Endurance; A novel on survival

Endurance, which was about Ernest Shackelton's voyage to Antarctica, was one of the most awe inspiring and incredible stories I have ever read. If you have read this you know the insane hardships that they bore and overcame. So I'm calling on the B&B membership readers to list books that are about man overcoming all odds in a survival type situation. Think about the movie Alive. These should be non fiction in any environment. I'll start...

Endurance Alfred Lansing
Into Thin Air John Krakauer (sp?)
Diary of Anne Frank
Night Ellie Wiesel

Please carry on...

Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan

I read it when i first came out in 2002. Fascinating. The author's ingenuity is amazing.

Amazon description:

An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean, Antarctic Survivor

This story reveals the remarkable Tom Crean, who ran away to sea aged 15 and played a memorable role in Antarctic exploration. He spent more time in the unexplored Antarctic than Scott or Shackleton, was one of the few to serve both and outlive both. Among the last to see Scott alive only 150 miles from the South Pole he was in the search party which found the frozen body. Tom joined Shackleton s Endurance expedition as the first shots of World War 1 were fired. In a most extraordinary feat of survival, Crean sailed the violent Southern Ocean in an open boat and made the first crossing of the glaciers of South Georgia to rescue his stranded comrades 800 miles away. Crean returned to Ireland, married and built a pub, the South Pole Inn in Anascaul, Co. Kerry. This unforgettable story of triumph over unparallelled hardship and deprivation at last does justice to this enigmatic figure.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.

It was the story that inspired Moby Dick. Great read about an incredible situation.

I loved the Shackelton stuff too.

There are several books about Shackleton's incredible voyage, including one written by Shackleton himself.

I particularly liked this one because it also includes the photos that amazingly survived the expedition. I often recommend it to people going through a tough time, because it describes great courage and is strangely inspirational. "You think you have it bad......."

As an aside, a 100 year old case of Scotch was recently recovered in the Antarctic from one of Shackleton's other attempts.

Another good one is the story of Hugh Glass, an early western figure who was mauled by a bear and left for dead by Jim Bridger and another explorer. Glass crawled 200 miles to safety through hostile territory, with horrible wounds from the bear attack, no weapons, and no food supply. There are many good novels based on his trek.

And another survival tale worth reading about is the awful ordeal of the sailors of the USS Indianapolis near the end of WW II. Truly horrible, what they endured.

What I can't figure out is why no one has filmed Daniel Boone's escape from the Shawnee at Chillicothe and flight to Fort Boonesborough. 160 miles in 4 days, with Shawnee warriors nipping at his heels, by a man in his 40's. A relatively unknown example of survival against the odds.

And finally one more great Indian escape story is that of Mary Ingles, who escaped from the Shawnee in Northern Kentucky and managed a 500 mile trek back to western Virginia. At least one good novel about her escape has been penned, can't remember who wrote it or the title though.

I just finished reading With The Old Breed by E.B. Sledge and Goodbye Darkness by William Manchester, which are both autobiographical accounts of Peleliu and Okinawa.

Looks like great suggestions. Any more?

Touching the Void: A climber falls in a crevasse in the Peruvian Andes...buddy assumes dead and leaves him. He has broken leg...his tale of surviving.

http://www.amazon.com/Touching-Void...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283117292&sr=8-1

The Long Walk: True story of a prisoner in a Siberian labor camp escapes and walks for 3 years in Siberia to escape.
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Tru...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283117439&sr=1-3

The River of Doubt: Roosevelt travels an uncharted river in the Amazon. Really good read!

http://www.amazon.com/River-Doubt-T...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283117674&sr=1-1

blary54 said:

Touching the Void: A climber falls in a crevasse in the Peruvian Andes...buddy assumes dead and leaves him. He has broken leg...his tale of surviving.

http://www.amazon.com/Touching-Void...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283117292&sr=8-1

The Long Walk: True story of a prisoner in a Siberian labor camp escapes and walks for 3 years in Siberia to escape.
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Tru...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283117439&sr=1-3

The River of Doubt: Roosevelt travels an uncharted river in the Amazon. Really good read!

http://www.amazon.com/River-Doubt-T...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283117674&sr=1-1

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Awesome, thank you also.

"Lone Surviver" by Marcus (cant remember the last name)
Its about SEAL team 10 getting cut to pieces in the single largest Special Opperations loss of all american history. The main character writes of his very narrow survival in afghanistan while Taliban was hunting him. Pretty good read and the story is increadible. Fast read too.

Solemnsaint said:

"Lone Surviver" by Marcus (cant remember the last name)
Its about SEAL team 10 getting cut to pieces in the single largest Special Opperations loss of all american history. The main character writes of his very narrow survival in afghanistan while Taliban was hunting him. Pretty good read and the story is increadible. Fast read too.

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The story of Lone Survivor is great, but that book came across as so darn political (i.e. the author blaming the media for the SEALs decision not to ice the shepherds who discovered them) that it really turned me off. Just my two cents, since I wish someone had given me that forewarning. The story itself is incredible, though.

I just finished Ed Viesturs' (the first American to climb all 8,000 meter peaks) book K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain. If you like Into Thin Air, you might like his recounting of some of the early expeditions to K2. What some of those guys pulled off in the 1930s is incredible. Then again, I'm a climber and mountaineer, so maybe I'm just predisposed to liking this kind of stuff.

While not quite a survival story, The Lost City of Z, which focuses on one man's lifelong obsession of Amazon exploration is great. Think sickness, cannibals, and mosquitoes the size of a grapefruit ...

And speaking of Shackleton, they just thawed out a case of his Scotch, which was found in the ice near one of his huts in Antarctica. 100-year-old Macallan ... man, would I like to get my hands on that.

Not to mention that scotch has gone a greater journey than you or I will ever embark on. WOW!

Solemnsaint said:

Not to mention that scotch has gone a greater journey than you or I will ever embark on. WOW!

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Come on, now! I'm only 31 and just getting started! I'd like to think I have many, many more adventures under my belt. I'm actually getting ready for a winter attempt of Mount Washington in February of 2011.