So Many Books; So little Time

On The Edge

On the Edge

Published in Outdoor Life

c. 1999

Believe the picture on the front. This is an exciting book. Unlike If Nature Calls….Hang Up! this offering from Outdoor Life brings the reader to the edge of his or her seat. These are the stories of survival that amazed the survivors, and their rescuers and their original readers and are timeless today.

Not all the stories in the collection are survival stories, though. There is “I Had to Have Moose” which chronicles the survival of a single mother. “The King of the Swamp” is a tale of an alligator from nature’s point of view. “The ‘Lion-Man’” is a tale of African medicine men seeking to keep hold over their tribes. “Last of the Mountain Men” is a tale of meeting a man who knew animals better than people.

By far the most and least satisfying story included is “Africa’s Meanest Game” by Fred Bear of Bear Archery fame. Most satisfying because of the tale he tells and the way in which he tells it and least because he promised a sequel which was not included in the collection.

All of the stories are well-written and so timeless you wonder how they could take place today until you reach the end of the story and find they happened 30, 50 or even 70 years ago. These are stories to read by the fire on a cold winter night when things seem totally dull and boring. Well worth the money and the time to read.

Lost in Tibet

Lost in Tibet: The Untold Story of Five American Airmen, a Doomed Plane, and the Will to Survive

by Richard Starks and Miriam Murcutt

c. 2004

This is a must read for anyone interested in either World War II, aviation history or the conflict between Tibet and China. It’s quite timely given the tension between China and Tibet just prior to the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

Richard Starks and Miriam and Murcutt traveled the area in which the pilots found themselves in 1943-44 bringing a true dimension to the story they tell. This is a well-written, well-researched book documenting one of the least known events in WWII.

Few people realize that America was supplying China from India during WWII. After the fall of the Burma Road, American Airmen were flying supplies of munitions and food “over the hump” into China. One late November, a weather system, coupled with what was probably false radar readings and faulty directions on the part of air traffic contollers, resulted in five American Airmen crash-landing in Tibet. At that time in history, the Dalai Lama was a boy still living in his palace in Lhasa, Tibet, China claimed Tibet as a part of China, Tibet claimed to be independent but in need of recognition which the rest of the world wasn’t willing to give due to the World War.

The Airmen found themselves, seperated then reunited, feared then welcomed then billed, on their way home by way of going the wrong way again, welcomed, stoned, restrained, expelled and then paid to leave. They had to fight what was probably High Altitude Sickness and rush against the weather in order to get back to India before being trapped in a Tibet that alternately wanted to “wine and dine” them and attack them–frequently at the same time.

A fascinating story of survival and politics that even the players weren’t aware of at the time. Quite readable and worth the time in order to more fully understand the various fronts of World War II.

The Rescue Season

The Rescue Season: The Heroic Story of Parajumpers on the Edge of the World

by Bob Drury

c. 2001

Language Warning for this book

If you are ever lost in the mountains or anywhere in the wilderness or even on the sea, these are the men (all of them are men) you want coming after you. You’ve heard of the Navy Seals and the Green Berets but these are the elite of the elite. Parajumpers are a special breed. They are not only soldiers of the toughest kind but also swimmers of the toughest kind, mountain climbers, paratroupers, and medics, some training to be nurses.

Bob Drury spent several months living with the parajumpers in what they consider the best assignment–Alaska where Denali stands and lives up to its name–Weathermaker. High mountain rescue doesn’t get any tougher than on Denali where veterans of Mt Everest get caught and die. In Drury’s book you will meet the helicopter pilots and the men and their families who go out into the most improbable situations and rescue people who otherwise would be statistics on the side of the mountain.

I first heard of parajumpers in The Perfect Storm when they went out into the center of a hurricane and rescued three people off a private boat that was sinking in rain so heavy, it was impossible to tell when you left the air and reached the ocean and with waves trying to grab them off the ropes and straight out of the helicopter. These men know fear and do their job because it’s what they want to do. This book gives you an up close and personal look at their lives, their training and what it is they do. Men don’t come any tougher, any braver, any kinder than these.

Ada Blackjack

Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic

by Jennifer Niven

c. 2003

Ada Blackjack is on the cover and she is followed all through the book but I wouldn’t say the book is strictly about Ada nor would I say it’s even strictly about surviving in the Arctic. This is a book about a man, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who convinced four young men that they could survive in the Arctic off the land. They were advised to buy food, supplies, hire Eskimo families to accompany them and live on Wrangell Island to claim it for the British Empire for a year or two.

They managed to buy the food and supplies but the Eskimo families disappeared before they even left Nome. All of them, that is, except Ada Blackjack who needed money for her son Bennett whom she had put in an orphanage for his tuberculosis. So, the five sailed to Wrangell Island with a cat, Vic and began their occupation of the island.

Hardship, misunderstandings, homesickness and depression set in with the five along with immaturity (the oldest was 27) and inexperience (only two men had ever had to survive in the Arctic before). In the end, three of the men tried to go for help because their elder member was dying of scurvy, and Ada and the dying man were left alone with the cat. Ada was forced to do the work of five people, teach herself to journal and hunt and trap despite her own ill health. When the man died, she was left alone for two months before a relief ship arrived a year late.

Back in civilization, Ada wanted only to be paid what was owed her and see her son cured. Instead she was hounded by reporters while Vilhjalmur Stefansson and another man fought over the recovered journals and what the truth of the expedition really was. Ada was either a heroine or a heartless, gold-digging, prostitute depending on who was telling the story what day. And the claiming of the island was invalidated by the United States, Canada, Great Britain and the Soviet Union who actually already owned the island.

This is more the story of greed, saving face and altering history to suit themselves by men who had an idea but not a plan. This is a story of how humans and their faults can ruin not just one life but many lives and how it can be done with so little remorse that in the end there isn’t a single sympathetic character in the book with the possible exception of Ada Blackjack and her sons.

This book shows why men have resorted to iron clad contracts and securing government permission before leaving home for any extended amount of time. This is about the power struggle and all than can go wrong and usually does when humans try to convince others to do something they haven’t done themselves.

Decently written, if a bit slow in the beginning. A well balanced account of all the events of the time. This book tries to be as sympathetic as possible to all involved, including Ada Blackjack.

No Horizon Is So Far

No Horizon is So Far: Two Women and Their Extraordinary Journey Across Antarctica

by Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft with Cheryl Dahle

c. 2003

Liv Arnesen had skied to the South Pole solo because she couldn’t find anyone to go with her. Ann Bancroft had led three other women to the South Pole but ran out of money before being able to lead them across the continent. After paying off her debts, she wrote to Liv in Norway and asked her to consider crossing the continent with her. After meeting, they found they had so much in common it was as if they were soul mates.

And so began the collaboration of two former teachers into, not only the crossing of the Antarctic continent at its widest point, but also the writing of educational curriculum for children of all ages in English and Norwegian.

Along with Cheryl Dahle, they tell their story. The story of meeting, of getting everything together as well as of the crossing of the continent. They share the ups and downs and the frustrations of fighting with government facilities in Antarctica as well as private enterprises along the way. They found sponsorships, became a family with the employees of the company Ann created and completed the goals they set for themselves. 

Ann’s lifestyle is discussed but no more than Liv’s is. This is a book about two women crossing a continent and not a political statement meant to sway readers. In fact, this book would be just as important if it were about two men crossing Antarctica. This is about the human spirit and the spirit of discovery and exploration and determination not about politics or ideals. This is a journey.

This is a very readable book and is a quick read–I finished it in less than 24 hours. There is much to be encouraged about and to cheer in this book. There is much to consider as well as far as exploration is concerned.

Wonderful color pictures add to the feeling of being there through the cold and the ice and the wind that sometimes was their friend and sometimes was not. A really cool book.

Faith At War

Faith at War: A Journey on the Frontlines of Islam, From Baghdad to Timbuktu

by Yaroslav Trofimov

c. 2005

Do you ever wonder where all these terrorist keep coming from? Do you wonder why the war has ended but more soldiers are dying? Do you wonder what goes on in the heads of jihadis? If so, then you need to read this book.

Yaroslav Trofimov is a journalist with an Italian passport who has lived in Israel and Italy and traveled extensively in Muslim countries following 9/11. He was embedded with soldiers and traveled on his own into war zones leaving him with the scars of ducking for cover at the sound of a car’s backfire. He spoke to common people, jihadis, imams and government officials from American supported governments and non-American supported leaders. He traveled through the desert, had one of his best friends Danny Pearl kidnapped and murdered and saw the luxury of sheiks.

This is his story of what he found when as an Arabic speaker, he talked to Muslims where they lived and where they were willing to die. He tells what they are willing to die for and why they feel that way. After reading this book, you won’t look at another photograph of an American Soldier with Muslims the same way again. You won’t look at any Muslim the same way again nor will you listen to the news the same way anymore. Americans and Muslims are vastly different from each other and this is a fabulous work that shares some of the how and whys.

This book should be mandatory reading for every government official and anyone else who seeks to understand and communicate with Muslims anywhere in the world.

The Ultimate Horse Book

The Ultimate Horse Book

by Elwyn Hartley Edwards

c. 1991

This work is essentially British and as such has a very British focus to both organization and writing. The book contains over a hundred of the major horse breeds, for example, but they are not listed in any particular sort of order–not alphabetical nor chronological nor in groups–and they are not listed at all in the Table of Contents. They are just grouped together in the book at Breeds of Horses, making it difficult to find a particular breed quickly. The other major fault with the book is that it focuses on what is considered necessary for horse management in Britain and, to a lesser degree, Europe, and shuns American style as “okay, in a pinch.”

On the up side, this book contains a lot of useful information about the breeds of horses including acceptable coloration, conformations, height, uses, and origin. Beautiful full-color pictures grace every page with the major points of each breed being pointed out by a large photograph of a horse of that breed. All aspects of equestrian sports and activities are covered from buying to riding to breaking to bit to competition. On the whole, this is an excellent work but, like most things, could always be made better.

In The Zone

In The Zone: Epic Survival Stories From the Mountaineering World

by Peter Potterfield

c. 1996

This is a book that’s more about survival than mountains. It features three stories of survival in the most dire of situations. First we meet Colby Coombs who lost his best friend and another climbing partner on Mount Foraker in Alaska. He survived and then had to walk himself with broken bones off the mountain and tell what happened to the world. Then we meet Scott Fischer and Ed Viesturs on K2–the hardest mountain in the world. Scott fights to climb the mountain even after he wrenches his shoulder in a fall in a crevasse and they both battle weather to not only get to the top but also get themselves and other climbers back down. Finally we spend a few days with the author sitting on a tiny ledge with a shattered shoulder, a broken elbow with bones protruding, a broken ankle and other injuries. He sits in hot sun, becomes dehydrated, watches for rescuers and then is rescued in what the rescuers consider the most daring rescue of a live victim in their careers.

There are some tears to be had in this book but also some laughs. It’s easy to see at the end that each of the injured climbers experienced a change in their lives because of the injuries they received. This is a book for those who want a story with adreineline and happy endings. It’s not for the weak of heart who faint at the sight of blood or who prefer not to hear about disasters. There is some language but it’s in context and not used unless it furthers the story. Descriptions of injuries are accurate but not so graphic as to turn most stomachs.

A Tolkien Bestiary

A Tolkien Bestiary

by David Day

c. 1979

This is an encyclopedic work on the many and different beasts and peoples written about in J.R.R. Tolkien’s many works. It covers all aspects of his writings and tries to stay true to Tolkien’s ideas. Many of the peoples and beasts have more than one name in Tolkien’s works just as many people and beasts have more than one name in our world. Day has entries for them all and so you may find two or three different entries for the same persona such as Hobbit and Halfling for the hobbits as well as one for each of the three different races of hobbits.

This would be an excellent resource for someone writing a research paper on one of the many beasts or peoples Tolkien invented (or researched–as he would say) or as a companion to a serious reader of the Tolkien books.

Includes an index and lavish illustrations by several different artists but all lovely just to turn the pages and look at. Even if it’s not read, it makes a beautiful coffee table book for a Tolkien enthusiast. It’s informative and a real conversation piece.

Kayaks Down the Nile

Kayaks Down the Nile

by John Goddard

c. 1979

In 1940 John Goddard was fifteen and it was raining. To pass the time, he sat down and made a list of 127 things he would like to do in his lifetime. By 1979 with the publishing of this book, he had accomplised 107 of them. To date, he has accomplished two more.

Come along with the man who was in the original Chicken Soup for the Soul book and has been called the original Indiana Jones as he and two French companions travel from the source to the mouth of the Nile River in Kayaks. Along the way (though he only a few times mentions it) he achieves others of his goals.

This is a book filled with pictures and stories of people John and his companions meet along the way. No trip is without hazards and they found plenty–from hippos to pirates. They saw palaces, ate a lot of dates, drank straight from the Nile River and contracted some local diseases. Sidebar pages give more information than the journals John wrote on this 1950-51 trip and published in 1979.

A great way to meet Africa on the banks of the Nile River without ever having to leave home. John is a decent writer and there are times you wonder how he wrote the book as you are certain he’s not going to make it–or one of his companions won’t. References to God as creator but no statement of allignment with any particular religion or faith other than most likely Christian. Published by Brigham Young Press. No language or sexual situations but may be too violent for children.