Collect In The Land Of White Death: An Epic Story Of Survival In The Siberian Arctic Formulated By Valerian Albanov Depicted In Physical Book
Read.
This true journal of mens attempt to escape from a ship caught in the ice far north of Russia, making their way over the ice hauling heavy sledges, or between the ice floes in kayaks is fascinating to read.
"In the Land of White Death" is Valerian Albanov's stunning account of a ninety day journey across the barren wastes of the North Pole with his companions as they attempted to save themselves from an icy death.
They manhauled sledges and kayaks across the ice after their whaling boat was trapped in the pack ice for more than a year.
The account is wellwritten and really interesting, it stands up to the more wellknown polar expedition stories, As I was reading, I really wished for a second account to shed some light on Albanov himself who seemed brusk and difficult and seemed to find ways to make his travels easier while disparaging the men who had to take the harder route as slow and lazy.
So, I particularly appreciated David Robert's afterward, which focuses on the other survivor's journal to flesh out some of
the details.
I have a fascination with the Arctic and Arctic stories, and this hit the spot,
In, Albanov signed on to an expedition to the Russian Arctic as Navigator on the Saint Anna.
The ship was almost immediately locked in ice, and after two years with no thaw in sight, Albanov set off withother men to escape the ice and find land.
They crossed miles of ice and open water, finally reaching some tiny islands, but even that doesn't guarantee their safety.
This is a translation of Albanov's diary, beginning in the days before he leaves the ship and ending once he reaches Russia proper.
It's a fascinating story, and Albanov is an honest and thoughtful narrator, He also does a wonderful job describing the animals and landscape of the Arctic, and doesn't skimp on the hardship.
The text is lightly annotated to correct factual errors or to suggest medical explanations for some of the things that happened, but it's almost entirely his words on the page.
You can't help but admire someone who refused to leave his diary behind, and wrote bent over a smoky bear fat lamp with frozen finger, just so he could keep a record.
If you're interested in Shackleton, or you liked sitelinkThe Terror, or if you like expedition narratives, definitely pick this up.
It's fascinating, extremely readable, and gives a glimpse into a world very few of us will ever experience.
Очередная летопись из серии не увенчавшихся успехом северных экспедиций. Судно "Св. Анна" планировало проследовать вдоль берегов Сибири до Владивостока, но его сковали и понесли за собой льды. Продрейфовав в льдах больше года, половина команды покинула судно, пытаясь по льдам добраться до берега и попросить помощи. В живых осталось только два моряка. Альбанов отлично пишет, а жизнь северных исследователей всегда интересна. Любопытно, что на судне "Св. Анна" была молодая женщина Ерминия Жданко sitelink wikipedia. org/wiki/D Most readers of polar exploration are familiar with accounts of illfated explorers such as Scott and Shackleton.
The diary of Russian explorer Valerian Albanov was only recently discovered in a French translation buried in a library, translated into English and published in.
It tells of an incredible journey of survival as he and some of his crew set out from his icelocked ship in hopes of finding aid.
This, then, is an autobiography in the form of a diary or journal written by Albanov.
Whereas other expeditions have been written in absentia, decades after the fact, this account is important because Albanov himself describes his incredible journey.
The writing/translation is well written, and each day holds danger, despair, hope and challenge, It is difficult to put this book down, In, Arctic expert William Barr wrote “The name of Valerian Ivanovich Albanov must be ranked among those of the immortals of polar exploration.
This is his story. In, aftermonths trapped in the ice on board the Saint Anna , Albanov, known as the permission to abandon the ship along withcrew mates, to attempt to travel by hauling and sailing kayaks to the distant Franz Joseph Land.
He sees it as their only chance of survival, With no map other than a rough sketch, and constant attacks by walrus, polar bear, and much sickness, the survival story is incredible, and the fact he kept a diary, even more so.
His narrative was first published in Russian in, but not translated until, Yet it reads like a modern day Arctic survival thriller, There are references to the Jeanette , and the subsequent rescue attempts, told so wonderfully in Hampton Sidess In The Kingdom Of Ice .
Both books are excellent additions to the classics of polar exploration, Albanov war zur selben Zeit, in der Shakleton in der Antarktis um sein Überleben und das seiner Mannschaft kämpfte als Navigator auf einem Schiff in der Arktis unterwegs.
Ziel war das Ergründen neuer Fanggebiete, Die Expedition war mehr oder weniger zum Scheitern verurteilt, da schlechte Vorbereitungen getroffen worden und die Mannschaft aus unerfahrenen Männern bestand es war sogar eine Frau an Bord!.
Als das Schiff über ein Jahr im Eis eingeschlossen war, erbat sich Albanov von seinem Kaiptän, mit dem er eh nicht klar kam, die Erlaubnis das Schiff zu verlassen und über das Eis Land zu erreichen.
Von diesem Zeitpunkt aus erzählt er von seiner Reise auf selbstgebauten Schlitten und Kajaks mit einigen Freiwilligen.
Albanov erzählt sehr unterhaltsam und kurzweilig von den Geschehnissen und der täglichen Qual über unwegsamen Eis zu wandern.
Ein Abzug, da mir manchmal Albanov Stil etwas zu übertrieben vorkam Das Buch basiert auf seinem Tagebuch, er hat es nach der Expedition für die Veröffentlichung umgeschrieben.
. Als Kapitän hätte er sich auch nicht so wirklich geeignet, fällt es ihm doch schwer, sich in seine Mitstreiter reinzuversetzen.
Trotzdem ein schöne Lektüre, mit der man wunderbar in die kalten Gefilde der Arktis reisen kann.
This was a great, intriguing book that I read in a little over one day, It is the true story of the trials and tribulations of a group of men walking across hundreds of miles of ice to reach land after their ship becomes icebound.
The narrative is in the form of the diary entries of the ship's navigator, Valerian Albanov.
Not to give too much away this information is on the back cover of the book, but only the narrator and one other man survive, out of an original crew of over.
The story is so harrowing, The strength of character and sheer wherewithal that some people have astounds me, I was happy to read this tale from the comfort of my sofa, under a duvet with a cup of hot tea to keep me company.
Reading a story like this is about as adventurous as I get,
I was so impressed by Albanov his poetic turns of phrases, his storytelling abilities, and the quality of his character.
And I was astonished to learn in the Epilogue that two months after being rescued, he boarded another ship to the Arctic! WTF!! He must have been a sucker for punishment.
Gripping chronicle of a harrowing arctic journey, taken from the author's journal and first published in.
Someone please explain to me why in the middle of the New England winter I set out to read books about Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.
I was looking back and saw that I read about Shackleton's trip last winter and Robert Scot's the winter before.
It struck me that it's similar to my need to listen to the saddest music I can find when I'm feeling sad.
Maybe the best way to make it through winters and sadness is to go to them and through them instead of trying to avoid them.
What a gem of a find this book is, InValerian Albanov, a Russian navigator, sets off in a small ship steam and sail with a proposed trajectory from Alexdraovsk present day Murmansk to Vadivostok.
My jaw dropped when I Googled the map of Russia, Start off at the top of Russia, a stone's throw from the Arctic sea, and then travel across all the northern boundary of Russia and then when you hit the end go South to almost the end of the Eastern boundary.
They set out in late August which is a couple of months too late and by October the ship finds itself trapped in the ice of the Kara sea.
It wintered over the ice expecting to be set loose by the warmth of the following summer but summer came without warmth and with no deliverance.
In the meantime the ship kept drifting north some,miles from where it first was trapped.
Another year goes by and finally, Albanov, second in command, and thirteen other crew members, set off in a southerly direction with Kayaks and sleds in search of land leaving the rest of the crew behind.
What makes this book so extraordinary is first: the book is Albanov's first person account of his journey only he and another sailor make it out alive and second: Albanov can write.
His diary is not the usual cold blooded: "Three miles against gail winds, Seal blubber almost gone. Spirits low. " Albanov rails against his lazy, careless crew with Dostoievskian relish, He describes what he sees with the eyes and words of a poet, But most of all, and now that I think of it, maybe this is why I read these books, the man exudes through his words and exemplifies through his actions a kind of hope and courage that seems more than human.
Why keep on month after month in unbelievable hopeless hardship Why not just lay yourself down and sleep your way to a peaceful death The writing is so real remember this isn't fiction that you cannot help but to put yourself right next to Albanov and wonder whether you would have it in you to persist and go on and not give up.
I don't know the answer to that, I think probably not. But I am strengthened, by the fact that men like Albanov did, And this knowledge makes my own small winter more bearable, Important: Get theversion with the epilogue
InAlbanov's ship was frozen fast in the pack ice due to an incompetent commander.
For more than a year they drift with the ice, and then Albanov decides to leave the ship.
His only map is the one found in Fridtjof Nansen's Fram book! The map is inaccurate map and full of dotted lines where the archipelago was still unexplored.
This book is great in several ways:
It was a joy to read Nansen trough Albanovs eyes.
I enjoy book club readings, But here my book club fellow happens to be a person in another book and his life depends on reading Nansens book and map correctly.
Sometimes even down to details as the colour of the walls in a cabin,
Albanov relation to Brusilov the incompetent captain alone is worth the book, The captain is unconnected to reality in a degree you rarely see,
The journey and Albanovs relation to “his men”, He does not command them these are men who choose to follow him, However, they are clearly not thinking the same way,
On top of that, is an almost murder mystery: I definitely do not think that was intensional,
Yet a further layer is revealed then you realise that Albanov may not be a reliable narrator: These are seriously ill people in some cases just days away from dying.
And yet he calls them “lazy”,
Present day:
Several Russian expeditions has searched for remains, Inparts of Vladimir Gubanov diary was found, “That diary convincingly proves that Albanov was an honest man and not a crook, “ Source: sitelink ru/diary
The following discussion contains major spoilers:
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