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5 Werke 85 Mitglieder 4 Rezensionen

Werke von John Harrison

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Geburtstag
1952
Geschlecht
male

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I have read one of his other books, Cloud Road, which I thought was excellent. so was looking forward to this.

Harrison is travelling around the very southern extremes of the South America, in an area known as Patagonia. He is searching for the indigenous people, and is aiming to immerse himself into the region. part of the way through he is offered a bargain price to travel to go Antarctica, and takes it. Travel all around the region meeting the people and seeing the scenery, and does get to meet the indigenous people, including a few who still speak the original languages.
There is a lot in the book about the history of the region, from the very earliest explorers who came across the abundance of life in the Southern oceans, and he writes of the pain and suffering that these explorers brought with them.

There were parts of this that I really enjoyed reading, about his traveling and his observations, for instance, but I felt the book did not have the same focus as Cloud Road. And that is a shame because Harrison is a writer of quality.
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PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher to read and write an honest review.

The year is 1519 and the cultures of Central and South America are at their peak. Their cities are magnificent, larger than European ones and they have ritual monuments larger than the Egyptians. But the Aztec thought that their time was running out and that they were living in their final days. Their leaders were admired as much for their outlook as their conquests.

Into this came the Spanish. Led by Hernán Cortés, they believed that the final days were happening, and that they had an urgent mission to convert the remaining peoples of the earth before judgement day. This aggressive desire to change the practices of the native people of these lands would lead to battles and bloodshed and shocking displays of brutality on both sides. The Mayans and the Aztec fought back as best they could, but the Spanish had the upper hand, horses with mounted soldiers and steel blades.

It is into this ancient landscape that Harrison steps. Starting with the points where Cortés landed, and being ferried around in boasts, he follows the route that along the coast that the Spanish took, before heading inland. Travelling on buses and taxis between the towns and cities, he meets the locals and visits the places that saw the main events and battles happen. It is still a country rich with culture and history and the scale of the architecture still left can take your breath away. But this was a journey that nearly never happened, because part of the way through the research for this trip, John was diagnosed with throat cancer and a prediction that he would not live to make the journey.

As with all of Harrison’s books, it is solidly researched and well written. His relaxed manner whilst travelling and the way that he engages with the people and the places that he goes to makes you feel that you are sitting alongside him looking through the grubby coach window. It is amazing that he actually made this expedition at all, not only was his cancer quite aggressive, but when he travelled he was in remission and recovering. Woven through the historical accounts and the travel is diary of his treatment and feelings as he faces the bleakest of futures. Very poignant.

It was a little heavy on the history, but that was a minor flaw in what is another marvellous book from Harrison.
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PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |
The Antarctic is a place that was discovered in stages, As the sailors and explorers of the 18th century ventured further from the safe waters of the Atlantic in into the southern ocean, they stared to think that there was an undiscovered land beyond the tip of Africa and South America. Little by little they came across the islands and the marine inhabitants.

Starting in 1728 with Cook, Harrison describes the journeys and the discoveries that these early adventures make. Traveling in those days was bad enough but by the time they encountered the harsh and brutal environment that makes this place so unique these guys were really suffering.

In-between each trip is a short interlude on a specific subject, whale hunting or scurvy and it breaks the book up nicely. As the title indicates these are the small and often forgotten trips that make up the history off this amazing place. Scott and Amundsen do get a mention, but he has deliberately avoided making another book about them, and they do not take over the book.

Harrison writes some fine travel books and whilst this is not just about his own journeys to and from the continent, it is not strictly travel. That said, it is a fine book, well written, and he does illuminate these often forgotten Antarctic stories.
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PDCRead | 1 weitere Rezension | Apr 6, 2020 |
 
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AnneHudson | 1 weitere Rezension | Mar 30, 2013 |

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Statistikseite

Werke
5
Mitglieder
85
Beliebtheit
#214,931
Bewertung
½ 3.7
Rezensionen
4
ISBNs
231
Sprachen
2

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