Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing --------------- 4 Stars

Oh, how I do love summer. So much time to read! This is the last book I finished prior to the summer coming to a close for me, and it was a good one. It also put me at over 2,500 pages in the past few months. No other time during the year do I get to enjoy so much uninterrupted reading time. So, back to this current review; Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage was a superb way to finish the summer.

Written by Alfred Lansing in 1959, this book tells the amazing story of the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's adventure in Antarctica in 1914. The book is about how these explorers' boat was trapped, crushed, and their amazing journey to safety.  Interestingly, this book was not well received when it was released in the early 1960s to the point that hardly anyone was aware of it. Thankfully, the book was discovered and reviewed by the NY times many year later and became a bestselling novel well after Lansing's death. 

Upon looking back at my reviews, I clearly have a strong interest in these type of adventure stories. Here is my review of Alive from '09, which mentions my enjoyment of both Touching the Void and Into Thin Air previously (all books are tremendous and highly recommended). Likes those other books, this also tells the story of near death experiences for these amazing men. 

On a positive, the book is really well told and the author does an amazing job of explaining, in detail, the most critical parts of this nearly 24 month journey. This includes details of the 1,000 mile journey from start until finish. How you might ask? Well, many of these explorers kept copious journals. That, coupled with in-person interviews with many aboard, allowed him to recreate the experience that these men went through during those horrid two years.

Not too many downsides of this book. Some might find it to narrow in scope and repetitive. As I mentioned, the author was very detailed in his storytelling and there are parts that can bore from time to time. Similarly, while there was much adventure and danger during this incredible story, much of the two years was spent sitting and waiting or slowly moving from place to place. However, the fact that the author makes this story as exciting as it is, is a true testament to his strong writing. Finally, and this may be more a personal challenge, even by the end I was confused with some of the vocabulary. Much of the descriptions of parts of an early 20th century boat, odd foods, or types of ice were lost on me (examples - grog, pemmican, floes, ballast, forecastle, mizzen, keel, etc.). 

The adventure is beyond astounding. While the crew of the Endurance quickly realized they were not going to be able to carry out their mission, their strong faith in themselves and one another, makes for one of the greatest real-life adventure stories of all time.

PS - If you do happen to read this book or have any interest in it at all, check out the recent discovery made of the original Endurance boat earlier this year.

PPS - Also, watch this incredible documentary from 1919 with real footage from the adventure. Although a non-speaking movie, it's a fantastic viewing.

The Lincoln Highway - Amor Towles ------------------- 3 Stars

A few years ago I read the well reviewed and mildly entertaining A Gentleman in Moscow (review here), by this same author. I had seen The Lincoln Highway getting similar positive buzz, so I thought I'd give it a try. While a more accessible book, I did not find it nearly as enjoyable.

Set in the 1950s, the story is a coming of age novel for a set of brothers and two other teenagers that go on a number of adventures in search of different things. Unlike A Gentleman in Moscow, the book is set in American (both the midwest and New York City) and was an easier read to follow and engage with. 

Unfortunately, I found the story less strong and characters not nearly as easy to root for. While I would never call the story boring, it did move at a pedestrian pace and the "cuteness" and likeability of characters that is now becoming a hallmark of Towles storytelling was simply less apparent with this read.

My other main complaint was with the logistics of his storytelling. While the book is a written in the third person, the author would change the focus, and perspective of the story, by chapter to focus upon a different main character. While this was a welcome technique in the early chapters, I found it frustrating by the end. Although it did give the reader varying perspectives about occurrences, I also found it retold actions multiple times to ensure the reader was clear about a different characters placement for a previously told part of the story. By the end, it felt like I was basically re-reading passages when it shifted to a new chapter.

On a positive, it's still a pretty engaging story. While not as good as his previous book, the author is still a good storyteller, and it's hard to not root for certain characters or feel the nostalgia of the 1950s and many pop references was over you. In addition, in the final pages you could finally understand more about certain characters motivations and more was illuminated about previous choices made in the story. 

You could do a lot worse than The Lincoln Highway; it's an easy read and enjoyable in many parts. Just be aware that for many it'll feel like a runner up to his previous work.