Points Unknown: A Century of Great Exploration

by David Roberts

This collection of adventure writing ranges from Robert Falcon Scott's final journal entry to Jon Krakauer's reckless solo climb of the Devil's Thumb to Tom Wolfe's brilliant portrayal of Chuck Yeager shattering the sound barrier in The Right Stuff. A frigid winter ascent of Mount McKinley; the vastness of Arabia's Empty Quarter; the impossibly thin air at Everest's summit; the deadly black pressure of an underwater cave; a desperate escape through a Norwegian winter - these stories recount the minutes, hours, and days of lives pushed to the brink.

Genres: Adventure, Nonfiction, Travel

608 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
See this thread for more information.

David Roberts is the award-winning author of twenty-nine books about mountaineering, exploration, and anthropology. His most recent publication, Alone on the Wall, was written with world-class rock climber Alex Honnold, whose historic feats were featured in the film Free Solo.

Reviews

[Tim Wetzel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have too much to say about this book, but here’s the gist of it:

1. The book is a collection of excerpts from a lot of different stories and styles, and you have to go in expecting that.
2. Some of the stories are beautiful and thought-provoking, others are incredibly stressful to read. I think the editors did an excellent job of arranging the stories they ended up picking.
3. This book was edited in 2000. More than a few of the stories aged extremely poorly, and I can’t believe some of them are even included. To include stories where people of color are described as inhuman is absolutely unnecessary, and not disclaimed once in the 10-page introduction, nor in any of the chapter introductions. Including these stories in a collection like this, considering the amount of writing in the entire twentieth century, is bewildering. To include the more heinous excerpts of these stories, rather than picking chapters that aren’t written in this way, is at best incompetence and at worst a conscious, unaddressed decision.

I feel that there must be a better compiled of adventure writing out there somewhere. The main appeal of a compilation like this is the stories it chooses and their arrangements; while it is arranged very well, the stories are hit-and-miss. If you’d rather just go straight to the sources, here are the books whose chapters I enjoyed the most:

- The Man Who Walked Through Time (Colin Fletcher)
- Eiger Dreams (Jon Krakauer)
- Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors (Piers Paul Read)
- Gipsy Moth Circles the World (Francis Chichester)

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this collection of adventure stories. They are snippets from some of the great adventure books of all time and I've gone back and read the stories again and again.

[Sarah Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb collection of, not just true adventure stories, but well-written adventure stories. Everything from epic journeys, to indigenous discoveries, sudden tragedy to personal obsessions, hilarious mis-adventures to hardcore exploration. This book introduced me to scores of other adventure books that I can’t wait to read. An excellent sampling of adventure writing from the past century. Now if only they would publish one about the century before :)

[Sylvia Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books contains a wide range of writing styles and subjects: the slow slog of Shackleton, Theodora Kroebers anthropological biography of the last surviving Yahi-Yana Native American, Jon Krakauers youthfully crazy/optimistic first ascent of Devils Thumb.
I recommend taking it on with an attitude of exploration. Peek into its pages and choose what you find appealing. Give yourself the freedom to walk away from the rest.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an ok collection. But there were some terrible duds that made the manifest. The bad ones are really bad. The good, very, very good.

[Alec S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Points Unknown
David Roberts
608 pages
Non-Fiction

In this book there are forty-one different stories about great exploration in history. I will only do a summery of one story. Edward Abbey (1927-1989). Edward Abbey likes to explore alone, in places nobody has every been. When he was exploring a side canyon off Havasu Canyon when he realized that he would not be able to make it back to camp in time unless he took a shortcut. He saw a canyon leading down into Havasu canyon, but he didn't know if he could climb down it because he only had his walking stick and no rope. Edward Abbey started down the canyon tired and hungry. At first, everything went well. Later, he came upon a large overhang with green muck below him. He dropped into the thick, warm water. He swam to the other side, and found another green pool below him, but no overhang. He let go, sliding down the rock and landed in the muck. After grueling hours of hunger and lack of sleep Edward Abbey finally found his camp.

I really liked this book because of its many stories. Some stories were a lot better than others, but my favorite was the one about Edward Abbey because it showed lots of courage. My favorite part about this story was the part about him trying to make his way down the canyon. I liked this part because it was mysterious not knowing what was under the muck. I also liked it because it was full of action and some of the other stories didn't have as much action as this one did. I would suggest you reading this book if you are ok with some dry reading, but also a lot of action, adventure, and amazing exploration in history.

[Christopher Sutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This does have some genuinely canonical examples of exploration literature, and those pieces are definitely worth reading (though editor Roberts doesn't pay one-tenth of the attention he should to the politics of many of his explorers, unless they are absolutely beyond the pale in their racism). However, for a book called "Points Unknown" and supposedly dedicated to the literature of exploration, there are far too many pieces in here that are boring, redundant, or just plain not about exploration in any way. The most grievous example is the piece about hunting in Montana. In what conceivable definition of "exploration" does hunting in 1980s Montana fit? Furthermore, the hunters int he piece DON'T CATCH ANYTHING AT ALL. They ride out to look for elk...they ride home to camp without seeing any elk. They ride out the next day looking for elk...they ride back unsuccessful...again and again and again. If you're going to include hunting in a book like this, at least put in a piece in which the hunters actually bagged something. Please. Anything.

[Alex Mcdouall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly lengthy compilation of adventure stories, most from early in the 20th century, potentially because there were more dangers at that time due to inadequate equipment. Not that equipment of today is by any means sufficient to conquer nature at its finest.

There were riveting parts of this book, and others were mundane and often redundant as a collection. There was a great variety of activities the stories were based on, which is a great relief after starting off with three or four more or less similar expeditions to Antarctica.

The book does offer a valuable insight into the world of extreme-condition exploration which most are completely foreign to.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of these are pretty much what you’d expect—mountaineering accidents, desert crossing mishaps, river crossing errors, and jungle troubles. A few interesting additions like issues in cross cultural communication and cave diving adversity.

Look, this book delivers pretty much what it promises. And I am a sucker for these stories. I’ve ordered at least six books based on the excerpts here.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating collection of journal entries from famous explorations of the 20th century. I first saw this book at my inlaw's house, and read a number of chapters while there. After returning home I borrowed a copy from the library to read it in its entirety.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were good, most were only so-so. It was good to get a glimpse of some interesting stories, but I don't particularly care for the passages that were chosen.

[Chris Brook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome summary of adventure literature, some recent, some not so recent

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-chosen excerpts of high adventure true stories. Gave me lots of titles to pursue in this genre.

[Dedwarmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13865294