Product Description

As he fell into the abyss, he asked himself: Why do explorers put themselves in dangerous situations. And, once the worst possible situation occurs, how do explorers find the resources to survive? In answering these questions, Benedict Allen weaves a series of tales from his own experiences driving a dogsled across the ice bridge linking Siberia with North America, as well that of other explorers including Columbus, Cortez, Shakelton, Stanley, Livingstone - and their modern counterparts: Joe Simpson and Ranulf Fiennes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #373509 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 274 pages

Customer Reviews

Distilled thought at -40° and below.
Where does one start with a book like this? My first impression as I found my self absorbed into the prose was that this has a very different feel from Benedict's other books. Perhaps it's because this is a very different environment to the others he has placed himself into before, the icy tundra of Siberia being a far cry from the jungles and deserts of previous journeys. Yet there are similarities. For a man who has spent the last 20+ years of his life deliberately putting himself into harms way in order to understand such places and peoples who inhabit them, one could argue there surely couldn't be so much difference?
And yet there is, there's something in this book that tugs at something deeper. Something ponderous and searching.
Ostensibly it's about Benedict's thousand mile trek with dogs through Siberia about 5 years ago and the thoughts that come out of that experience. As usual as the reader one finds oneself travelling with him through the highs and the lows; untested guides, being forced to learn to use someone else's dog team in a fraction of the time actually necessary, the ever encroaching decay of post soviet alcholism, a positively 'Eastenders'-esque scrap in Provideniya and of course, nearly dying in the Bering Straight...
I for one never fail to be carried along with it all, and came close to tears by chapter 40.
But as you can guess from the title, this is more than a geographical journey.
We travel through time, and through mind, listening to the thoughts and exploits of other outsiders trying to survive in hostile environments in the past and present, as well as that of our author, -who's had more than sufficient experience to comment. As we journey, Benedict's notes to himself become notes to us too. To begin with you could perhaps find yourself thinking you could skip the asides if you think yourself familiar with the subject, but as you draw closer to the end and the thoughts start to condense on the pages, you realise they're not just notes to self, asides for the reader, it's almost a form of 'thinking out loud' above the narrative. This is what he was thinking about, what was going round in his head as he tried to remind himself, rationalise, crystallise, survive.
The dogs too, the issue of their dependance on him and his responsibility for them and their lives as well as his own completes something that began back with 'Mad White Giant' and the terrible decision he had to make back then in order to survive when he was young and alone dying in the jungle. What would he do this time, several decades on, alone in the tundra when faced with the same problem?
It's highly tempting to psychoanalyse, as this is something that plays out in the psyche as well as in the environment. But it's better perhaps that you read it yourself and come to your own conclusions. There's something about it that lingers on long after you've put it down, and I find myself still mulling it over, turning the ideas over in my mind as I turned the pages a few days ago and am already debating re-reading it.
An amazing read, I feel like I've been to Siberia and back with him, a part of myself I think is still there. The author too I think.

So, the answer to the questions; 'Why do explorers put them selves in danger?' and 'How do any of us find the determination to keep going in times of despair?' Well, you'll have to make the journey with him...

A Masterpiece!
I was so impressed with this book when I reed it. I have been reading this genre for many years now and this is truely finest. It is not only educated and comprehensive but human.
It is very sad that such honest account should be wrongly and innacurately criticised, and to make such comments after reading properly would be laying.
An excellent also captivating true story as well as thought provoking analysis of exploration.
Is better than anything I could do!

Well worth the wait
I loved this book. With his graphic descriptive style, I felt I was looking over Benedict Allen's shoulder as he undertook this journey with a team of recalcitrant dogs in the hope of crossing the Bering Strait in 2001.
I got a sense that all was not going to plan when Allen arrived after being delayed because of appalling weather to discover that although the dogs on whom he was to rely were waiting for him, their owner wasn't. He didn't know their names, their strengths and weaknesses, or the necessary commands. For their part, the dogs not only completely ignored Allen, but showed little interest in his replacement guides, Yasha and Tolia, both experienced dog handlers.
His admiration for his guides, especially the indomitable Yasha, who try to prepare him for the journey ahead; his exasperation with, yet obvious affection for his team of dogs, especially the seemingly useless `Bernard', as they gradually begin to trust him; his despair as his companions consumed copious amounts of any available form of alcohol on arrival at settlements, crumbling and being reclaimed by the landscape following the break up of the Soviet Union; the resilience of people such as the reindeer herders who have made a home in this beautiful but, to me, terrible place where a simple mistake can lead to death within seconds; his vulnerability and determination; and his increasing doubts in his ability to realise his ambition where failure could lead to the death of the dogs as well as himself, are all vividly conveyed.
The book also cleverly features extracts from the notes made by others who have looked Into the Abyss such as Joe Simpson and Captain Scott, as Allen also wonders what it is that compels some people to fight to survive against all odds when, frankly, it would be easier to give up and die. Is it sheer bloody mindedness, or a desire not to die alone?
My only criticism is that I found the boxed inserts containing background information, in the early part of the book, though relevant, distracting, placed as they were in the middle of chapters describing the author's own activities.