Fabulous book, deep and hilarious all at the same time

I came to this book with zero expectations. Simply looking for a good book about Antarctica which wasn't written by yet another macho male explorer. This couldn't have been a more perfect find. Sara's descriptions and historical anecdotes make you feel like you're there with her. And paired with the occasional hilarious remark about her frequently all-male environment it makes for a great audiobook. I've sat contemplating with her, and finally found a writer who like me is sick to death of what she calls the "frozen beards" (men out to see who can get the most dead in a quest for their manliness..!). She makes the whole tale feel so alive by bringing in elements of past explorers writings :) my new favourite book by far!

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3 people found this helpful

enthralling

I enjoyed travelling to antarctica and Living on scientific bases with Sara. She had read extensively about antarctic exploration and shared her knowledg seamlessly with her own acutely observed experience of living and working on antarctica. I loved the book learnt a lot and gained new understanding of the world from sarah's acute observation and superb narration. I also found her observation and description of entrenched chauvinism and the continued working of privilege and the class system as seen on the BAS base to be absolutely spot on.

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3 people found this helpful

The ultimate head-space

The author captures the Great White South perfectly, hinting at the Otherness of antarctic life, whilst describing it in such a familiar and beautiful manner.

A must for any travel enthusiast.

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A long way from home, informative and funny.

I loved this book. A real day to day account of a woman's experiences of getting to, and living in, Antarctica. Her anecdotes are often very funny and occasionally bizarre. The reaction of the BAS boys to a woman on base is Victorian to say the least. Wheeler also manages to give a fine sense of history and place to both the historical sites and contemporary researchers. I recall the radio darts competition where the Italians didnt have a dart board but seemed to have won, the tent expedition with another woman artist, the American McMurdo base with all their US style, and always the wonderful descriptions of landscape and residents,from the seals to the beards. A great book to journey through. I have listened to it for hours now. You can just dip in to wherever she is. One of my favourite audio books. And read by 'Pat Archer' very well.

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I probably will never visit Antarctic....

Fantastic book, informative, historically accurate beautifully read, captivating and fascinating. I enjoy all the books I've read by Sara Wheeler and this didn't disappoint.
The recounting of many polar explorers along the way added a great deal of depth and feeling to her obvious respect and admiration of these incredible men and their lives.

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Marvellous

The best book I have listened to for a long time. In fact, I might listen to it again! Brilliant and funny.

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Gripping and thoughtful

Fascinating, perceptively written, Clearly narrated but maddeningly nasal delivery, too different from author’s own voice.

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A travel writer visits Antarctica

The travel writer Sara Wheeler visited Antarctica in the mid-90s as a writer-in-residence, staying first at the US base in McMurdo and then the much less friendly British Antarctic Survey at Rothera. She also returned to exprience the end of the Antarctic winter. She visits many of the scientific teams (Beakers) working on the continent, describing their daily lives and how they conduct their research. At the time she visited, Antarctica was still a very male-dominated and chauvinistic place. Everyone she meets seems to have a beard. I wonder how much things have changed in the last 30 years. She also writes about the history of Antarctic exploration - particularly Scott, Amundsen, and Shackleton.

The audiobook narration by Patricia Gallimore felt authentic and included some attempts to mimic the characters’ accents, which was not always entirely successful but gave the book some colour.

Reading this book helped to scratch my itch to learn more about Antarctica and what life there is like in the modern day.

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