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Title: Ghosts Of Everest: The Search For Mallory & Irvine by Jochem Hemmleb, Eric Simonson, Larry Johnson, J./Johnson, L. Hemmleb ISBN: 0-7366-4856-9 Publisher: Books on Tape, Inc. Pub. Date: 21 December, 1999 Format: Audio Cassette List Price(USD): $40.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.59 (51 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: What a great read!
Comment: The authors of Ghosts of Everest manage to gracefully pull off the telling of two fascinating stories at the same time: one about the historic 1924 expedition of Mallory and Irvine, and the other about the authors' own expedition in 1999 to search for clues and pay homage to the 1924 climbers. The two stories work wonderfully together and are set within the context of interesting and appropriate photos and poignant quotes from Mallory himself. The whole work flows flawlessly and is not only a "must read" for Everest afficionados, but also for the broader reading public sharing admiration and interest in the human spirit of adventure. The spirit of risk and adventure and human grit demonstrated within this book is truly compelling. Of special note also is the tasteful way in which the authors present a few photos of the body of Mallory as found on Everest 75 years after his disappearance. Despite early public criticisms for the publishing of these photos, I saw them as a deeply moving, almost breathtaking, but absolutely necessary part of the story. Without them, the impact of the team's find, the sights and the moments they shared upon the discovery, would be lost to the reader. No words can begin to tell us what those men experienced with Mallory up there that day. The reverence toward Mallory has been well documented, and the photos of Mallory's final resting pose do him justice. All in all, a research job well done, a book well written, a story well told!
Rating: 4
Summary: DID THEY OR DIDN'T THEY...?
Comment: This is a beautifully and lavishly illustrated, textually rich book. Its heavy, glossy pages demand the reader's undivided attention and are sure to enthrall all mystery lovers, Everest aficionados, nostalgia junkies, history buffs, and climbing enthusiasts. This book is sure to provide the reader with many hours of enjoyment.
The book chronicles the search for George Mallory and Andrew Irvine by the 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition. It juxtaposes the dramatic turn of events during their expedition with those of the 1924 British Everest Expedition which saw Mallory and Irvine attempt a summit climb, only to disappear into the mists of Everest, never to be seen again. It makes for a spell binding narrative, as past events are woven through present day ones.
The 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition was a meticulously well prepared and well organized venture. With its discovery of George Leigh Mallory's body, it enjoyed much success. The research and analysis that went into its ultimate, well thought out conclusions were comprehensive and fascinating, with its strong reliance upon forensics and deductive reasoning. Their reconstruction of Mallory's and Irvine's last climb is riveting. Unfortunately, the ultimate question still remains unanswered. Did they or did they not reach the summit of Mount Everest back in 1924?
The beautiful photographs of the personal effects found upon Mallory's person underscore a certain poignancy about the discovery of Mallory's well preserved body. The photographs which memorialize this discovery are amazingly lovely and tasteful, considering its subject matter, and hauntingly illustrate the finality with which Everest may deal with mountaineers, no matter how accomplished.
The photographs also highlight how ill equipped for the harsh climatic conditions were the early Everest expeditions. It is amazing, and a credit to those early expeditioners' courage and fortitude, in braving such an inhospitable and harsh terrain with the inadequate clothing and equipment available to them at the time. Mallory and Irvine were certainly intrepid explorers!
This book is a fitting tribute to two men who sought to make a historic summit and, in their attempt, would forever be a part of Everest.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Lesson on How Money is Replacing Adventure
Comment: This book allowed me to analyse why I have not read too many books on Mtn Climbing in the past few years. I am a climber and the genre was important to me for a big part of my life. Reading through this book made me realise how much climbing has not only changed from the days of Mallory, but even from the old siege operations in the 70s. Today the emphasis on gaining money and the machinations and business tactics that go into getting the dosh to go, take up not only the majority of the time making the ascent, but also the majority of the time (and lines of writing) in most mountain literature published these days.
Gone is the old style adventure: 1) adventure-for-the-sheer-fun-of-it, Joe Brown, Don Whillans; 2) adventure-of-the-tortured-soul, Eric Shipton, Joe Simpson; 3) adventure for Imperial gain, Capt Noel, Sven Hedin, or the early British Expeditions to Everest, (though to be fair, it is hard to ressurect this particular genre) and; even the 4) adventure-to-be-the-first-to-do-something, Bonnington and Hertzog, is relegated to second place -- now adventure takes second place to how much money and designer deals for broadcast rights and publisher exclusives can be done before, during and after the point when all the adventure takes place.
As such this book is very symptomatic of this new genre. There is all sorts of vignettes of the evil BBC and it reps and the business concerns of all the others who made crucial decisions tying their business fates to this expedition --- too much of this and too little detail both of the original British Expeditions the search expedition this books puports to write about. There is also precious little route description, how the route was put up and the actual "thrill" of the hunt to find Mallory. Fully one-third of the book deals with these machinations.
Even the people that the authors palpably do not like get off lightly. All of the people they like are usually gifted with some god-like aspect of physical prowess --- eg. barrel-chested, large arms etc. For those who have read Chris Bonnington's books on any of his expeditions, the slow burning personality problems that manifest themselves on so many of these expeditions are conspicuous by their absence in this book.
In sum I liked the book. The good parts are two, and only two in my estimation: 1) the find of Mallory's body and 2) the ascent of the last ridge by the search party members. It is no coincidence that these two subjects are raw adventure and have nothing to do with gaining money or searching to personally skewer someone's personality.
I am glad I read it. But as an inspiration for further reading in the contemporary mountaineering genre, this book is symptomatic of how far the adventure genre has fallen, particularly in the past 10 yrs or so. Maybe you will like it. Maybe you will not. I am the kind of person who trekked the subsidiary valleys around Mt. Everest, but I would not go to Everest base camp --too many people, too much garbage and too many people following the populistic mantra of what passes for adventure writing these days... like the valleys around Everest these days, this genre has been tamed, beaten into submission, and transformed into a pablum for mass consumption. Better to settle down and re-read the Hertzog or Bonnington Classics.
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Title: Detectives on Everest: The 2001 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition by Jochen Hemmleb, Eric Simonson, Dave Hahn ISBN: 0898868718 Publisher: Mountaineers Books Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Last Climb: The Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory by David F. Breashears, Audrey Salkeld, John Mallory ISBN: 0792275381 Publisher: National Geographic Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mt. Everest by Conrad Anker ISBN: 0684871521 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 08 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine by Tom Holzel, Audrey Salkeld, Tom Hozel, Eric R. Simonson ISBN: 0898867266 Publisher: Mountaineers Books Pub. Date: March, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title:Everest (Large Format) ASIN: B00001U0E2 Publisher: Miramax Home Entertainment Pub. Date: 03 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $16.39 |
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