Lambone Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Ok, maybe this thread has been done before... but, I keep this one book by my toilet and each time I sit down to take a crap I'm amazed about how much it sucks ass! Ever read any of: "Royal Robins- Spirit of the Age" by Pat Ament ??? Only if you pick up this piece of garbage for more than 30 seconds can you realize and appreciate how much it actually sucks. Like not only pitiful elementry school writting, but also blatant missinformation and lies. For instance, that Royal "devised" the use of hooks to climb over blank rock. What a crock of shit. I don't know who used the first hook, but I'd bet hard earned money that it was some old school Euro...not Robbins. The entire length of the book Pat Amets lips are so brown from sucking the dingleberries of Royals ass that it's almost humiliating. Anyway, just venting. The only thing that saves this book are the awesome black and white photos of the pioneers of Yosemite climbing, the reason it sits by my toilet and not in it... Sure Pat Ament was/is probly 100x tougher than I will ever be, but damn put down the pen fellow, before you hurt somebody! Quote
chalkball Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 You know, I am a big fan of climbing literature and I put that one down after a couple of chapters. The writing was terrible and dry and I put it down pretty fast. Luckily I got it for free from someone cleaning out their bookshelf. Worth every penny. Quote
DPS Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Someone gave me a book called "Vortex" by David Harris. Worst climbing book ever. The plot is about two climbers who find a crashed plane on Mt Redoubt. They rescue the pilot who is a drug smuggler and they become entangled with a drug cartel. Quote
JayB Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Ament's Piece on Eldo in Climbing 2-4 years ago was undoubtedly the worst ever. Quote
iain Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 "The Rescue Season" Book about the pj's up on McKinley. Quote
J_Fisher Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Ament's stuff sucks but at least I managed to finish "Spirit..." I couldn't get through 3 chapters of Mesner's "Crystal Horizon". Maybe something got lost in the translation. Quote
cj001f Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 "Mountains of the Mind" by Robert Macfarlane. It's a thesis turned into a book by someone who's too scared to climb anymore Quote
Dru Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Ament is bad. Real bad. I liked Dave Harris's "Vortex" though. But by far the worst has got to be two pieces by Bob Cotter akas Robert Cordery-Cotter, in the CAJ and another one of his in High Mountain Sports. It is the worst writing I have ever read let alone worst climbing literature! Quote
Chriznitch Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 The Falling Season, about the Aspen SAR ranks high on lameness Quote
griz Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 I'd have to say "Facing The Extreme : One Woman's Tale of True Courage, Death-Defying Survival and Her Quest For The Summit " by Ruth A. Kocour, Michael Hodgson . Fricken joke of a book. All the names are changed, except hers, so she can freely exagerate everything that happened on her lame ass guided climb of Denali and avoid libel lawsuits. I liked it when she said that it is a 250 mile flight from Talkeetna to the Kahiltna BC ... And makes herself sound like ubber climbing girl with everyone else being idiots compared to her. Yoy! "Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story." Co-author Michael Hodgson Quote
Dru Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 That Maria Coffey book about how all climbers are suicidal ranked pretty low too. And ditto the crappy Andrew Todhunter book supposedly about Dan Osman but mainly about Andrew Todhunter. Quote
cracked Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 The Falling Season, about the Aspen SAR ranks high on lameness I could never get through that. Quote
slothrop Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 I just read Pat Ament's short story about climbing Chasm View Wall with Layton Kor... it was pretty funny. Maybe the guy should have stuck to short stories. Quote
Alasdair Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Hate to touch the untouchable here, but for pure reading enjoyment I have to say that anything by Beckey is horrible. I will admit that I own most of the books, but they are boring to the point of unreadable. Unlike some of the other examples, Fred has done a great service to the historical and climbing communities by writing the books he has, and I do still read them. They are so detailed that they are very hard to read. Has anyone actually read Range of Glaciers? I tried, now I just use it as a reference book to read bits and peices about different areas. Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Range of Glaciers is not a climbing book. But if you read most well written history books they are dryer than normal. I didn't think it was too bad of a compilation and have read it twice. I like sections of cowboys and indians and the pass finding, mining and all the avalanche stuff... In fact I thought it pretty good. Quote
catbirdseat Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 I actually read Range of Glacier cover to cover. The first few chapters were tough, but part way through I started to enjoy it. It's good writing. Not all good writing is enjoyable to read. How many of you have read War and Peace recently or Crime and Punishment? Quote
Dru Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 I thought Crime and Punishment WAS enjoyable. But I bet I wouldn't read a chemistry textbook all the way through with pleasure... Quote
catbirdseat Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 I thought Crime and Punishment WAS enjoyable. But I bet I wouldn't read a chemistry textbook all the way through with pleasure... Can't say I have, either. Quote
ashw_justin Posted September 9, 2004 Posted September 9, 2004 Crime and Punishment was more intertesting, and WAY shorter, than War and Peace. Was better than Anna Karenina too. But that's because Tolstoy was a romantic windbag! As far as climbing books are concerned, I got some free ones from Cpt. Caveman. I kind of flipped through Messner's Annapurna history book, didn't stop to read much in depth. I don't know, do the other ones suck? Give me a few more days on the throne to figure that out. Quote
Fairweather Posted September 10, 2004 Posted September 10, 2004 "White Winds" by Joe Wilcox. About the ill-fated 1967 Muldrow Glacier expedition where seven of his team died in a storm. The entire book is nothing more than lame attempts to absolve himself (as leader) of any responsibility and claim that the tragedy was caused by some sort of "super storm" unrivaled in the annals of mountaineering. Quote
chelle Posted September 10, 2004 Posted September 10, 2004 Agree with whoever said the Crystal Horizon. I couldn't get past the second chapter it was so bad. My latest least favorite is the last issue of Alpinist mag(#8). It totally comes across as chest beating spray by almost every writer this issue. A friend of mine put it well...They may not have many ads, but each article seems like an advertisement for the climbers who are looking for sponsorship. if they keep this up I will have to ask for my money back. Quote
bunglehead Posted September 10, 2004 Posted September 10, 2004 Ament's Piece on Eldo in Climbing 2-4 years ago was undoubtedly the worst ever. Fuck. You beat me to the punch. That was without a doubt one of the sutpidest fucking articles I've seen in that magazine. Period. Runner up would have to be that stupid article of Dave Graham, et. al. going to Europe. "UNCENSORED!!!" or some stupid shit like that. Quote
iain Posted September 10, 2004 Posted September 10, 2004 Give me a few more days on the throne to figure that out. "Soft, strong, and highly absorbant" We'll have to guess whether you are talking about the quality of the writing or the paper on which it is written. Quote
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