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Joined: Aug 2006
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Glad this thread is still alive
Now for the best of the best, the four-book collection:
The Boardman-Tasker Omnibus
The Boardman-Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature was started to honor their writings and their lives. Pete Boardman and Joe Tasker died on Everest 1983. Joe Tasker is my favorite. Through his introspective writings, he helped me understand life above 20,000 feet where the air is thin and cold.
Harvey
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Joined: Jun 2008
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Mom and I recently finished reading "Touching the Void" by Joe Simpson. Wonderfully written... incredible story of survival and endurance.
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust
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Joined: Jan 2003
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I've heard Joe talk several time, and he is not only a gifted writer (his other books are also similarly great reads), but also a gifted speaker. I would say that few who hear him talk come away unaffected. He is direct, clear, and minces no words and spares no opinions.
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Joined: Jan 2003
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Another book I think not mentioned:
Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey by Goran Kropp
Most folks start their climb from flying into Katmandu or higher, and Kropp felt that this was, in essence, cheating. Would you say that you'd climbed the Empire State Building if you'd started from the 50th floor? So he bicycled from Sweden (sea level), carrying all food and supplies for the trip (but water) to Katmandu, then climbed the mountain without oxygen and unsupported (did not use the route that others were using), then bicycled back to Sweden.
This amazing adventurer died in a trivial rock climbing accident near Seattle, and I was slightly involved in the accident investigation. A totally avoidable tragedy.
By the way, I also heard him speak. One of the most entertaining and funniest speakers I've ever heard. He kept an audience rolling on the floor for two hours straight!
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I would definitely recommend The Boys of Everest by Clint Willis. It's story of Chris Bonnington and the inner circle of climbers and their exploits. It is a very sobering look at the risks involved with extreme mountaineering and how lives and close relationships can change in an instant. The part I enjoyed most was how the book described his early days in climbing and how he got started as a boy. Although centered around mountaineering, this book is primarily about the interpersonal relationships between the climbers and how each individual effects the group's success (or failure).
"That which we gain too easily we esteem too lightly" Thomas Paine
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In addition to the many great books already mentioned, I have also enjoyed reading A Speck on the Sea; Deep Trouble; Death in the Grand Canyon; Above the Clouds; Adrift, lost at sea; The Hard Way; Entering the Stone; and Climb. So much to read, so much to do, so little time.
Last edited by carol.; 02/02/09 03:47 PM.
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Here are a couple more recommendations:
The Climb. Anybody who reads Into Thin Air needs to also read this book. It was written in response to Into This Air. I think gives a more well rounded perspective that is missing if you just read Into Thin Air. Yes, they are my favorite books: "Into Thin Air" and "The Climb". I also like "No short cut to the top" by Ed TBT
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I watched that movie in the uk and cried buckets at the end, Emile Hirsch was brilliant and its a great book, really makes you think, I have a son McCandless's age and hes's also outdoors crazy. Read it!
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