Classics Considered

From the Arctic Circle to the South Pole and both sides of the globe, here's six classics which will take you on an adventure this summer (and a little time travel, too!). Links / Further Reading: The Green Ray , by Jules Verne (Wikisource) Picnic at Hanging Rock - Book review by O of On Bookes The Endurance - Adam Young Scores Shackleton - A&E series starring Kenneth Branagh Opening quote read by David Barnes, read for the LibriVox audiobook South

Saw this over at Kristin's blog Wool and Wheel ...it's been a while since I did one of these, so I thought it would be a fun interlude to reviews.  Feel free to fill this out on your own blog, or in the comments - would love to read your answers! 1. What book is currently on your nightstand?  Right now, there's The Heart of the Antarctic (Ernest Shackleton), the Bible, my Nook, and my tablet. From my 2014 Powell's trip .  On the left is Albanov's In the Land of White Death , an excellent polar (north) memoir which I haven't reviewed but highly recommend. Heart is turning out to be a lovely read so far - more informal and relaxed in tone than South .  Maybe it's the pre-War zeitgeist, or Shackleton's personal optimism at this earlier point in his experience.  His excitement over the ponies is rather sobering...considering he didn't bring them on the Endurance , I can only imagine how badly things will go on the Nimrod .  (But, I digress.) 2. What wa...

Sir Ernest Shackleton 's South was my spontaneous "heavy reading" for this spring/summer.  At times, my reaction was "What did I myself get into?"  It is a long first-person narrative, stylistically tedious, and inherently repetitive--but absolutely worth the commitment. { Note : Be sure to look through photographer Frank Hurley's book South with Endurance while you read South .  You will enjoy South much, much more side-by-side with the pictures.  Which, by the way, are phenomenal .  On top of the discomfort and anxieties of everyday survival, Hurley dedicated himself to photographing the journey, and his photos, like illustrations, truly embody the narrative/journals.  A few are even in color!}   By Finetooth, Like tears in rain, U.S Central Intelligence Agency [ GFDL , CC-BY-SA-3.0 or Public domain] Autumn 1914 .  The Great War is being fought, yet as Sir Ernest Shackleton's volunteering of his expedition and resources is politely refused b...