As I am on a roll and The Dark Charisma of Hitler on BBC2 can be followed very well by just listening to the commentary, here goes another one.
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
Captain Scott's Last Expedition - Robert Falcon Scott
As I typed the above spoiler alert I kind of thought that perhaps I do not really need one for this book. I think most people will know how this one ended. This is the strange thing as you start to read it. You read about all the preparations and then the trip to the pole and you know that some of them never made it back.
It is one of the most impressive books I have ever read. It is moving, dramatic, beautiful, emotional and funny. In Scott's writing you get the enthusiasm at the start and the despair at the end. It is heartbreaking to read the final few days of his journal. How they had to cope and at one point knew that there was no way out for them. They knew they were about to die and that there was no escape. At one point they thought that perhaps they would take an overdose to end it sooner rather than later but true to their powerful characters they decided to face their end as they had live their lives... openly, head on and as true British Gentleman.
I do not really know how to review this journal. There is so much in it that is awe inspiring and inspirational. As you read it you feel that you are travelling with Scott, you see it all through his eyes and it becomes personal and very close to you. It is really an epic story of how man struggles to survive in the most trying of circumstances. the fact that in this case some men have failed is not a defeat but still a triumph.
It was very interesting to read the part at the start of the journals that tells you all about how the ship was prepared and what they did to get the huts and depots up and running. All this gives you an idea of how meticulous Scott and his team were. They had planned this thing in detail. They had done the maths on the food and all the supplies required per stage of the trip. I do not think there was one thing that Scott did not worry about himself. It is great to read about how life in the camp takes shape and how they set up their routine. The detail that goes into getting their accommodation up and running is amazing. Then there is the epic effort of the depot laying. So much was riding on this and Scott needed to get it right not just for himself but also for the others that went part of the way to the Pole.
Some of the most fun stuff is to do with the animals they take on the trip. There are ponies and dogs and each have their own purpose to serve. The ponies seemed and odd choice to me but in the end you learn that they are not only valuable for transporting supplies but end up being additional rations as well. But they would need to last and that was by no means an easy feat! The dogs seem a wild bunch of animals but they help the expedition carry supplies to and from their huts and depots.
In the end it is also a tragic story. Scott, Bowers Wilson, Evans and Oates all reach the pole only to find that Amundsen has beaten them to it. They must have been crushed by that although Scott seems to be putting up a good front in this diary pages. Then they face the trek back. As they make their way back they are all falling apart. They are being battered by the weather, lack of food and fuel and fatigue. The final three members of the South Pole party, Scott, Wilson and Bowers die only about 13 miles from the depot. They run out of fuel and food and all of them have an injury of some kind or another. They cold go no further and faced death in the direst of circumstances. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like to watch others around you die knowing that you were possibly going to be next.
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There is no getting away for the discussion that some of the diary entries have been cleaned up and edited in earlier versions of the journal. In the newer versions of the diary some entries have shown Scott as being a bit petty about some team members performances and their abilities. He is quite critical of some of the expedition members as he feels they lack the character to go on this expedition. Well.... the way I see it is that if you were putting together team to go to the extremes of where mankind can possibly hope to survive, where the difference between life and death is balanced on a a knife edge then perhaps you have the right to be picky? I also think that you could live with the odd critical remark about a team member or a slight or two about a colleagues abilities. He was not going on a teddy bear picnic he was going to the South Pole!
All I can really say is READ IT!!!It is epic and beautiful and emotional... prepare to shed a few tears when it comes to Oates and the last few days of the final 3.
Title: Journals - Captain Scott's Last Expedition
Author: RF Scott
515 pages
Oxford World's Classics
ISBN nr 978-0-19-953680
Only one more review to go but is is time for bed now. Tomorrow's will be short and sweet I promise.
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