|
 Review by
Louella Moreland
Young readers sometimes have difficulty "getting into" nonfiction books.
This is understandable when so much of the time these volumes are filled
with dates, figures, names and places that can make the reading of them dry
and plodding. It is always refreshing when one can recommend a nonfiction
book that is truly riveting and readable! Richard Farr's "Emperors of the
Ice" is such a book.
Told from the perspective of Apsley Cherry-Gerard, one of the young
explorers from Robert Falcon Scott's last expedition to Antarctica, this
book reads more like a story of a young man's adventure than an explorer's
listing of facts. "Cherry" as his friends called him, grew up in England's
privileged society. But as a young boy, he had always dreamed of exploring
where men had not been before. Unfortunately, most of the landmasses of
Earth had already been explored and claimed by the time Cherry reached
adulthood. All but one: Antarctica. However, Cherry had no real talent to
bring to an expedition. He did have assets, though: his determination,
attitude, excitement and enthusiasm. It was through Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson
that Cherry's name was put forward to Scott. Wilson was accompanying the
famed explorer to study the emperor penguins' nesting and infants in an
attempt to link their species to the dinosaurs.
The book describes the time of extensive preparation, the travel to the
southern seas aboard the ship, the Terra Nova (New Land), and the miles of
ice that the men crossed just to reach the landmass we now know as
Antarctica. Men seeking only fame did not make the trip. These men had
reasons to risk their lives on an everyday basis. This was a journey of
discovery, scientific research and knowledge. Claiming to be the first
country to make it to the exact spot of the South Pole was more of a bonus
and a way to drum up support for the expedition.
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If a reader might first assume that Farr named his book after the
unusual birds that live and nest in this harsh environment, he or
she might be correct. There is a section of the book where Cherry,
Bill (the author) and another companion, Birdie, traveled to Cape
Cozier on foot in an attempt to study the eggs of the emperor
penguins. The group risked daily exposures to extreme temperatures
below freezing. One day actually measured minus 109 degrees F with
no wind. They lost their heating stove, their tent and one of their
sleds. Their sleeping bags and fingers froze. They fell into
crevasses in the ice that could have easily claimed their lives.
Even when they realized they might never return to base camp, their
sense of determination, humor and loyalty to each other kept them
alive and hopeful.
Then Farr describes the push to reach the pole. Cherry was not
chosen to make the final push. If he had, he would not have returned
to England, as all the men who went with Scott perished in the
extremely harsh, bitter environment of the continent. The group did
make it to the pole, arriving days after another expedition by the
Norwegians. They never returned.
Many sources are noted at the end of the book, and photographs
add another dimension for those readers researching this topic for
reports, but the power of the book is in its intimate perspective of
the everyday lives and personalities that took upon themselves an
journey from which they knew they might never return. This book will
keep you turning page after page, leave you with a haunting emotion
of loneliness and a deep respect for men who brave such extreme
conditions to bring the world knowledge.
For this and other books about Capt. Scott and other explorers,
come see us at the Youth Services Department of the Lincoln Public
Library, 725 Pekin St.
[Text from file received from
Louella Moreland,
Lincoln Public Library District] |
