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(More customer reviews)How low can it go.
That's the key question about the thermometer - an average of about -60 degrees - and Admiral Richard Byrd's mental state as he struggled to survive when he was, by choice, stranded "Alone" near the South Pole in 1934.
It is a rather amazing true tale of physical and psychic endurance. Admiral Byrd planned to set up an "Advance Base" (a weather station in the inland area of Antarctica) that was separated from the rest of his exploration team at Little America by 123 miles. For six months of the Antarctic winter, there would be no way for a rescue team to reach Advance Base.
Almost unbelievably, he decides to man the weather station by himself. The plan had been for three men to operate Advance Base, but he opts to go it alone because some supplies were lost and - the real reason - he wants the spiritual experience of being by himself.
Not a smart idea. Unless you're a bear with a whole lot of white fur, sitting on your duff during a bitter winter at the South Pole is not Club Med, South. As the fantastically frigid, dark and brutal winter sets in, Byrd discovers that it really is cold outside, and inside as well thanks to a faulty furnace that leaks carbon monoxide.
He blames the latter for the deterioration of his mental facilities and becomes all but immobilized by what appears to be, in today's psychobabble, severe clinical depression.
The resulting tale of mind over a continent of murderously icy, windy matter is eloquent and well-told. Admiral Byrd's courage and perseverance is inspiring. But his judgment, which got him into this polar predicament in the first place, is less than zero.
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