Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey Into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton

Amy  

nonfiction, history

Madhouse at the End of the Earth is a nonfiction account of one of the early ship voyages to Antarctica describing the crew of the Belgica, the journey’s goals, and its crew’s experiences in the late 1890s as it aimed to document and study Antarctica and reach the South Pole. Because they got stuck in the ice-covered water for almost a year, NASA uses this book to educate astronauts about living in isolation in unknown, dangerous, below-freezing conditions.

I don’t read a lot of nonfiction but my son suggested I read this book. While I wouldn’t say that it read like a novel, it wasn’t dry and boring.  The story was definitely presented factually (and, thankfully, with a minimum of footnotes) but the storyline flowed chronologically and managed to mostly hold my interest.  The first third of the book introduced all the main people of the crew as well as their motivations and struggles, focusing primarily on those who kept journals and were well-known in their home countries.  It also covered the efforts of the expedition leader, Adrien de Gerlache, to fund his adventure, to requisition the ship, and to staff the crew. The ship finally got stuck in the ice at about the halfway mark of the book. By that point, I knew I would finish to find out how they would survive. Since the book’s prologue was at a point in the future involving two of the characters, I knew that at least two of them would survive. Julian Sancton ended the book by providing information about what each of the men did after their Belgica adventure.

I thought it was well-written, informative, interesting, educational, and worthwhile. I’m glad I read it.

The narrator was Vikas Adam. At first, I wasn’t sure I would like his narration but he grew on me. There isn’t so much acting required for nonfiction factual stories. But Adam read very clearly and informatively—not robotically. And where there were opportunities to add some acting regarding the feelings of the crew members, Adam did a fine job. He didn’t go over the top but appropriately imparted those feelings. There was no need for him to use a diverse cast of voices and he was right for the material. I’ll give him an A-.