More books from Britain!
And an irritating one at that!
This was an impulse buy as I just “had to have it”. Shackleton is one of my heroes, and this just seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.
Except, it really isn’t.
While I have a lot of respect for Ranulph Fiennes, if I wanted to read a book about Ranulph Fiennes then I would do so.
I have done so, and enjoyed them.
But this is supposed to be a book about Shackleton.
I could care less about Fiennes experiencing something “similar” to Shackleton every fourth paragraph or so.
Although, it is kind of ironic.
The tagline they have slapped on this book is “To write about Hell, it helps if you have been there.”
I get it.
I even use something similar to slap some authenticity on my own books.
But even though I get it and use it, I can’t seem to distract from it when reading this book.
Ah, back to Roland Huntford! 😉
Chris
Hi Chris. Just finished Ice Master! I’m exhausted!! What a catastrophic expedition..But,what a great read. .
Last week,i read ‘Captain Lawrence Oates’. His account of the Scott expedition(talking of catastrophic!) What a character. Very good book. Scott didn’t come across too well………But i wasn’t there! 🙂
I love the bit when Bartlett plays the gramophone as the ship gets crushed in the ice. (Hope I’ve got the right book!) But a fantastic account! Glad you liked it.
Yes,you couldn’t make it up!!
Oates didn’t come out too well in Roland Huntsfords book on the Scott Expedition! 😉 😉
And I saw a review that Oates is called Bates in Fiennes’ book. But I haven’t got that far yet. Huntford’s books are sentimental to me as I read them in Greenland and I like his writing style. I haven’t read enough to be critical of his character appraisal. However, there was this seal … I had a frozen seal given to me by the hunter whose dogs I inherited. It was a whole seal and I kept it in the shed. Every time I opened the shed door the seal launched out of it like a torpedo, and I had to jump every time. Until I got to the part in Huntford’s book when Amundsen and his men make a cache with frozen seals, sawing off the flippers to have them stand upright on a flat surface. I put the book down and said to Jane, “Back in a minute.” Yep, I sawed off the seal flippers, fed them in chunks to the dogs, then came back inside to finish the chapter. I guess, in my own way, that’s why I feel “qualified” to comment on Fiennes’ book. At least a little bit. 🙂
His nickname on the Scott expedition was ‘Titus’,but from what you say RF was more interested in himself rather than the subject he was writing about!
Ah, Titus! It was probably a typo missed by the publisher. I know typos all too well, but getting a name wrong in a non-fiction book is a little scary. I’ll let you know when I get that far. However, I do like RF’s books, but this is proving a challenge. It reminds me of “Land Rover” by Ben Fogle, which I was looking forward to, but gave up a third in as he just talks about all the famous folk he has met. Argghhh! Celebrity books! Not a fan!