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laporziuncula 's review for:
Really fascinating book! The first half introduced a lot of other climbers who accomplished things that at the time seemed “impossible”. I was confused at first why so much of the book, but it was all interesting and puts Honnold’s free solo of El Capitan in perspective of the wider history of climbing.
It’s really interesting how the “impossible” has evolved over time. The bar of what we think are the limits of human capability is constantly changing as people do things that were once thought impossible. It provoked much thought for me about fear and the limits we all set for ourselves, whatever that may be.
I was interested in the many perspectives he offered, including the experience of Jimmy Chin and the film crew, many of whom were friends of Alex’s. Synnott offers some thought-provoking discussion of the ethics around extreme sports like soloing, as well as the trend of the “pics or it didn’t happen” mindset that has become the norm.
The book was engaging and often funny. he explains climbing terminology well for a non-climber without getting lost in explanations.
I also appreciated the authenticity of how Synnott portrayed Alex. He does not shy away from portraying Alex’s flaws (in fact he’s pretty honest about how he can sometimes be cocky and a bit of a jerk, haha). At the same time their friendship, and the friendship between many of the people involved in filming his free solo, and just in the climbing world in general, was a really moving thing to get a glimpse of also.
It’s a good read! I saw Free Solo before reading this book, and I think I liked it in that order, but I think I’ll rewatch the documentary again soon, having read this.
It’s really interesting how the “impossible” has evolved over time. The bar of what we think are the limits of human capability is constantly changing as people do things that were once thought impossible. It provoked much thought for me about fear and the limits we all set for ourselves, whatever that may be.
I was interested in the many perspectives he offered, including the experience of Jimmy Chin and the film crew, many of whom were friends of Alex’s. Synnott offers some thought-provoking discussion of the ethics around extreme sports like soloing, as well as the trend of the “pics or it didn’t happen” mindset that has become the norm.
The book was engaging and often funny. he explains climbing terminology well for a non-climber without getting lost in explanations.
I also appreciated the authenticity of how Synnott portrayed Alex. He does not shy away from portraying Alex’s flaws (in fact he’s pretty honest about how he can sometimes be cocky and a bit of a jerk, haha). At the same time their friendship, and the friendship between many of the people involved in filming his free solo, and just in the climbing world in general, was a really moving thing to get a glimpse of also.
It’s a good read! I saw Free Solo before reading this book, and I think I liked it in that order, but I think I’ll rewatch the documentary again soon, having read this.