The South Pole by Roald Amudsen

Roald Amudsen wrote this book, Robert Falcon Scott's his rival. However Scott died so Captain Amudsen lived so he wrote about the trip.

Robert Falcon Scott is a young man who's been in the navy all his life and passed out of Britannia as a midshipman, seventh overall in a class of 26, he knew he has to prove to everyone that he can do more by himself. Therefore, he took on the Discovery Expedition to South Pole, well no one knows it was to the South Pole, they only knew that its an expedition for discoveries. The ship they sailed on was named Discovery.

The book is really interesting as it talks about one person froma third party's point of view and you can see how the author goes "They see a huge ice shelf that's called Ross Ice Shelf but at that time, there wasn't a name for it so it was known to everyone as "The Barrier". A barrier that stops people from going to the South pole." The author tells you about what happened then, and how it could have been improved etc.

For all those travel-lovers out there, this is a "you-have-to-read-this-book-because-you'll-love-it" book! I personally don't like to read much, but this book did get me reading on and on, non stop. If you love to read non-fiction books, this is a great book too. It talks quite alot about the past because, well, Scott's from the past of course.

I hope whoever that reads it will enjoy as much I did. :)

Chasing Che by Patrick Symmes

Che Guevara a revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, military theorist, and major figure of the Cuban Revolution. Thousands of T-shirts with his face on it sold around the world. But how did he become such a famous person, what did he do and where did he come from. 'Chasing Che' follows the adventure of Ernesto Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado, through the authors eyes in a motorcycle journey through South America

Two hundred and twenty nine miles south of Buenos Aires, the engine of the BMW R80 G/S dies, and than silence. Nothing, nothing to hear or to see. These aren't the only problems Patrick Symmes since he arrived in Buenos Aires, first his luggage mysteriously disappeared and than no one could find his motorcycle in the harbor. In the book Patrick Symmes tries his best in being like Che, even if this means stealing office supplies from local newspapers.

I like how Patrick Symmes tries to follow the exact routes the two G's- as he like to call them- went, and even if those didn't exist he still tried to have the same experience the two young adults had.

Every book is different to others, this one connects history with travel, which I enjoyed. I learned a lot about Che, who was just another historic diplomat. Personally I would recommend this to people, who are interested in history and travel adventures.

Journey to the Alcarria by Camilo Jose Cela

Its very common to hear that travel diaries all have boring features: endless descriptions, no dialogues and actionless! But the people saying that have probably never read this book by Camilo Jose Cela called "Journey to the Alcarria. The book is simply written, a bit more than 100 pages long and starts directly to the point by the begining.
The book is non fiction, about a traveler called Camilo Jose Cela, who anticipates a solo trip by foot to the center of Spain. The book is the story of his trip; the people he encountered, the landscapes he saw and what he thought. The author doesn't use any but an interesting type of writing which doesn't use too much descriptions but which offers efficient imagery by describing only the important parts

The purpose is mostly to tell you about adventurers who travel solo in dangerous places. I recommend this book to any fans of Spain and the country side.

Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure

One of the most interesting things I found about the book was the title, Hemingway Adventure. How did Palin come up with such title you ask? He started reading Ernest Hemingway's journalism, short stories, biographies and memoirs, including less fashionable novels for his research. Once he started to get to know Hemingway more, he was attracted to the same thing he was thirty-five years before - the unforced, unsesational, uncomplicated and magical ability to bring the world to life when he heard of Ernest Hemingway when he was a teenager.
Hemingway Adventure sets out to explore the amazing and rich territory of Hemingway's life. By his inspiration, Palin experiences Hemingway's adventure by either bull-running in Pamplona, fishing for marlin in the Gulf Stream or drinking daiquiris in Havana or even been attacked by cheetahs in Africa "The cheetah bares his teeth and backs up. My hand wobbles. I breathe deeply and keep it moving. It's almost there, hovering above the big, sad, yellow eyes, when the cheetah delivers a sharp and wholly unexpected right hook to my leg". I like it how he added suspension which shows the contrasts between the the big, sad, yellows eyes and when the cheetah attacks him.
Palin's writing is like no other; he allows his audience to portray what he wants as if a picture were to be painted. Humor is what makes his work so entertaining, along with his keen insights on life.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes humor or been taken on a short journey along with Michael Palin.

Facing Up By Bear Grylls

This book is written by Bear Grylls, a famous adventurer, writer and TV presenter. This book is about Bear Grylls going on a remarkable journey to the summit of Mt. Everest. In this story, Bear Grylls (author) wrote about his life experiences in the special force and childhood. Before Bear Grylls decided to 'conquer' Mt. Everest, he spent three months in the hospital in Africa, due to a broken vertebrae, caused by an accident when landing with a parachute. Eight months after the accident, he quit the special force.

Bear Grylls then have the idea of 'conquering' Mt. Everest, since he has recovered gradually throughout the year. He and his friend, Neil Laughton then decided to aim for the Indian Army, to gain access to the Himalayan Mountains. The expedition leader was Neil Laughton, as Neil has a great amount of experience on Mt. Everest as he had once organized an expedition, but failed due to a huge number of deaths.

I recommend this book as the author, Bear Grylls, used techniques like imagery, to depict the where he went and so on.

Inti Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

When Jon Krakauer, the narrator, had finally reached the summit of Mt. Everest successfully. On May 10, 1996, his teammates hadn't sleep for at least fifty-seven hours and they were all tormented by effects of oxygen depletion.

Therefore, this disaster ended with a disaster where his teammates perished one after another. How could Jon Krakauer manage to survive through this freezing inferno to tell the story?

The quote that I liked the best within this book is the following: "Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet..." In this quote, the author used strong imagery like magnets to attract the readers into the story. Therefore, it makes you feel like if you are just standing beside the narrator also starring into the vastness.

This author's style of informing story is more than just story-telling. It is also pulling the readers into the actually place where you can feel your skin getting ripped by the coldness of Mt. Everest or the brain-altering effects of lack of oxygen.