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sillypunk's review against another edition
3.0
Good but with some boring bits: https://blogendorff.ghost.io/book-review-the-ends-of-the-earth/
lamusadelils's review against another edition
4.0
Me encantó, hay historias muy interesantes y de paso conocí autores nuevos, como Tété-Michel Kpomassie (con quien, por cierto, agrego a Togo a mi lista de lecturas del mundo).
davidr's review against another edition
4.0
This fascinating book is an anthology of writings about the Arctic and the Antarctic. Most of the writings are nonfiction, but some are fiction. The author, Elizabeth Kolbert, is really the editor. She wrote a paragraph introduction to each chapter, which helped put the writing into perspective.
Many of the writings were essentially excerpts from diaries of explorers, as they attempted to reach the poles. These diaries are amazing--they detail the incredible hardships that explorers went through in order to approach the poles. in some writings, the explorers were successful, while in others, the explorers had to turn around before reaching their goal, often with some dying along the way. Despite the overwhelming difficulties faced by these explorers, the tone of the diaries did not lapse into sentimentality or self-pity. Some of the diaries were by the expedition leaders, while others were written by other members of the teams. Even when the leaders made obvious mistakes in judgment, the team members did not show resentment, and did not try to second-guess their leaders' decisions in hindsight.
I was quite surprised by a true story of a visitor to a village in Greenland. He described various spats and fights between inhabitants of the village. And then--he described a one-night-a-year event, when the couples in the village participate in a wife-swap!
Many of the writings are dramatic, but incredibly under-stated. For example, there is a diary of a member of the crew of a ship that "wintered over" near Antarctica. The ship was completely surrounded and imprisoned by ice. When the ice was pushed up against the ship, there were horrendous noises, but the ship's hull remained intact. In another story of Antarctic exploration, a diary described how they calculated how much more time a man would have before he died. Then, one night the sick man just wandered off and died alone, in order to prevent his team-mates from having to squander their meager resources on a lost cause!
A couple of the last chapters were about present-day eco-tourism in Antarctica. One chapter was from the point of view of a tourist who seemed a little bit depressed. In another chapter, a tour guide described a hair-raising mishap, when a sledge fell into a deep crevasse, along with herself and a tourist. After being hauled up, the tour guide found the sledge to be irretrievable. Therefore, a long and dangerous hike required non-stop exertion for a few days. This writing left me hanging, not knowing whether they reached their goal.
There is a lot of diversity in the writings contained in this book. There should be something here to please the adventure-seeker in everyone.
Many of the writings were essentially excerpts from diaries of explorers, as they attempted to reach the poles. These diaries are amazing--they detail the incredible hardships that explorers went through in order to approach the poles. in some writings, the explorers were successful, while in others, the explorers had to turn around before reaching their goal, often with some dying along the way. Despite the overwhelming difficulties faced by these explorers, the tone of the diaries did not lapse into sentimentality or self-pity. Some of the diaries were by the expedition leaders, while others were written by other members of the teams. Even when the leaders made obvious mistakes in judgment, the team members did not show resentment, and did not try to second-guess their leaders' decisions in hindsight.
I was quite surprised by a true story of a visitor to a village in Greenland. He described various spats and fights between inhabitants of the village. And then--he described a one-night-a-year event, when the couples in the village participate in a wife-swap!
Many of the writings are dramatic, but incredibly under-stated. For example, there is a diary of a member of the crew of a ship that "wintered over" near Antarctica. The ship was completely surrounded and imprisoned by ice. When the ice was pushed up against the ship, there were horrendous noises, but the ship's hull remained intact. In another story of Antarctic exploration, a diary described how they calculated how much more time a man would have before he died. Then, one night the sick man just wandered off and died alone, in order to prevent his team-mates from having to squander their meager resources on a lost cause!
A couple of the last chapters were about present-day eco-tourism in Antarctica. One chapter was from the point of view of a tourist who seemed a little bit depressed. In another chapter, a tour guide described a hair-raising mishap, when a sledge fell into a deep crevasse, along with herself and a tourist. After being hauled up, the tour guide found the sledge to be irretrievable. Therefore, a long and dangerous hike required non-stop exertion for a few days. This writing left me hanging, not knowing whether they reached their goal.
There is a lot of diversity in the writings contained in this book. There should be something here to please the adventure-seeker in everyone.
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