Book of the month 2006

© Schöffling & Co

Anno 1914: 17 year old Welshman Merce Blackboro is a stow-away passenger on the ship „Endurance“ and is feverishly anticipating his discovery. This is his second big trip on a ship, and for 635 days it will bring him to a different world, one which he believes he already knows from books. Together with his brother he read Scott’s diaries, but his hero is Sir Ernest Shackleton, who wants to be the first to cross the antarctic continent on foot.

Merce’s friend, William Bakewell, is a crew member and the one who hid him on the ship. The boy’s discovery is the first unexpected incident on this journey, which will not proceed according to plan. Readers, who are not familiar with the seafaring language, will need some time to get into the book, which describes this famous expedition to the Antarctic from the perspective of the ship boy, who became Shackleton’s confidant.

Merce naturally is not expecting a warm welcome, but he is very surprised about the harsh reaction and open resentment of Shackleton and some other crew members, especially Green, the cook, and John Vincent, the first mate. It will take some time until he finds out why. Slowly Merce learns that, in the world of ice, nothing is unimportant or trivial. The ice-cold heaven equals an ice-cold hell that tests the endurance of the 28 men on board, after it becomes clear that the expedition has failed. There are 5000 gramophone needles on board but no medication that can cure the sledge dogs from a mysterious deadly disease.

Bonné describes sensitively and in great detail the demands Shackleton makes on himself but also on his men, and Merce’s admiration towards him. After the “Endurance” gets stuck in pack-ice and eventually bursts asunder, the crew continues living on board for a while, but without the ship. When the last sledge dogs have to be shot, things seem to change and the men begin to doubt their mission.

Merce, who closely observes everything and is a good listener, not only finds out a lot about the others; he grows up on this trip and no longer needs the good-luck charm his friend Ennid gave him. The author admirably succeeds in conveying to the reader the crew’s sorrows, and an understanding of their quarrels, courage, and sense of adventure.
A book of particular interest for readers in Ireland.

IS

Bibliographic Details
German	English Translation
Hardcover: Bonné, Mirko Der eiskalte Himmel. Schöffling, Frankfurt am Main, 2006 ISBN 3-89561-401-7 EUR 24,90	Hardcover: Not available yet.
Paperback: Not available yet.	Paperback: Not available yet.
Audio-CD: Bonné, Mirko Der eiskalte Himmel. Jumbo, Hamburg, 2006 3-8337-1585-5 EUR 24,95