Short stories that has you stuck to you seat
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I would love to give it 5 stars but its very frustrating when you finish a passage and you NEED to know the continued journey in the original book. Now I am thinking "I must buy the books". Generally liked it very much and am finding, its easy to get addicted to these type of stories/books.
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Best Introduction to Climbing Literature available!
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This book's strongest point is that the editor has put together some of the most gripping excerpts from the very finest pieces of climbing literature. It may be read as a book in itself, or as a pointer to other climbing greats. To risk using a cliche, this book IS essential reading for all armchair adventurers (and those who leave the armchair from time to time).
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Where's the return to base camp?
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I enjoyed this book, and read it in one day, pouring through the various chapters and one tragedy to the next. My only complaint is that many of the chapters were excerpts from other books, and the stories sometimes felt unfinished. Those excerpts would cover the hit (or near miss) of the summit, then cover some sort of trial to the participating climbers. The climbers may or may not survive the trial, and then that would be the end of it. I actually craved a little bit more of the post-expedition soul-searching.
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Damn! My Toes is Froze!
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Like everybody else, I read "Into Thin Air" and bought more mountaineering books, this being one. Luckily, climbers tend to be a pretty literary lot, because the basic theme of all these books is : Damn, we're out of food/its cold/ I can't feel my feet/hands/nose/my brain is swelling up/I lost my way/tent/sleeping bag/gloves/I almost (or you DID) fall off this cliff. All this is followed by the endless anticlimax of the summit if reached and, worst of all, endless navel contemplation about the meaning of it all. I don't know why this stuff is so compelling, but there it is. I read this book in four sittings when I had a lot of more important stuff to do. Then I went out and bought Everest: The West Ridge by Tom Hornbein. And I live in Florida , have never been higher than 5,000 feet and have never climbed anything higher than the roof of my house. Go figure. I will say that these mountaineering books have a significant collateral benefit - they scare the hell out of the wife.
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Compelling Climbs, Sobering Summaries
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These stories, all of excellent quality capture the allure of climbing, the starkness of the experience. They also present tremendously sobering arguments against the journey. As I read each chapter, I noted that almost all of the authors, most of them young men, either died or dissapeared on later expeditions. THAT added some power to their observations of how close the line is between being lucky and dying. A must-read over-view of the world of serious mountain-climbing. Troy Stabenow
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