First reading.

The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge.

What bonds men together to rndure hardships is the focus of this novel. The expedition of Robert Scott to Antartica is a classic story of man versus nature, man versus man, man versus himself.
Told in the first person from five different perspectives, we, as readers, obtain an insight to all the characters from each other's point of view. The ambitious Scott; the dependable Wilson; the stalwart Bowers; the stern Oats; and the opportunistic Evans. All five detail their lives, relationships and motivations that lead them to their fateful expedition that ends in disappointment and lost.
Bainbridge's account of the physical and mental hardships, hostile environment, and the attitudes of the era, are imaginatively retold in this finely written historical novel, as these men confront themselves and finally nature. 7/10.