Kathleen S.

I've read this book--five times. I read it to remind myself what it means to be "an explorer." I fancy I'm engaged in doing work that's challenging the limits and boundaries of "what's possible" in my own life and times. Roald Amundsen began his work by learning how to ski and camp out in the winter in the mountains of north Norway when he was a teenager. At 20, he continued; he learned shipcraft on a seal boat for a year in icy water, teamwork toward a goal (trapping seals) as well as daily routines to master, respectful living in close quarters over months of challenges and shifting conditions--all transferable skills essential to his ambitious private vision. Unlike his arrogant Imperialist-competitor, Robert Scott, Amundsen was always "teachable," neither a snob nor a sycophant, and this, in the end meant the difference between success and failure, life and death, for each of them in the drive to reach the South Pole and return to tell the tale. An example that is telling and stands out: Amundsen learned of--and traded to acquire--parkas made from the inside-out skins of reindeer's fur (each hair is hollow thus an exemplary insulation), and traveled warm and frost-bite free, while Scott, who wouldn't think of using the tools of "savage people," used canvas gear and froze to death, with frost-bite injuries suffered even on the journey in. Ironically, Scott, although he lost the race and killed his crew and died, was widely celebrated in the press in the post-race period, while Amundsen was "back listed" and even slandered in the press. I take from this the achievement is its own reward, often underplayed among the publicists and popularity-minded even at the time it is clearly there to be evaluated! That's power and politics in this, our world and times.