Good Non-Climbing Adventure Read

[freeclimb9]

The Long Walk seemed a little too incredible, IMO.

[Dru]

Ya I wondered about it too, but the updated edition seems to put that to rest with the new authors footnote about his support of charities in Poland since the fall of the Iron Curtain....

 

As for thre reason i dont like Krakauer, its because of his Outside Mag school of journalism writing style. You know, write everything targeted to the bumbly mountaineer armchair sitter guy, hype and spray about everything you like, slag whatever you personally dont like, sprinkle the text with lots of "Me and I" cause whatever you are writing about, is really about you. Other writeers I do not like include tim Cahill (same mould), and Andrew Todhunter , author of an execrable character assassination and self indulgent wank masquerading as a bio of Dan Osman

 

That said I used to think Krakauer went a little over the top in his description of soloing Devils Thumb, I found out he did do a new route (usded to think he just did Beckey route but called it a FA), i still think he totally ignores mentioning Culbert Starr & Douglas and says Beckey did their route...

 

What writers DO i like? WH Murray from the 30s. Barry Blanchard even if he does shamelessly reference Bukowski in his style. Mark Twight, Kiss or Kill is awesome book. greg Child used to be good but is slipping a bit with publication of the Beth & Tommy saga. I liked John Bouchards piece on the Kyrghizstan thing.

 

Mark wilford is cool. I wish he'd write a book.

 

ed abbey wasnt much of a climber, but he wrote good outdoors books anyways, even if i dont agree with every fact he wrote, i agree with the spirit in which he wrote them.

 

joe simpson is hit n miss. Paul Pritchard is 100% good all the time.

[Off_White]

Reading Dru's review of climbing rags, which drifted into a few posts about Outside reminded me of Tim Cahill, who has published a few articles there. He's a pretty fun adventure writer, sort of like a more diverse John Long. I particularly enjoyed Road Fever, his tale of pursuing the speed record for driving from Tierra Del Fuego to Nome.

 

added: Heh heh, now that I slow down and read I see that Dru is not fond of Cahill. I suppose I'd agree with the stylistic link between him and Krakauer, so take that as your reference: if you like Krakauer's style, check out Cahill.

Edited January 29, 2003 by Off_White

[chelle]

ok maybe I need to re-read that book. I read it rather fast last summer...

 

When you do, keep in mind that Boukreev's book is written based on FIRST HAND experience from a highly trained high-altitude mountaineer. Whereas, Krakauer's book was written based on SECOND HAND information from lesser-trained individuals and the conjecture of a man who was passed out during the whole incident (himself).

 

For another perspective add Lene Gammelgaard's book "climbing High" to your list. She was part of Scott Fisher's group and gives one more first hand account of what happened up there. After reading all three books I personally think Krakauer's motives are suspect. It underscores how there is no "truth" we each have our own "reality" based on what we experience.

[Dru]

Lene Gammelgaard, as someone who self-describedly went to Everest to kick start her carreer as a motivational speaker, should be distrusted no matter WHAT she says.

[Greg_W]

How about the nasty letters he wrote to committee members of the AAC when they voted unanimously to present Anatoli with the David A. Sowles Memorial award for bravery and heroism? He also made no effort to correct obvious inconsistencies that Boukreev and DeWalt pointed out when he release a new edition of his book.

[hasbeen]

I tend to agree with Dru's assessment of Krakauer and Cahill but I'm with Off White on ROAD FEVER. The book is a good read. I laughed so hard I cried a number of times. I think Cahill did a pretty good job of capturing just how ridiculous the whole underaking was but I have to say, I ended up caring whether they made ot or not.

[rat]

if you enjoyed "south" and lewis & clark's diary, you might like "sources of the river: tracking david thompson across western north america" by jack nisbet. thompson explored western canada and part of the nw united states for the hudson's bay company. would also recommend redmond o'hanlon books like "into the heart of borneo" for easy reading.

[erik]

id second "sources of the river"

 

also "undaunted courage" by steven ambrose

 

 

[Dru]

tami knight cartoon books good bathroom reading

[fern]

High Endeavours

[RobBob]

For another perspective add Lene Gammelgaard's book "climbing High" to your list. She was part of Scott Fisher's group and gives one more first hand account of what happened up there.

 

I thought Lene Gammelgaard's book sucked, after figuring out what Dru alluded to, and also because she was a piss-poor writer.

 

One book that sucked overall, My Old Man and the Sea (WAY too sappy), had one great telegraph message in it. Sent by son in Montevideo to father in the US:

 

"Wallet stolen by mediocre whore. Please send money."

[snoboy]

Tim Severin "The Brendan Voyage" - across the N Atlantic in a skin boat.

 

Tintin books.

 

I am reading "Findlay's River" right now, about the history of said river. It is OK, interesting stories, but not very engaging.

 

[specialed]

Any of Pete Boardman or Joe Tasker's books are rad. Those dudes were tough. They spent a lot of brutal cold time on steep technical ground in the Himalaya. Changabang anyone?

 

Anyone who wrote a book about that whole dumb-ass tourist death thing on Everest gimme a fuckin break. That whole fiasco, like the scene on Everest, is the antithesis of climbing and isn't even worth the paper its printed on.

[chelle]

I thought Lene Gammelgaard's book sucked, after figuring out what Dru alluded to, and also because she was a piss-poor writer.

 

Didn't say she was a talented writer or that it was any better than the other books on the 96 climb. Just another perspective...