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trin's review against another edition
3.0
Love the insanity of exploration fuckups, particularly polar exploration fuckups. I read with the same fascination/relief with which I watch videos about cave diving disasters, knowing I will never, ever do this.
Madhouse at the End of the Earth is a well-executed example of the genre, profiling a lesser-known expedition, and serving as a particularly fascinating portrait of Roald Amundsen (later very famous for being the first man to reach the South Pole) and Fredrick Cook (later dismissed as a scammer for his North Pole claims, and then jailed for a Ponzi scheme) and their friendship. The Terror girlies (gn) would like this one.
Sancton grapples with how much of what Cook says can be taken as fact when he's a proven fraud in some cases, and perhaps overly maligned in others. I enjoyed this final stretch of the book a lot, but could maybe have done with slightly less detail of being trapped in the ice. (I'm sure the Belgica's crew could have likewise done with less of being trapped in the ice.) Sancton is mostly a good tour guide and portraitist, though he makes a few weird assumptions, bizarre claims (petty but: Sherlock Holmes is not an antihero), and glides past some issues of sexual and racial politics with a bit too much ease. But overall, if you like this kind of thing, you will like this.
Madhouse at the End of the Earth is a well-executed example of the genre, profiling a lesser-known expedition, and serving as a particularly fascinating portrait of Roald Amundsen (later very famous for being the first man to reach the South Pole) and Fredrick Cook (later dismissed as a scammer for his North Pole claims, and then jailed for a Ponzi scheme) and their friendship. The Terror girlies (gn) would like this one.
Sancton grapples with how much of what Cook says can be taken as fact when he's a proven fraud in some cases, and perhaps overly maligned in others. I enjoyed this final stretch of the book a lot, but could maybe have done with slightly less detail of being trapped in the ice. (I'm sure the Belgica's crew could have likewise done with less of being trapped in the ice.) Sancton is mostly a good tour guide and portraitist, though he makes a few weird assumptions, bizarre claims (petty but: Sherlock Holmes is not an antihero), and glides past some issues of sexual and racial politics with a bit too much ease. But overall, if you like this kind of thing, you will like this.
candicet114's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.25
I am aware that I'm a need but this book got me so hyped to continue reading about polar exploration. Expanded my tbr exponentially. A lovely gateway to the antarctic.
catupiry's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
The perfect book for me, what can I say. History. Age of exploration gone wrong. Naval. PERFECTIONNNNNN
cate_zh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
5.0
35lauriemb's review against another edition
Although the story was good the writing was tedious. Boring.