Personally, I felt the book was a little tedious at times, as it recounted each storm and tribulation with journalistic precision. I was glad to have completed it but I give it 4 stars, not 5, and probably would only recommend to a person explicitly looking for a "survival" story. Nevertheless, a good read and I'm glad to have the historical knowledge and reminder of how capable we are.
“Of all their enemies -- the cold, the ice, the
sea -- he feared none more than demoralization.”
“They were for all practical purposes alone in the frozen Antarctic seas. It had been very nearly a year since they had last been in contact with civilization. Nobody in the outside world knew they were in trouble, much less where they were. They had no radio transmitter with which to notify any would-be rescuers, and it is doubtful that any rescuers could have reached them even if they had been able to broadcast an SOS. It was 1915, and there were no helicopters, no Weasels, no Sno-Cats, no suitable planes. Thus their plight was naked and terrifying in its simplicity. If they were to get out—they had to get themselves out.”
"In all the world there is no desolation more complete than the polar night. It is a return to the Ice Age— no warmth, no life, no movement. Only those who have experienced it can fully appreciate what it means to be without the sun day after day and week after week. Few men unaccustomed to it can fight off its effects altogether, and it has driven some men mad."
