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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
informative
medium-paced
It gets a bit bogged down into much detail at parts, but it is a very interesting story, in particular why one group survives and the other doesn't.
The narrator is really boring … may read this in bookform one day.
I wanted to give this book only 2 stars. It was often slow and read like a somewhat boring history book at times. However, what those men went through and were able to overcome was so incredible that I decided it warranted a better rating.
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Thoroughly engaging and a wonderful account of how two boat crews eked out life in one of the world's most remote and inhospitable places: The Auckland Islands. That two ships should wreck at nearly the same time and at (almost) the exact same remote place is a fascinating tale in its own right, but that their survival ordeals should be so completely different is what turns these incredible coincidences into a page-turning book.
I highly recommend this as a companion to Mike Dash's excellent 'Batavia's Graveyard'
I highly recommend this as a companion to Mike Dash's excellent 'Batavia's Graveyard'
In 1864, the Grafton is shipwrecked on Auckland Island, thrusting its crew into must-survive circumstances (and ultimately into having to try to affect their own rescue after having remained stranded on Auckland Island for two bleak winters). Shortly after that shipwreck, the Invercauld is also shipwrecked on Auckland Island, though on a different part of Auckland Island, thrusting that crew into must-survive circumstances as well. The two crews never knew about the presence of the other during their whole time stranded there.
There were some interesting comparisons between actions of the two crews – mainly brought about by [1] the knowledge and capabilities had by each of the individual crewmembers and [2] the level of crew cooperation and bonding that the officers could inspire in their men. In addition, where on the island each crew had been shipwrecked also dictated, to some extent, that crew’s ability to secure the basics for survival, mainly, food and shelter.
But, despite the comparisons, the book is mostly focused the crew of the Grafton. I assume this is partly because the crew of the Grafton was stranded for a longer period of time and partly because the recording of those events, written by different crewmembers of the Grafton, were more complete and more extensive than those written by crewmembers of the Invercauld.
In the end, this is a story of severe deprivation, yet also a story of the resilience of the human spirit. Worth the read.
There were some interesting comparisons between actions of the two crews – mainly brought about by [1] the knowledge and capabilities had by each of the individual crewmembers and [2] the level of crew cooperation and bonding that the officers could inspire in their men. In addition, where on the island each crew had been shipwrecked also dictated, to some extent, that crew’s ability to secure the basics for survival, mainly, food and shelter.
But, despite the comparisons, the book is mostly focused the crew of the Grafton. I assume this is partly because the crew of the Grafton was stranded for a longer period of time and partly because the recording of those events, written by different crewmembers of the Grafton, were more complete and more extensive than those written by crewmembers of the Invercauld.
In the end, this is a story of severe deprivation, yet also a story of the resilience of the human spirit. Worth the read.
What a riveting book! The five member crew of the GRAFTON are shipwrecked on remote subantarctic Auckland Island south of New Zealand in 1863. Over 20 months of being stranded, they manage not only to survive, but build a house, and eventually a forge to make tools and fasteners, and make a boat to save themselves. During this same period, another ship wrecks on the other side of the same island, where lack of leadership and in-fighting leads to disastrous results. Both maritime history, and a demonstration of the best and worst of human nature in the face of adversity.