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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generationdi Clint Willis
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. I reviewed this book for the Portland Phoenix. This book focuses on the lives of several British mountaineers associated with Sir Chris Bonington. Sadly, high-altitude mountaineering being what it is, Willis's narrative has to deal with the deaths, or disappearance, of several of his subjects, which gives the reader a clear idea of the risks taken by these men in pursuit of their goals and should be read by anyone interested in the subject. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Clint Willis's book tells the story of a band of climbers who reinvented mountaineering during the three decades after Everest's first ascent. It is a story of tremendous courage, astonishing achievement and heart-breaking loss. Their leader was the boyish, fanatically driven Chris Bonington. His inner circle -- which came to be know as Bonington's Boys -- included a dozen who became climbing's greatest generation. Bonington's Boys gave birth to a new brand of climbing. They took increasingly terrible risks on now-legendary expeditions to the world's most fearsome peaks. And they paid an enormous price for their achievements. Most of Bonington's Boys died in the mountains, leaving behind the hardest question of all: Was it worth it? The Boys of Everest, based on interviews with surviving climbers and other individuals, as well as five decades of journals, expedition accounts, and letters, provides the closest thing to an answer that we'll ever have. It offers riveting descriptions of what Bonington's Boys found in the mountains, as well as an understanding of what they lost there. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)796.5220922The arts Recreational and performing arts Athletic and outdoor sports and games Outdoor leisure Exploring geological features Mountains, hills and rocks History, geographic treatment, biographyClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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One wonders in books like this just how much of the internal thinking reported can be relied upon. One Amazon reviewer who claims to be a moderately successful climber himself (I certainly can be no judge) echoes my concern. “...shows to be invented material on thoughts and motivations of the people about whom he writes. I am suspicious of this practice and it may well be that it says more about our Clint than it does about our Chris.” *
In the aftermath of Tony’s death, one of women at the base camp notes she had begun to “fear people who didn’t know any easier way to be happy.” That certainly sums up one attitude toward these overgrown children. Willis doesn’t call them “boys” lightly.
Climbing techniques were changing and Chris Bonington, a constant in Willis’ book and known as a more than competent climber and organizer, soon realized that the techniques of mountaineering had changed. The practice of large groups with multiple base camps, lots of supplies, many sherpas, fixed ropes to ease passage between base camps, was losing favor to smaller, lighter attacks on summits, more in the tradition of Alpine climbers.
The larger question is whether the author gets it “right” when he discusses motivations and the ethos of climbing. I suspect he does, but have no way of knowing. Nevertheless, this book is intriguing and riveting, a real page-turner.
Audiobook ably read by James Adams
*Ref: http://www.amazon.com/review/R293TC138I8NE8/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R293TC138I8NE8 ( )