Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard

By Sara Wheeler

If you have not read The Worst Journey in the World, then this biography about a relatively unimpressive British bloke might not do much for you. For me it answered a nagging question, so what did Apsley do after the Scott expedition to the pole? A story of a wealthy man who resents the taxes he has to pay because of his holdings that he inherited and proceeds to sell them all off. That answer your question? Gripping, no?

After 600+ pages or writing of his journey with Scott in TWJITW (a journey that Apsley was primarily allowed on because he paid his own way instead of getting paid like the rest of the crew) you don’t get much sense about him as a person other than his determination. Cherry focuses mostly on his life after the South Pole. A life spent mostly on writing his book, various drafts include pages of their supplies, miles hiked, etc... and bickering via letter to newspapers and journals about who did what during the expedition, who was responsible for the deaths, and defending Robert Falcon Scott.

I also read another book by Wheeler. Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica. I read this after reading quite a few other books about the Antarctic explorers. This helped to make sense of the stories in the book. The great thing about Terra Incognita is that it compares current Antarctica (well it was published in 1999) with the Antarctica of the first explorers. The weather in Antarctica allows for the preservation of many of the huts and cairns that were made for shelter. Wheeler visits them. She talks about how some of the huts have been left just as they were, and it almost seems as if the original inhabitants will walk in any moment. She quotes from other books to tell the stories of the original explorers, which might be kind of confusing if you don’t know the story.

She tells how a man with the same last as Apsley is nicknamed Cherry. How before the Internet connected the bases, they communicated by radio. They held dart contests between bases. I know, how they hell do you hold a dart game over a radio. Well if you’ve got the time... But anyway this went on for years. One day in a base exchange (hey you’d get sick of your company after a few months, so they tried switching up members every now and then) a new scientist went to the Italian camp. When he asked about playing darts they had to admit that they didn’t have a dart board even though they had been participating. But they didn’t want to be left out so they would make up scores for the dart games over the radio. And the really funny part, they never did very well. I guess they just wanted the companionship. Just like in Cherry’s time.

I enjoyed Cherry for the look into how people lived at the turn of the 20th Century, well how the wealthy lived. I guess when you wonder “could I have made the trek to the pole?” here’s your answer. An ordinary guy, with poor vision, was able to thrive on Antarctica. All it takes is the inner strength to push yourself forward. Or as Apsley would say “you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin.”