I somehow ended up reading two books about climate change at the same time. This one...didn't work quite as well for me as Jonathan Safran Foer's We AI somehow ended up reading two books about climate change at the same time. This one...didn't work quite as well for me as Jonathan Safran Foer's We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, mainly because...I didn't really feel like Jamail offers any sort of solutions at all. He goes around and visits various sites and talks to people about how things used to be and how they are now, showing how the climate has already been disrupted in many parts of the world. And...that's kind of it.
As I was already pretty well aware of this before going in, there was very little that actually caught my attention until the last couple of chapters, where he talks about grief, and that maybe we need to get to a place of grieving before we can make the decision to move forward, rather than jumping right to either foolish hope or to the idea that it's too late to do anything so why bother.
Partly, I'm not sure how well the audiobook narrator worked for me, so that could have been part of my ambivalence. But mostly I think I just expected this to hit me a lot harder than it actually did, and to actually find more meaning as is mentioned in the subtitle. It missed those marks for me. But judging by the glowing ratings here, I'm guessing it's working really well for a lot of people, and the topic is definitely worth thinking about, so...take my blah review with a grain of salt, I guess....more
Well, this guy hit pretty much all my obsession points: space, travel, Mount Everest, Antarctica--plus a few added bonuses, like lugeing and volcanoesWell, this guy hit pretty much all my obsession points: space, travel, Mount Everest, Antarctica--plus a few added bonuses, like lugeing and volcanoes! I think he and I would have a lot to talk about. Or rather, he'd hopefully do a lot of talking in answer to the approximately 3.7 billion questions I would ask him!
I enjoyed this memoir, and liked that he narrates it himself, although he's clearly not a professional narrator. For the most part that didn't bother me much, since I could sort of pretend we were just hangin' out, haha! Or wait, it shows that he and some other dude narrated this! Um...which parts were which? I only remember one voice, and if someone other than Parazynski narrated the majority, why on earth didn't get they someone else?
Anyway, this is probably the 18th astronaut memoir I've read at this point (I've lost count), and you would think they would be getting old by now, but no, not really at all, and there were so many points of connection here for me that I feel like I can't be completely objective about it.
A lot of people on here seem to think Parazynski is an egotistical asshole, but I dunno, I didn't totally get that. To me he comes across as flawed but sincere, and he's pretty open about mistakes made and the ways in which his decisions have hurt others. I can see why some would find him off-putting, but I guess I just maybe didn't focus in on those same things?
I dunno. I found his story interesting, that's all, and if he ever wanted to take me up on my 3.7 billion questions......more
This book felt like kind of a mess to me, but I still enjoyed aspects of it.
What I did not love:
Simon's narration. He irritated the hell out of me. IThis book felt like kind of a mess to me, but I still enjoyed aspects of it.
What I did not love:
Simon's narration. He irritated the hell out of me. I think, first of all, I never fully bought him as character. But also it felt like at times the action would just pause for him to just ramble off a bunch of things he was doing, especially towards the end of the book. I found him dull and unbelievable.
And speaking of the end of the book, I also didn't love that. There's all this creepiness leading up to it, and then...we just get this tiny intro to a video segment to show the final events, but in a way that just seems dumb and not scary at all. There's no description of anything that's going on in the video itself, other than Simon's words, which...uhhhh...ok? Kind of a big let down for me.
And then there were just a lot of things throughout the book that really strained credibility. The characters' motivations just seemed so ridiculous to me, and I felt like there were far easier ways for them to get what they wanted without going to the lengths they go to here.
But then, the things I DID love:
Man, the caving scenes? Amazing. The claustrophobic feeling of the tight spaces and the dark and the things imagined and the horrors that are possible--so well done.
Juliet! I loved the Juliet's journal parts--also really well done, and appropriately spooky, and I just found her a much more fully-formed character than I did Simon.
All the parts about actually climbing Everest, because that's fascinating enough to me in and of itself.
And the idea! I've read some about the Third Man factor (being the Shackleton geek that I am), and find it super interesting, and the idea of having that sort of presence that is malevolent instead of comforting is really frightening! I like how Juliet especially processes this presence, and that in the end, it's left pretty open to interpretation.
Anyway, I thought while reading this that I might have enjoyed it more if it had been written in third person instead of first, and if we had a little less of Simon's "personality," but at times I also found myself really sucked in and eager to find out what would happen next, and I couldn't just leave the lights off in the bathroom at night like I usually do because I kept imagining stupid Ed in there with me! This book certainly wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed enough of it that I will probably give Sarah Lotz another try at some point....more
Really interesting! Told in two parts--1959, and the story of 9 young Russian hikers who died in mysterious circumstances, and 2010 forward and the auReally interesting! Told in two parts--1959, and the story of 9 young Russian hikers who died in mysterious circumstances, and 2010 forward and the author's attempts to find out what actually happened to them in the face of a lot of conspiracy theories. The idea he comes up with seems the most plausible of the ideas out there, but is still super weird--I definitely did some research on Kármán vortex street and infrasound after finishing the book.
Anyway, well told, with a couple of hiccups. The ending feels really abrupt to me, and I wanted a little more closure to the author's storyline, I guess--more about the research, and more followup, though Eichar probably wanted to publish this as soon as possible and not wait for other people to back him on it. I haven't really found much information about how this theory has been received. Also, I listened to the audiobook version, read by Eichar himself, and while he does a decent job, he's clearly not a professional narrator, so it's pretty monotone.
Still, super fascinating unsolved mystery, and I would definitely recommend this to folks interested in that sort of thing, or in mountaineering adventure stories. ...more
I always feel compelled to say in my reviews of Bear Grylls' books that he's not a great writer. And it's still true. But his books are fun and intereI always feel compelled to say in my reviews of Bear Grylls' books that he's not a great writer. And it's still true. But his books are fun and interesting and entertaining and inspiring, so who cares? I knew a lot of the stories he retells here, being a little obsessed with the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, mountaineering, and nautical survival stories, but there were also quite a few I didn't know, and this made me want to delve into those stories a bit more. Grylls and I seem to have quite a few heroes in common, although he has actually followed in their footsteps somewhat while I...um...watch their footsteps recede into the distance from my comfy spot on the couch? Anyway, I enjoyed his take on these fascinating men and women and look forward to whatever he does next!
P.S. I bought this at Heathrow to read on the flight home from the UK and the first several stories turned out to involve plane crashes. Ha! Luckily I survived the flight without having to resort to cannibalism, so it was all good....more
Not a perfect book (there are a few things I'll chalk up to slight translation errors), but I really enjoyed this honest and inspirational look at EduNot a perfect book (there are a few things I'll chalk up to slight translation errors), but I really enjoyed this honest and inspirational look at Edurne Pasabán's journey to becoming a mountaineer, as well as to successfully summiting all fourteen of the world's 8000+ meter peaks (or 26,247+ foot peaks, for us Americans). She is the first woman to have done so. Pasabán is very open about the struggles she's faced with depression and with not being able to take herself and her accomplishments seriously, and how important it is to be able to be yourself and learn what you really want out of life and not feel constrained by what kind of life works for others.
Her descriptions of her various expeditions are really well-done--beautiful, horrible, awe- and fear-inspiring... I always forget how dangerous a sport mountain climbing is, until tragedy strikes, as it does all too often.
Anyway, while I have absolutely no desire to ever attempt to climb any sort of mountain, ever, I love reading about others who feel the need to conquer them, and Pasabán is very clear about the fact that while not many of us choose to climb literal mountains, we all have hurdles to jump and goals to complete, whether that's just learning something new, doing a better job at work, or raising a happy, healthy family. As Maurice Herzog says in the final line of Annapurna, "There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men.”
Definitely recommended for mountaineers, folks who like reading about mountaineers, or people who just like reading stories about other people working hard to achieve things that are important to them.
Received this book through First Reads--thanks!...more
So, this wasn't what I was expecting, exactly, although I guess I wasn't totally sure what to expect in the first place. I just saw Mount EveresHmmmm.
So, this wasn't what I was expecting, exactly, although I guess I wasn't totally sure what to expect in the first place. I just saw Mount Everest in the description and said, "IN!"
It's really long, and things move along really slowly, but in a way I kind of liked that--the regular preparing-for-an-expedition-to-Everest stuff is interesting to me, and I was actually way more into that and the climbing parts than I was the whole (view spoiler)[smutty pedo Hitler pics (hide spoiler)] plotline, or the (view spoiler)[maybe there are yetis (hide spoiler)] plotline.
I don't know. I like the idea of the story, but it felt like it took me forever to push through it, and then at the end I just felt like, *shrug*. ...more
Well, of course I loved this! It's partly about the original climb 60 years ago, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest Well, of course I loved this! It's partly about the original climb 60 years ago, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest for the first time, as told by team member and Hillary's best friend, George Lowe, and it's also partly about George Lowe himself, as told by numerous other climbers, such as Reinhold Messner, and the sons of Hillary and Norgay. And, of course, it's about the mountain and about climbing in general as well. Lowe's photographs are fantastic, and I loved the story he tells here of friendship and a love of the mountains. Beautifully done indeed!...more
Sometimes really interesting, especially the second half, but sometimes really...confusing. Harrer leaves a lot out in the beginning, like, he's climbSometimes really interesting, especially the second half, but sometimes really...confusing. Harrer leaves a lot out in the beginning, like, he's climbing mountains and then all of a sudden he's a prisoner in India and wait, what the hell happened? Who? How? Um.....okay? Anyway, then he tries to escape like five times and finally does, and ends up in Tibet where he eventually makes his way to Lhasa and befriends the then 14-year-old Dalai Lama. I enjoyed hearing about that, and about what happens after, sad though it is, but yeah, I wish it had a little more depth.
I haven't ever watched the Brad Pitt movie, but maybe I will at some point now that I know the story (kind of?). It might actually help me make sense of what on earth happened in the beginning--ha!...more
An account of a failed 1903 expedition to summit Mount McKinley--and a pretty darn entertaining one, at that. Dunn was big on telling the truth no matAn account of a failed 1903 expedition to summit Mount McKinley--and a pretty darn entertaining one, at that. Dunn was big on telling the truth no matter how unflattering it might be, and so his diary really shows all the exasperation that he and his companions felt with one another, all their ineptitude and poor planning, and includes no rationalizations about how their failure still meant something because they strived their hardest or whatever. He was also an unappologetic anti-semite, who blamed pretty much any negative quality he saw in 21-year-old Simon on his race. So, you know, this was really interesting, especially when compared with most other accounts written by adventurers and explorers during that time. There's lots of gossip and bickering and back-biting and grumbling and glee at others' misfortunes, and it's pretty clear that these men rarely felt much respect for anyone in their party. Not exactly a book to inspire, but the tale is compellingly told, and these men all come across as real people, and not the usual cardboard cutout noble adventurers of most accounts!...more
Well. I already thought Jon Krakauer was boring (I kind of think he sucks the life out of everything he writes about, but people seem to love him, so Well. I already thought Jon Krakauer was boring (I kind of think he sucks the life out of everything he writes about, but people seem to love him, so maybe that's just me), but after reading this, I also think he's kind of an ass. And I think that everyone who reads and loves Into Thin Air should be required to read this version of the events of the 1996 Everest tragedy as well. It's definitely less polished and prettied up than Krakauer's book, but to me it feels like a much more honest and informed account of those events. I guess a lot of folks haven't liked the way this story is told; there's no jumping around in time, or going back and giving background info. DeWalt sort of acts as a narrator, interspersing his writing with quotes from other members of the expeditions involved, with large sections of Boukreev's story in between (I'm assuming these parts were mostly written or spoken in Russian and then translated into English, because they read very well--it's only when DeWalt quotes Boukreev directly at a time when he's spoken in English that he's a little difficult to understand). I found it a very straightforward timeline of what happened that day and the next from Boukreev's point of view, including his frankly pretty damn heroic single-handed rescue of three members of his expedition in blizzard conditions when nobody else was able or willing to help, not to mention his solo climb back up the next morning in hopes that his expedition leader and friend, Scott Fischer, might still be brought down alive. And DeWalt's chapter in memory of Boukreev at the very end had me in tears. I'll take The Climb over Into Thin Air anyday. ...more
Reading this, it seems that once they got going, it wasn't climbing Annapurna that was the difficult part, but getting back down once they'd done it! Reading this, it seems that once they got going, it wasn't climbing Annapurna that was the difficult part, but getting back down once they'd done it! Be prepared, o squeamish ones...
I guess now there's some controversy over whether things actually happened the way Herzog describes them here, but in any case, it's a fantastic story. ...more
Fun adventure book; I'm a total sucker for Everest stories. The characters are enjoyable for the most part (although I was not a fan of the Pea Peas),Fun adventure book; I'm a total sucker for Everest stories. The characters are enjoyable for the most part (although I was not a fan of the Pea Peas), and I really liked how the story ended up. Not AMAZING, but well worth a read if you're into this type of thing....more
The beginning was a little rough, but once he got going, Bear did not disappoint. I read Jon Krakaur's account of the tragic 1996 season on Everest yeThe beginning was a little rough, but once he got going, Bear did not disappoint. I read Jon Krakaur's account of the tragic 1996 season on Everest years ago, but came away from it without any real sense of what it's actually like to climb Everest--only what it's like to be up on Everest in the midst of one disaster after another. In Facing Up, however, Bear Grylls does a really excellent job of explaining what it's like the rest of the time--the climbing back and forth between camps, the waiting, the fear and anticipation and excitement, the dealing with other people, the dangers, the bad food, the physical toll the mountain takes on the body... And he's funny and honest about it--sometimes brutally, awkwardly, too-much-informationally so. It in no way made me want to attempt to climb Everest myself, but it helped me to understand why people do it, and I really admire those people greatly--especially those who manage to turn themselves back without attaining their goal after they've invested so much time and expense and hard work in their effort to reach the summit, when pushing on would almost certainly mean death. Bear Grylls may not be the best writer out there, but I think his honesty, humor and humility are far more compelling to me than Krakauer's journalistic prowess. Well done, Bear!...more
I'm not a fan of Jon Krakauer, I guess--the way he writes just doesn't really do anything for me. I always feel like somehow Krakauer's books are justI'm not a fan of Jon Krakauer, I guess--the way he writes just doesn't really do anything for me. I always feel like somehow Krakauer's books are just lacking something...emotion, heart. A little too events-based for my liking, too journalistic. That's certainly not an awful thing, but I suppose it's just not my cup of tea. Even so, there are some images from this book that have stuck with me for years, and of course, it's hard not to be interested in the events of this book even if the telling seems somewhat lacking. ...more
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