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Both kids went to the horse today. I got to see my friend M. for the first time in a while. We had a nice conversation.
Book group is Monday, so I read _Endurance_. I’m a little uncertain whether this was an abridged copy or not. Other people in book group seem to have 400 page books; this was more like just under 300. *shrug* Most other participants were unable to finish the book.
I did not have that problem. I started it quite late, and then wound up staying up to finish it. I did skim a few sections; we will see whether that (or the hypothetical I Have An Abridged Version) has an impact when we start discussing details.
Of course I was familiar with the outline of Shackleton’s failed expedition and his near miraculous ability to shepherd them out of the trouble they got into. But I didn’t really know any details, and if you’d asked me _when_ the expedition occurred, I probably would have been able to get the correct century, but not the correct decade. And that turns out to be a really interesting component of the story.
Honest to Goddess, if you need a SPOILER warning for historical events from over a hundred years ago, you are a Problem Person and you should just stop reading my blog now. It will only get worse. For you, I mean. I don’t care, really.
It is fascinating to think about whether the expedition would have left, if they had delayed because of the start of what would be called first The Great War and later WWI. I’m betting not. By the time the war was over, everyone would have been meaningfully older and perhaps dead from participating in the Great War. Had they waited for the economic recovery and so forth after the Great War to get financing, they might have run smack into the Great Depression. And had they outlasted _that_, it would be war again. No wonder so many of Shackleton’s attempts and/or accomplishments wouldn’t be tried again (successfully or otherwise) until the 1950s.
Once they had departed, it is also fascinating to consider the whalers who advised waiting a year, as the ice was particularly bad the year they went. It is less clear that waiting a year would have stopped them permanently, the way waiting because of the War probably would have.
It is also interesting to think about whether things would have been meaningfully different if they had stayed at Ocean Camp, rather than attempting to hike west. They went back to Ocean Camp repeatedly; had they stayed there longer, their progress due to drift would have been roughly the same. They would have been far more comfortable and had more supplies throughout that period. If they had really thought about what they were about to do (hike / dog sledge followed by travel in open boats through incredibly treacherous waters), perhaps they would have thought to make themselves sealskin outfits while they were comfortable at Ocean Camp. As it was, they abandoned a lot of equipment and didn’t take the time to adapt to the new plan as comprehensively as they might have. Water proof clothing could have made an enormous difference both to the people stuck waiting and waiting and waiting, and to the group that went with Shackleton to get help.
The people camping under the boats on the beach eventually resorted to eating seaweed / sea vegetables and limpets and similar. This was all very reminiscent of Kon-Tiki, as was the description of the crazy waves and isolation in the small boat. I also wondered a little about how things might have gone differently for them if they had started eating seaweed / sea vegetables earlier. It is clear it took great desperation to try to eat sea weed and sea foods like limpets; equally, they seemed to really find things they liked. I _suspect_ that this change in their diet really helped with some deficiencies, but it’s hard to tell without a lot more detail.
None of what I am writing here should be viewed as a criticism or disagreement with the choices they made. Everyone was clearly doing the very best they could with the information they had available to them at the time, in a way that was compatible with their character and values.
That said, if you want to live a comfortable life, don’t follow along after charismatic adventurer / explorers like Shackleton! What a relentlessly exhausting and dangerous couple of years that was.
I may update this after book group to reflect other people’s comments, even tho that obviously won’t happen until Monday.
#31
No further edits here; book group members were given a different Shackleton bio.
Book group is Monday, so I read _Endurance_. I’m a little uncertain whether this was an abridged copy or not. Other people in book group seem to have 400 page books; this was more like just under 300. *shrug* Most other participants were unable to finish the book.
I did not have that problem. I started it quite late, and then wound up staying up to finish it. I did skim a few sections; we will see whether that (or the hypothetical I Have An Abridged Version) has an impact when we start discussing details.
Of course I was familiar with the outline of Shackleton’s failed expedition and his near miraculous ability to shepherd them out of the trouble they got into. But I didn’t really know any details, and if you’d asked me _when_ the expedition occurred, I probably would have been able to get the correct century, but not the correct decade. And that turns out to be a really interesting component of the story.
Honest to Goddess, if you need a SPOILER warning for historical events from over a hundred years ago, you are a Problem Person and you should just stop reading my blog now. It will only get worse. For you, I mean. I don’t care, really.
It is fascinating to think about whether the expedition would have left, if they had delayed because of the start of what would be called first The Great War and later WWI. I’m betting not. By the time the war was over, everyone would have been meaningfully older and perhaps dead from participating in the Great War. Had they waited for the economic recovery and so forth after the Great War to get financing, they might have run smack into the Great Depression. And had they outlasted _that_, it would be war again. No wonder so many of Shackleton’s attempts and/or accomplishments wouldn’t be tried again (successfully or otherwise) until the 1950s.
Once they had departed, it is also fascinating to consider the whalers who advised waiting a year, as the ice was particularly bad the year they went. It is less clear that waiting a year would have stopped them permanently, the way waiting because of the War probably would have.
It is also interesting to think about whether things would have been meaningfully different if they had stayed at Ocean Camp, rather than attempting to hike west. They went back to Ocean Camp repeatedly; had they stayed there longer, their progress due to drift would have been roughly the same. They would have been far more comfortable and had more supplies throughout that period. If they had really thought about what they were about to do (hike / dog sledge followed by travel in open boats through incredibly treacherous waters), perhaps they would have thought to make themselves sealskin outfits while they were comfortable at Ocean Camp. As it was, they abandoned a lot of equipment and didn’t take the time to adapt to the new plan as comprehensively as they might have. Water proof clothing could have made an enormous difference both to the people stuck waiting and waiting and waiting, and to the group that went with Shackleton to get help.
The people camping under the boats on the beach eventually resorted to eating seaweed / sea vegetables and limpets and similar. This was all very reminiscent of Kon-Tiki, as was the description of the crazy waves and isolation in the small boat. I also wondered a little about how things might have gone differently for them if they had started eating seaweed / sea vegetables earlier. It is clear it took great desperation to try to eat sea weed and sea foods like limpets; equally, they seemed to really find things they liked. I _suspect_ that this change in their diet really helped with some deficiencies, but it’s hard to tell without a lot more detail.
None of what I am writing here should be viewed as a criticism or disagreement with the choices they made. Everyone was clearly doing the very best they could with the information they had available to them at the time, in a way that was compatible with their character and values.
That said, if you want to live a comfortable life, don’t follow along after charismatic adventurer / explorers like Shackleton! What a relentlessly exhausting and dangerous couple of years that was.
I may update this after book group to reflect other people’s comments, even tho that obviously won’t happen until Monday.
#31
No further edits here; book group members were given a different Shackleton bio.