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During the course of the expedition the group overindulged in alcohol and this caused many problems that could have easily been avoided. While they faced many obstacles from terrible weather to wild animals, In my opinion Alcohol was the largest obstacle to the expedition.
What about you, what do you think was the largest obstacle to the expedition?

I think it's the lack of trust and the lack of open communication. The alcohol itself was not a problem for me, but the fact that some people were stealing it instead of sharing and enjoying together.

I think that the alcohol caused problems, and I was annoyed that the commander didn't just dump it all out which would have solved the issue. Putting the others on the honor system not to get into it was not a good decision.

Ferdinand_otieno wrote: ↑01 Jul 2020, 03:24 During the course of the expedition the group overindulged in alcohol and this caused many problems that could have easily been avoided. While they faced many obstacles from terrible weather to wild animals, In my opinion Alcohol was the largest obstacle to the expedition.
What about you, what do you think was the largest obstacle to the expedition?

I wholeheartedly agree that alcohol seemed to cause a lot of the issues that they had during the expedition. Had they have abstained from drinking, I think their experiences would have been much different!

Alcohol may have been one of their obstacles, but in my opinion, I think the largest of all was the lack of trust amongst them. If they had trusted each other, the alcohol would have been a minor obstacle.

I don’t think it was purely the alcohol that was the problem but rather human error. Through human error or human weaknesses, they created their own obstacles such as miscommunication, dishonestly, excessive alcohol consumption etc.

I think their human weakness toward temptation was mostly the problem. Having the alcohol available at all was a problem waiting to happen. The expedition (and it's members) would have been better off without it.

I have a belief that too much of everything is bad. Their major consumption of alcohol was their doom and not the mere intake of same. I feel that if they had consumed it moderately, things wouldn’t have turned out as terrible as it did.

diana lowery wrote: ↑01 Jul 2020, 13:55 I think that the alcohol caused problems, and I was annoyed that the commander didn't just dump it all out which would have solved the issue. Putting the others on the honor system not to get into it was not a good decision.

Couldn't agree more! Albeit a big contributor, alcohol is only one part of the problem. Thanks for the interesting perspective.

Alchohol was the greatest obstacle to the expedition. They just should not have brought it with them.

Topsey wrote: ↑01 Jul 2020, 16:41 I don’t think it was purely the alcohol that was the problem but rather human error. Through human error or human weaknesses, they created their own obstacles such as miscommunication, dishonestly, excessive alcohol consumption etc.

Don't you think the alcohol made the human errors worse? For example, human error was a tremendous problem for Grant long before the expedition began, but I think alcohol compounded the problem. Perhaps he would have forgotten important meetings and left papers lying around carelessly even if he were completely sober, but alcohol always makes us less efficient, at best.

Honestly, through alcohol we get to see the HUMAN weaknesses, in the sense the overtime diminishing trust and absence of communication. So many problems could've been avoided not by just avoiding alcohol, but by talking.

IchbineinBerliner wrote: ↑03 Jul 2020, 10:47

Topsey wrote: ↑01 Jul 2020, 16:41 I don’t think it was purely the alcohol that was the problem but rather human error. Through human error or human weaknesses, they created their own obstacles such as miscommunication, dishonestly, excessive alcohol consumption etc.

Don't you think the alcohol made the human errors worse? For example, human error was a tremendous problem for Grant long before the expedition began, but I think alcohol compounded the problem. Perhaps he would have forgotten important meetings and left papers lying around carelessly even if he were completely sober, but alcohol always makes us less efficient, at best.

Yes, I suppose you’re right. The alcohol enhanced what human errors were already present.

Definitely the alcohol consumption made everything worse. I don't understand why it's not just thrown out the first time it begins to be abused. Of course, they had other issues such as lack of communication, but alcohol just worsens all their issues.

The presence of alcohol in this novel wasn't inherently problematic for me, but it was a really contrived effort to advance the plot and reveal character. It also could have been solved so simply (pour it out). Another reason I took issue with the alcohol was because it is an engagement with a stereotype that Russians are heavy and irresponsible drinkers. That is not to say that a book can't have a drinking Russian, only in this case it felt like the bumbling management of the situation and the character tropes were in fact used to play into that stereotype.