Review - Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

This is another Book Club read - An amazing story. I didn't know if I would enjoy the book when I first started it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is the true story (compiled from the surviving diaries and interviews of crew members) of Ernest Shackleton. He made a number of expeditions to the south pole. Endurance (1914 -1916) is probably his most well known voyage. Mostly because the trip was planned to be an attempt to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea south of the Atlantic, to the Ross Sea south of the Pacific, by way of the Pole. The Voyage set out from London in August of 1914, and reached the Weddell Sea in January of the following year, where the pack ice closed in on the Endurance. The ship was broken by the ice on October 27, 1915. The 28 crew members managed to flee to Elephant Island, bringing three small boats with them.

All of them survived after Shackleton and five other men managed to reach the southern coast of South Georgia in one of the small boats, from where Shackleton organized a rescue operation to bring home the remaining men. (more)

Also amazing is the beautiful and striking black and white photos from the expedition. The pictures could stand all by themselves. The book is a reasonably easy read with a wonderful personal tone and feel. It makes you feel like you were there, right beside the amazing men who rescued themselves.

Review - Running with Scissors: A Memoir

The first book I read for the book club I joined was Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs.

"Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock-therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances."

I thought the book was well written and an interesting read. It had the effect of making me laugh at moments with the unusual and downright bizarre situations but it was also very graphic at times and deeply disturbing. What a childhood to have. It is certainly easy to have empathy for any child going through these situations. This is not a book for everyone - and in my opinion not a great choice for children, as it deals with sex bordering on rape, psychological abuse and many other difficult issues.