The Heart of the Antarctic by Ernest Shackleton

This book is Shackleton's report of his 1907 polar expedition. Included in the discoveries are the existence of the polar plateau, the ascent of Mt Erebus and reaching the South Magnetic Pole. Its relationship to other expeditions is a bit like The Hobbit's relationship to The Lord of the Rings: A great story in it's own right, but merely setting the scene for Scott's last expedition, and Mawson's starvation march in 1910.

This expedition is known for Shackleton's decision to turn around a mere 97 miles from the South Pole. This is usually portrayed as a hard decision to make. From my reading of Shackleton's journal, it was merely a prudent and possibly overdue choice.

Mawson has fallen down a crevasse, and we got to the Magnetic Pole!

Where they Lay by Earl Swift

This is a story of an ongoing American project: the repatriation of the earthly remains of its soldiers, or at least a confirmation of the place that they died. The story centres around a helicopter that was shot down in Laos. The four crew was never seen again, though eyewitnesses was sure there could be no suvivors of the crash. But still doubt remains, and a team of experts goes to dig at a possible crash site. A very thorough job confirms that it is crash site, but not the right helicopter. A month of hell in the Laos hills, heat, rain and bugs, with no bone to show for it.

As a note of cultural comparison, I see in the book the American attachment to material things, and its habit of not becoming part of the land. Alan Bang never becomes home.

Even though the crash site is a disappointment, the last part of the book is entitled Perseverance. I see this as the perseverance of the author to keep on looking for a story, to give the book a very neat and stunning ending.