Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Biography
Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard (1886–1959) was an English explorer of Antarctica and author, best known for his memoir 'The Worst Journey in the World'. As a member of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition (1910–1913), he participated in the infamous 'Winter Journey' to Cape Crozier to collect emperor penguin eggs, an ordeal considered one of the most arduous treks in polar history. Despite surviving the expedition, Cherry-Garrard was profoundly affected by the hardships, the deaths of Scott and his companions, and the physical and psychological toll. His book, published in 1922, is a classic of travel literature, offering a candid, meticulous, and deeply reflective account of the expedition, its scientific aims, and the human cost of polar exploration. He struggled with depression and PTSD for much of his later life.
Selected Thoughts
«Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has yet been devised.»
«Optimism is a necessity. Those who have a negative attitude will not last.»
«The world is full of people who are trying to achieve the impossible; so it is not surprising that some of them are driven mad.»
Writing Style
Cherry-Garrard's writing style is characterized by its meticulous detail, stark realism, and profound honesty. He combines vivid descriptive passages of the Antarctic landscape with deep personal introspection and philosophical musings on courage, suffering, and the human spirit. His narrative is unflinching in its depiction of hardship and the psychological toll of extreme conditions, often infused with a dry, understated wit and a poignant sense of loss.