The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest by Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston DeWalt Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest
Book Review: It jumps right up and grabs you by the throat
Summary: 5 Stars
Marvellous, gripping, breathtaking, dramatic, suspenseful, and above all very well written. The kind of book that you read in one single breath without putting it down before reaching the very last page.Whether one is sympathetic to Boukreev's or Krakauer's claims is less relevant. It is a superb book on one of the most dramatic events in high-altitude mountaineering.
Book Review: It's always good to hear another side of the story
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm glad to have finally read this, I knew it wouldn't be as exciting, having already read Into Thin Air, but I'm certainly glad I picked it up. The Good: that we get an account of what happened from Boukreev, an explanation of his rationale and additional accounts of Fischer's expediton. We can only imagine/speculate how worse if would have gone had Boukreev not been there. The Bad: the writing. It felt disorganized, poorly constructed, disjointed ... Boukreev could have used a better co-author.Book Review: LIke Anything Russian, It's Crude but Effective
Summary: 5 Stars
I read Krakauer's book first and then I read Anatoli's book. I had the following reactions: First, Krakauer has a way of making broad sweeping statements, as in "all of the Sherpa's hated Boukreev." How would he know that? Second, he assumes that Boukreev decided on his own to descend from the summit when he did. Third, it was Boukreev, not Krakauer or anyone else who after arriving at the camp, turned around and rescued three of the stranded climbers. Fourth, when Boukreev asked Krakauer to go with him on his rescue attempt, Krakauer refused. Finally, after reviewing all of the evidence from multible sources, including "Into Thin Air" the American Alpine Club awarded Boukreev it's heroism award for his attempt to save lives during the 1996 Everest Expedition. Into Thin Air is slick, written for Outside Magazine readers who hike and climb in only the most up to date uber expensive gear. It looks good, it sounds good, but its not real. Boukreev's account is crude, definitely not slick, but like a old school pair of boots or backpack, it works and keeps on working. It's True.Book Review: Loved it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent, especially if you've read Into Thin Air and love mountaineering minutiae.Book Review: Mistakes Were Repeated
Summary: 4 Stars
What amazed me about The Climb was that Boukreev repeated many of the same mistakes in his 1997 Everest expedition, summitting with an inexperienced Indonesian group after 3:00 p.m. While he did establish a Camp 5 at 8,500 meters, he would not have made it back to that camp with all climbers had he faced either the weather or health problems that occurred on May 10, 1996. And then Boukreev kills himself in an avalanche. I think all these people have a death wish.