irenekaoru 's review for:

Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold

2.0

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Honnold is a 30 year old free-solo record-setting climbing prodigy. If you’re a climber, you’ll probably read or at least check out this book at some point. Watching Honnold climb is interesting and often quite elegant. Listening to him talking about climbing is often interesting, too, if you’re a climber and care about the logistics and details. But generally, he comes across in interviews, and in this book, as a bit obnoxious and socially awkward. There are weird moments of arrogance as well as annoying moments of dismissiveness toward women (“hot chicks who wouldn’t know 5.9 from 5.13” etc). Enjoy watching documentary films about his climbing achievements because that is where Honnold shines (such as the film of the same name). This book - while it does definitely contain moments of brilliance and inspiration! - can definitely be skipped. If you’re a fan of Honnold's climbing already, as I am, or just an enthusiastic climber, you’ve probably already read lots of these stories, since much of the book rehashes articles and videos that were out there before.