Aurora Australis - E. H. Shackleton

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⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Rebecca)

This was a book of short stories written and published in the Antarctic, on the Nimrod Expedition in 1907-1909, as a way to keep the crew occupied during the long polar winter when there wasn't much else to do and it was important to fend off that polar depression. It includes 8 short stories written by different members of the crew, and then 2 poems contributed by Shackleton himself. It was really fascinating to read the stories that everyone came up with during those long winter months! Some were retellings of true events, some serious and some comedies, and a few were fun fictional stories about their time there. I especially enjoyed surgeon Mackay's (fictional) story about meeting a 6-foot Emperor penguin that for some reason speaks Scots. There are also illustrations done for most of the stories by the expedition's artist, Marston, which are a delightful touch. It only took me a day to read all of these, but I had a great time!

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