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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
I very quickly read the first half of this book. I was very interested in the author's experiences on Everest, and felt like even though this story has been told many, many times, it was cool to get this man's singular perspective. I even liked throughout the first half hearing about the difficulties Beck and his family had due to his depression and his attempt to battle his depression with mountain-climbing. But as we entered Part Two of the book, the story took a huge turn into his marital problems, and essentially became an autobiography, starting with childhood and into his post-Everest years. I ended up feeling deceived by the title of the book, and did not get out of it what I was looking for.
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Beck Weathers is no Jon Krakauer and his account of the '96 Everest disaster leaves MUCH to be desired. The disaster is quickly dispatched in the first few chapters and then it's all about Mr. Weathers' life, his marital problems, his climbing obsession and how much it hurt his entire family (though he claimed to be completely oblivious to all that). It's basically a mid-life crisis with some interesting settings thrown in. The writing is also pretty bad - hence the comment about his book not measuring up to Krakauer's epic, eloquent masterpiece "Into Thin Air".
Not really a mountain climbing book like I expected, but rather a memoir about a man who realizes what's important in life after a near death experience. What I found fascinating was his wife's candid first person account of their marriage and her views of her husband as a father and husband. It's not often that a contentious marriage (that doesn't end in divorce) is revealed so frankly. A solid read that I would recommend to people who enjoy memoirs.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
First half good, second half bad. I just wanted to read about his Everest experience. I did enjoy his *very* brief descriptions about his other summits (he was attempting the seven) and the first half which covers his Everest journey. However, there was just too much in this book about how shitty he was as a husband and father. I did not care for the sections written by his wife - they take up a large portion of the books, as do sections written by his brother, children and friends. Glad I borrowed from the library and not purchased. Sorry, Beck, not one for me! If you want to read about the 1996 disaster I would recommend Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wind.
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
On May 10th through May 11th, 1996, a blizzard hit Mount Everest while several people were attempting to reach the summit. Over that climbing season, twelve people had died trying to reach the summit, and eight of those died in this particular blizzard. The expedition was led by Rob Hall and two other guides, Mike Groom and Andy Harris. There were eight clients on this trip, including the author of this book, Beck Weathers. The other clients were Jon Krakauer, John Taske, Yasuko Namba, Stuart Hutchinson, Doug Hansen, Frank Fischbeck, and Lou Kasischke. There were also eight sherpas. There was another climbing expedition at this time as well, but those aforementioned people were the ones in the group with the author of this book. There were several delays in the climb, which directly impacted the location of the climbers when the blizzard hit them. All of the people on the mountain were affected by this, and the author's group suffered some losses due to exposure and/or falling. I am very interested in things like this, but after reading this book, and others like it, I have no desire whatsoever to be a mountain climber.
I checked this book out from my library on a whim, because they didn't have either of the two books I went there to get. I love a disaster book, and I am also a big fan of memoirs, so this was right up my alley. I finished this a couple of days ago, and am a bit late to getting around to writing this review, but nevertheless. This would be a good book for those of you who like disasters, or are interested in mountain climbing. The book was obviously a personal experience, but it was well written and kept my attention. Despite the fact that it was about a disaster, it was an enjoyable book.
I checked this book out from my library on a whim, because they didn't have either of the two books I went there to get. I love a disaster book, and I am also a big fan of memoirs, so this was right up my alley. I finished this a couple of days ago, and am a bit late to getting around to writing this review, but nevertheless. This would be a good book for those of you who like disasters, or are interested in mountain climbing. The book was obviously a personal experience, but it was well written and kept my attention. Despite the fact that it was about a disaster, it was an enjoyable book.
reflective