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patty_s1000 's review for:
The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest
by Anatoli Boukreev
This book gets 3.5 stars from me. I thought it was a great complement and counterpoint to "Into Thin Air" and if it had been just a bit better written it would have deserved a full 4 (or more) stars. Climbing and the Himalayas fascinates me and I trekked to Everest Base Camp in 1994. Being familiar with the area, I've always been very interested in the events of the tragic climb 1.5 years later. This book definitely rounded out the overall picture of what happened that day, and it was interesting to learn more about the members of Scott Fischer's expedition, as we learned about the people climbing with Rob Hall in Krakauer's book.
I very much liked that this book didn't start out to defend the author from the criticism in Krakauer's book; it was just his version of events. However, the epilogue and follow-on information provides a strong defence and really do make me wonder why Krakauer has remained so adamant in his negative opinion. Had Boukreev lived and continued to try to work in the industry, Krakauer's book would definitely have harmed his reputation, and the evidence, in my opinion, shows that Boukreev did not do anything very wrong at all.
I very much liked that this book didn't start out to defend the author from the criticism in Krakauer's book; it was just his version of events. However, the epilogue and follow-on information provides a strong defence and really do make me wonder why Krakauer has remained so adamant in his negative opinion. Had Boukreev lived and continued to try to work in the industry, Krakauer's book would definitely have harmed his reputation, and the evidence, in my opinion, shows that Boukreev did not do anything very wrong at all.