridge
from Mawson's will / Lennard Bickel --
A bad time / Nancy Mitford --
from The worst journey in the world / Apsley Cherry-Garrard --
from Scott's last expedition: the journals / Robert Falcon Scott --
A simple quest / Michael McRae --
from Alone / Richard E. Byrd --
from The voyage of the Jeannette / George W. DeLong --
from Arctic dreams / Barry Lopez --
The last pork chop / Edward Abbey --
from The snow people / Marie Herbert --
from Six came back / David L. Brainard --
from South / Sir Ernest Shackleton --
from I may be some time / Francis Spufford --
from Beyond Cape Horn / Charles Neider --
from The birthday boys / Beryl Bainbridge
374 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 25, 2018
While I enjoyed this anthology, I was too annoyed about one thing to appreciate it fully. There are 15 excerpts of polar expeditions, both by the explorers themselves and others.
Of these 15, 6 were about Scott and/or members of Scott’s expedition.
Of these 15, zero (yes, that’s right! Zero!) were about Amundsen. I just don’t see how you can create a collection of essays by and about polar explorers, and NOT include arguably the greatest and most successful polar explorer of all time. In fact, he was only mentioned in passing, and only to serve as the villain to Scott’s hero!! Damn British bias.
Book gets three stars because I enjoyed the stories and De Long was included, and I love Alexey. So. (Also, I take your Scott/Wilson and raise you De Long/Ambler.)
Of these 15, 6 were about Scott and/or members of Scott’s expedition.
Of these 15, zero (yes, that’s right! Zero!) were about Amundsen. I just don’t see how you can create a collection of essays by and about polar explorers, and NOT include arguably the greatest and most successful polar explorer of all time. In fact, he was only mentioned in passing, and only to serve as the villain to Scott’s hero!! Damn British bias.
Book gets three stars because I enjoyed the stories and De Long was included, and I love Alexey. So. (Also, I take your Scott/Wilson and raise you De Long/Ambler.)
November 17, 2008
Lots of excerpts from some of the great Antarctic adventures: Shackleton, Cherry. Loved reading it for nostalgia's sake.
April 19, 2013
This book encompasses a number of short stories about many expeditions to the Poles, most of them depressing and discouraging. It amazes me that these men would attempt such life-threatening trips in the early 1900's, facing endless walking across icy wastelands, unimaginable cold temperatures, and immense hardship such as lack of food and proper equipment. I guess they wanted adventure and to explore someplace that hadn't really been seen before. Many of them spoke of the beauty and clarity of the surroundings despite the harsh conditions. The stories are very similar in describing these difficulties. Several stories were about Scott's doomed expedition, told from various points of view. Some were told in a factual way with excerpts from actual diaries. My favorites, though, were told in a more personal storylike way, letting us get to know the thoughts and dreams of the people involved. I liked Six Came Back which described Greeley and 24 men who tried to return from a weather station after 2 years. Another interesting story was From South which told of the Shackleton expedition. Intesting stories, in a non-fiction sort of way, but not something I'd normally pick up to read for fun.
February 6, 2015
A great collection of writings on the exploration of the poles.
Fascinating excerpts from Shackleton's South and from Scott's diaries. The endurance and sheer toughness of these early polar explorers is incredible. Most notable was a touching account of Captain Oates who took his own life by walking out into a blizzard in order to help save his comrades.
Recommended if you want a good introduction to polar exploits. It gave me a good reference list of some other works to read on the topic. I will definitely try and locate the other books in this series.
Fascinating excerpts from Shackleton's South and from Scott's diaries. The endurance and sheer toughness of these early polar explorers is incredible. Most notable was a touching account of Captain Oates who took his own life by walking out into a blizzard in order to help save his comrades.
Recommended if you want a good introduction to polar exploits. It gave me a good reference list of some other works to read on the topic. I will definitely try and locate the other books in this series.
July 16, 2016
I know most of these stories and several of them I have read before. The editor certainly went for the grimmest ones! I was particularly fond of the story of the guy who was a middle-aged professor of biology who wanted to winter over in Antarctica without a permit and didn't tell his wife. He bought a boat but had to be rescued from the ocean before he got very far. Crazy. I also liked Edward Abbey in Alaska. Other than that, I either knew the stories or didn't like the ones that I didn't know.
June 27, 2015
These excerpts were thrilling to read, and led me to finding and reading a number of the books in full. These are men worth knowing and sharing time with. The history is fascinating but it is the men themselves, the personalities and strong characters that can be discovered, admired and wept for. There is much tragedy here, and loss; loss of dreams, loss of promises of glory, loss of fortune, and loss of life. But much beauty, too. I recommend this book very highly, but also the primary sources from which the selections are taken.
Want to read
April 2, 2008I picked this up at the used bookstore the other day because it looked interesting ...
January 2, 2015
To be quite honest, I thought this book was obnoxious. The writing was superb and the history within all that is written was interesting and revealing, yet still obnoxious.
January 20, 2024
Some of the stories were very confusing and written with gaps of time and like a report but others were written more like a story and were very intriguing to read. I would say the first stories in this book were my favorites.
September 29, 2014
This is a collections of excerpts. It sat on the bed side table for a long time—I finally put it back with about a quarter left to go.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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