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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Excrement, Vomit
adventurous
medium-paced
The Day that Broke Everest is something you have undoubtedly seen a picture of – you know that photo of the line for the Summit.
See, you know it.
Synnott was there. He summitted the next day. This book is part story of those events and part a glimpse at the conjunction surrounding Malory and Irvine (who may or may not have submitted but most assuredly died on Everest. Malory’s body was found in 1999).
In most cases, this would lead to a book that cannot decide what it what wants to be – conquering the mountain story or mystery quest, and usually that is a bad thing. Yet, here, it works.
In part this is because of Synnott’s writing. He has a grab you style. You want to keep reading. His history lectures are not boring. When he discusses the complication and complexities of morality in the death zone, he does it in such way that does more than lip service. The vim and vigor of the prose is more than enough to grab and hold the attention of the reader. You can feel and hear the wind.
But it isn’t just Synnott’s writing style that balances out and makes up for a book that it doesn’t know quite what it wants to be. It’s the captivation of Everest and the desire for the Summit. Synnott starts out on his quest for Everest because he is captivated by the story of Malory and Irvine (and the book goes into the possible answers to the various questions about the fate of the men). Yet, slowly, the reader can see the idea of Everest itself take over. In some ways, the book is an almost brutal and yet somewhat unwittingly look at how an obsession can take over.
How Synnott’s original quest plays out as the obsession goes is an integral part of the story. As are the other more complex moral questions – climbing permits, treatment of Sherpas for instance as well as the question of morality in the death zone – that Synnott leaves with the reader to examine because he is also part of those larger questions.
See, you know it.
Synnott was there. He summitted the next day. This book is part story of those events and part a glimpse at the conjunction surrounding Malory and Irvine (who may or may not have submitted but most assuredly died on Everest. Malory’s body was found in 1999).
In most cases, this would lead to a book that cannot decide what it what wants to be – conquering the mountain story or mystery quest, and usually that is a bad thing. Yet, here, it works.
In part this is because of Synnott’s writing. He has a grab you style. You want to keep reading. His history lectures are not boring. When he discusses the complication and complexities of morality in the death zone, he does it in such way that does more than lip service. The vim and vigor of the prose is more than enough to grab and hold the attention of the reader. You can feel and hear the wind.
But it isn’t just Synnott’s writing style that balances out and makes up for a book that it doesn’t know quite what it wants to be. It’s the captivation of Everest and the desire for the Summit. Synnott starts out on his quest for Everest because he is captivated by the story of Malory and Irvine (and the book goes into the possible answers to the various questions about the fate of the men). Yet, slowly, the reader can see the idea of Everest itself take over. In some ways, the book is an almost brutal and yet somewhat unwittingly look at how an obsession can take over.
How Synnott’s original quest plays out as the obsession goes is an integral part of the story. As are the other more complex moral questions – climbing permits, treatment of Sherpas for instance as well as the question of morality in the death zone – that Synnott leaves with the reader to examine because he is also part of those larger questions.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
If the body of Sandy Irvine could be found on Mt Everest, it could settle the question of whether British climbers George Mallory and Irvine reached the summit 100 years ago before perishing; a camera that one of them was carrying could potentially even provide photographic proof. It was with this objective that Synnott joined a team headed up "the big E" in 2018. It turns out this question is not just a matter of the record books—the fact that the Chinese succeeded where the British had failed (to summit via the North Face) was of tremendous importance to the Chinese Communist Party then (1960)... and still is today. Synott does an excellent job of weaving the historical tales in with that of this modern expedition. He provides a lot of insight into how Everest mountaineering has changed not only with the rise of guided climbing but more recently (particularly on the Chinese side), how the dynamic has changed between the expeditions, the sherpa teams, and the groups managing mountain operations.
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced