Shelf life: Looking at secular books

SHACKLETON
By Roland Huntford
Abacus. 789 pages. £15.99
ISBN 978-0-34910-744-8

Sebastian Faulks, in his Radio 4 series |Faulks on Fiction|, declared that the hero is dead.

Contemporary writing, he says, apart from genre stories, has no need or place for the hero. In the last few months I have been reading and delighting in a book all about a hero. Admittedly it is a biography, not a novel, but I think my fascination proves Mr. Faulks wrong.

Shackleton didn’t excel at school; he was unfaithful to his wife; he repeatedly bungled his financial affairs; he was Micawberish at every turn; but Shackleton led and served the men under his command with selfless courage. His physical and mental endurance when stuck fast in uncharted sub-zero waters were extraordinary. His companions testified that ‘Shacks’ was like a nurse to them; he was the one who would stay awake all night, would make the tea and clean boots, as well as lead the exploration.

To maintain morale, he would never give way in front of his men, no matter how physically frail or desperate, and, in the end, he (unlike Scott) was willing to turn back to avoid loss of life. Shackleton was a man convinced of God’s providence who grew up in a Christianised culture; surely that consciousness shaped and directed his heroism.

We recognise his character as great because, despite his many flaws, there are elements of Christlikeness within it.

It is no wonder that as our culture has become more pagan, so our admiration of heroes has waned. But when celebrity, not character, is celebrated and heroes are deconstructed in school rather than honoured, it is refreshing and humbling to read of great lives. Of course, all this courage was expended in what was arguably a race for glory, a race to be the best and greatest explorer. How much more heroic are the stories of the pioneer missionaries who laboured unsung that their Lord might be glorified.

NB. A book I would not recommend is Sebastain Faulks’s satire, A week in December; clich?d and unconvincing, though not a hero in sight.