Everest : Mountain Without Mercy Summary and Reviews

Everest : Mountain Without Mercy
by Broughton Coburn

Everest : Mountain Without Mercy
List Price: $35.00
Category: Book
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Book Summary Information

Author: Broughton Coburn
Introduction: Tim Cahill
Afterword: David Breashears
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-10-01
ISBN: 0792270142
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: National Geographic
Accessories:

Book Reviews of Everest : Mountain Without Mercy

Book Review: A story that you'll read into the night...
Summary: 5 Stars

"Everest: Mountain without mercy", the story of the IMAX team who filmed the climbing of Mt. Everest and the tragedy that ensued, made me want to get out and climb. Right now. I'd stop reading for the evening around 1 a.m. (as I couldn't put it down) and want to strap on the crampons and venture up the nearest ravine -- or at least a big staircase. Then as it went on, the author, Coburn, through his group of climbers brought the reality home to me of the exhaustion involved in a high altitude climb such as Chomolunga (the ancient name for Everest).

The photos accompanying the story also conveyed the feeling for the immenseness of the undertaking. However, it is good that this story will be put in the IMAX format, as the photos, as brilliant as they are, cannot convey the size and surroundings that the Himalayas require.

I would have given this book my highest rating, as I could barely drop it, except for two problems: First, the author threw out quite a few technical phrases concerning climbing, Buddhism or the mountain itself, that left me reaching for a dictionary, when I just wanted to find out what happened next. Sometimes I could figure out something from the context, sometimes I couldn't (it wasn't until the middle of the book that I discovered Cwm was a Welsh word, pronounced "koom").

My second beef is about the layout, though I'm not sure of another way to approach it. In the middle of a story, the author would mix in seperate "articles" from various authors about the climate, or geology, or religion, or filming, that while interesting, forced me to choose between continuing the page or the chapter or sentence and reading the article. I can understand the placement, but it broke my chain of thought such that it made me chop up a story that compelled me.

But these small problems were made up for by a story of courage, insight, history, and drama. By the end I realized that while Everest isn't for me, the lessons learned on the mountain can be passed on without the use of bottled oxygen or climbing gear. I highly suggest the read.

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