10.
Into Thin Air - By John Krakauer
Despite being a true story about a
misbegotten group of tourists attempting to climb the summit of Mt. Everest,
John Krakauer’s book often leaves even fine novels in the literary dust. The
story he tells rises, like the great peak itself, slowly, and then builds to a
remarkable climax. Each of the characters is brought alive by Krakauer’s
careful and detailed descriptions as they make their way upward; their
backstories carefully tossed like seeds throughout the book so that when the
climax (or multiple climaxes) arrive, the effect is horrifying, sad,
exhilarating and satisfying all at the same time. The research Krakauer did to write
the book places him in the pantheon of great narrative non-fiction writers like
Tom Wolfe and Truman Capote. If you haven’t bought it, do so now and enjoy
every minute. On Barnes & Noble.
9.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom - By T. E. Lawrence
In this book T.E. Lawrence, the
inspiration for the epic David Lean film Lawrence of Arabia, relates his
own rise among the Arab tribes to help overthrow Ottoman rule during World War
I. It’s an astounding story and whatever you may say of the outcome, it stands
as one of the most remarkable military and human tales of the 20th century.
Lawrence describes his role in what he called “a procession of Arab
freedom from Mecca to Damascus;” a series of battles that changed the face of
the Middle East and helped meld tribes into the nation states we know as the
Middle East. The experience tried his own mental and emotional mettle as he
endured torture, thirst, horror and personal loss as well as military success.
His writing, which can occasionally be overly dramatic, is also moving and
eloquent. “For years we lived anyhow with one another in the naked desert,” he
writes, “under the indifferent heaven. By day the hot sun fermented us; and we
were dizzied by the beating wind. At night we were stained by dew, and shamed
into pettiness by the innumerable silences of the stars.” The story does not
digress; it is detailed, realistic and unflinching, and it pins you to each
page like a spell because the cultures, climate, locations, politics, dangers
and remarkable characters are unlike anything the world ever seen. On Amazon.
8.
South - By Sir Ernest Shackleton
In 1914, veteran adventurer Ernest
Henry Shackleton set sail to anchor his ship Endurance on the ice of
Antarctica and then walk the length of the new and unknown continent, a feat
that had never been accomplished or even attempted before. He dreamed that fame
and fortune would follow. He was right, it did, but not for the reasons he
thought. He failed at his goal, but then went on to lead one of the most
remarkable rescues in the history of human adventure. Shackleton’s team was
undone before they began when ice floes destroyed the Endurance and
forced them to abandon it. Though they unloaded provisions from the ship, they
were without shelter, limited food and nowhere near any sort of help. For
nearly 17 months they trudged across ice floes, hauling three lifeboats with
them until in April 1916, Shackleton decided to plunge the lifeboats into the
sea and sail for some spit of land. Five days later they found Elephant Island,
a place never inhabited by humans. It was the first time the 28 men had stood
on solid ground in 497 days. But Elephant Island was hardly a safe haven. On
April 24th, Shackleton set out with five other crew members into the open sea
with one of his 20 foot boats. The other two he left with the remaining crew.
They promptly flipped them over into makeshift cabins where the 22 men planned
to live until rescued. For 800 miles Shackleton’s little lifeboat fought
heavy seas, frigid cold and Force-9 winds. Yet, somehow, after 18 days at sea,
Shackleton and their skiff made it to the island of South Georgia. But they had
arrived on the opposite side of help. So with two other crew members,
Shackleton spent the next two days crossing the island’s treacherous landscape
until at last he found a whaling station. From there, after several failed
attempts, he managed to get back to Elephant Island on a tugboat to rescue the
remaining 22 men. When he arrived August 30, 1916, in the dead of the astral
winter, every one of them was still alive. This story doesn’t carry the
elegance and force of a masterful writer like Saint-Exupery or Ted Simon or
John Steinbeck, but it doesn’t have to because the story itself is so remarkable.
Drama is on nearly every page, and you can’t help but want to know, how will
they make it! And the photos that accompany the book are remarkably stark and
beautiful. (You can buy an e-book version of this
book with original maps, pictures and
drawings for $2.99 at our Vagabond Adventure
store.
7.
The Great Railway Bazaar - by Paul Theroux
The 1970s were a time when baby
boomers were growing into adulthood and some of them did not want to spend
their days in faceless factories or corporate offices. That included Paul
Theroux who decided to travel from London across Europe, through the
sub-continent, down Southeast Asia, then circle back to London by way of Japan
and and the length of Russia, all by train. He wrote The Great Railway
Bazaar in 1975 when travel books had a dirty name, and along with
Bruce Chatwin and Ted Simon brought back the thrill of new cultures and
dangerous deeds like Patrick Leigh Fermor and Richard Halliburton did when they
mastered the form in the 1930’s and 40s. Theroux is a writer with guts and a
remarkable eye for the significant detail. The pages of this book bring the
story alive with beauty and insight and absolute honesty. He never shies from
the truth as he sees it, which can be brutal, funny, surprising and moving, the
very elements you want to see in any story. On Amazon.
6.
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors - By Piers Paul Read
British writer Piers Paul Read’s Alive
is one of the most riveting escape and rescue stories yet written. In some ways
it surpasses Ernest Shakleton’s South. In 1972 a jet with 45 members of an Uruguayan Rugby
team and their families and friends crashed in the Andes mountains. Sixteen
people, traumatized and injured, somehow survived, but their prospects for
living very much longer were long. They faced temperatures well below zero at
11,000 feet with little food. The two and a half months the group lived
together created a crucible out which extraordinary decisions were made. They
survived storms, frigid cold, an avalanche, and the anguish of losing so many
loved ones by creating a miniature social system that was an object lesson in
human in courage, determination and the finest in human behavior. Daily duties
were divided, and food was rationed, including the grisly decision to eat the
bodies of the crash victims, often members of their own families. There were
squabbles and deep concerns over the eating of the victims of the crash, and
not everyone pulled their weight, but the system worked. In the end, the group
agreed to increase rations for two leaders, Roberto Canessa and Nando Parrado,
so they could attempt to hike out of the mountains and save the group. For two
weeks, carrying make shift sleeping bags and gear created by the survivors,
they scaled a 15,000 foot mountain peak and hiked for ten days and 38 miles to
the valleys of Chile where exhausted they finally found help. Read tracked down
the survivors when the world heard their story and interviewed all 16 in
immense detail. He toyed with fictionalizing some parts of the book (he was a novelist,
former writer for the BBC and the Sunday Times), but decided that simply
telling the story as clearly as possible was enough. He was right. If you
aren’t utterly smitten but this book, I’ll buy you dinner. On Barnes & Noble.
5.
In Patagonia — By Bruce Chatwin
For shear beauty of phrase and
description, Bruce Chatwin’s book is difficult to top. But even better is his
remarkable story telling ability. Once you begin to read In Patagonia,
the book becomes your companion. And even when you put the book down, his words
reverberate. With the publication of this book in 1977, Chatwin helped
revive travel writing when publishers had lost interest in the art. Chatwin
himself said he didn’t see the book as a travelogue. Instead he meant it as a
series of stories he wanted to tell as he worked his way by foot and bus and
thumb across some of the wildest territory on earth. And he succeeds somehow
weaving in tales like tracking the house down where Butch Cassidy lived, to
mesmerizing fables about unicorns and Bigfoot like creatures shared by the
people he meets. As he travels, you have the sense of movement and
travel, but you would be hard pressed to know what route he took precisely
though the vast land. It doesn’t matter, though because in so many ways the
book is a journey, but one of the mind. You’re enthralled with geology and
history and myth, and above all the remarkable people he stumbles into. In this
way, the book is utterly unique and unfailingly engaging. On Barnes & Noble.
4.
Travels with Charley: In Search of America - By John Steinbeck
Not long after Steinbeck wrote My
Travels With Charlie (1962), he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his
remarkable and considerable body of work (The Grapes of Wrath and Of
Mice and Men to name just two of his masterworks). My Travels
reminds you why. The book was Steinbeck’s personal effort to reconnect and
understand America by circling the nation during the 1960s in a camper of his
own design with his dog Charlie. On their journey he reveals bits of nation,
its people, its varied cultures and himself, one simple story at a time to
create a timeless mosaic. It’s not a travel adventure in the mold of South
or The Worst Journey In the World, but its is a quietly powerful
adventure nevertheless, steady, engaging, always insightful in the Steinbeck’s
beautiful and direct language, and his unerring ability to capture
dialogue. Don’t think that the time difference makes the story stale. As
with all of Steinbeck’s work, the writing is direct, but deep. Especially in
this book you feel as though you are sitting down with a close friend as he
reflects with disarming humor and intelligence all that he sees and experiences
with the wry and authentic eye of a true genius. On Barnes & Noble.
3.
Wind, Sand and Stars - by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Wind, Sand and Stars - Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry’s most famous book is his children’s classic, The Little
Prince, but his most beautiful and exciting book is The Wind, Sand and
the Stars, tales of his days as an aviator for Aeropostale (later Air
France) in the 1920s and 30s. It is simply one of the most beautiful books ever
written, unless you don’t care for enthralling human insight, epic vision or
love of the written word put to the pen of a master story-teller. Saint-Exupery
was among a group of early aviators who faced danger the way knights of old
slayed dragons. A flier first and a writer later, he skated through the skies
on single-wing, sing-propeller craft at a time when by-the-seat-of-your-pants
was the primary way to get to and from exotic locations like Casablanca,
Tangier, Cairo, Dakar, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. The book is rich
with daredevil adventures, near death experiences, stark beauty and the wonder of
flight when flight was still a miracle. A key theme is that while flying these
early contraptions annihilated time and distance unlike anything else before.
It also opened the world to unknown cultures and people, and forced an
appreciation for nature’s stunning and awful power. Each chapter is broad
and varied, but Saint-Exupéry fuses them with common themes of courage, honor,
empathy and high purpose. They read almost like fables, but stunningly
rich fables, because in the end it is Saint-Exupery’s extraordinary mind and
heart and command of language that raise the book far above mere autobiography
or memoir. Yet, he is always humble and modest. His love of the common man is
in every word. To learn more, read my article “A Prisoner of
the Sands” about
Saint-Exupery’s near death experience when his airplane crashed in the Sahara
Desert. On Amazon.
2.
The Worst Journey In the World - By Apsley Cherry—Garrard
It’s an unlikely title that lead
National Geographic to choose Worst Journey as the greatest
adventure book ever written, but it is a classic, and absolutely true to its
title. In 1911 Robert Falcon Scott, already a redoubtable British explorer,
brought 11 men with him to Antarctica to become the first humans to reach the
South Pole. Scott would be racing another expedition, Norwegian Roald
Amundsen’s competing party who were just as determined to succeed. Scott lost
the race to Amundsen, but the story of his heroic effort lives on in this book
written by one of the survivors, 23-year-old Apsley Cherry-Garrard. At least as
astounding as the race to the pole, is Cherry-Garrard’s telling of another
hair-raising expedition that began before the polar run with Scott.
Cherry-Garrard and two others man-hauled two sledges into the teeth of Austral
winter to locate and return the unhatched eggs of emperor penguins.
Nearly every day for weeks they fought temperatures 50 degrees below zero and
winds of 100 mph. At one point winds whipped their tent away. Somehow, through
all of this they, survived. Both of these stories, and Cherry-Garrard’s frank
and powerful first person descriptions of what he and the members underwent,
make for riveting reading that still stands up despite being exactly 100 years
old. Included are unique maps and the stunning drawings and sketches Edward
Wilson created to reveal a frozen world like nothing the human race had seen.
Maps and photos of the team, even as they neared death, are also included. That
alone makes the book worth reading. For me, this is truly one of the world’s
most memorable adventure stories. It brought both the fear and exaltation of
hazard and courage directly into my hands and I found it mesmerizing. I think
you will too. (For more information read my article describing the remarkable journey
in the dead of the Antarctic winter. An e-book version of this
book with updated preface and original
maps, pictures and drawings is also available for $2.99 at our Vagabond Adventure store.
1.
Jupiter’s Travels - By Ted Simon
The last I
heard Ted Simon is still alive at 90 and still riding his motorcycle. But in
1973 when he convinced the Sunday Times to back his idea of traveling
the world on a motorcycle, he didn’t even have a motorcycle license. (After
failing the test once, he did manage to pass shortly before departing.) The
experience took Simon 64,000 miles, across 45 countries and through every
adventure imaginable from being thrown into a Brazilian prison for ten days, to
wrecking his motorcycle in Africa, to moments of ecstasy in Peru. He even fell
in love in a California commune. Simon’s special talent (he has so many) is not
simply his ability to describe what he sees, but to reflect on his experiences
in profound, moving and often hilarious ways. His ability to look inside his
own mind and then relate those thoughts and feelings to his readers is truly
remarkable and often as powerful as any insight you might hear from the novels
of Tolstoy or James Joyce. Sometimes his descriptions, internal or external,
are so beautiful, that I found myself putting the book down not to stop reading,
but to savor the phrases like an excellent wine. Never egotistical, his
unique and eloquent insights teach us about ourselves as much as about him and
the people he meets. That he managed all of this on a single motorcycle in the
span of four years is both remarkable and courageous, and you feel it on every
page. The book never flags. On
Amazon.
Resource: https://vagabond-adventure.com/library/the-10-greatest-adventure-and-travel-books-ever
