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- #41
I finished the book last week, and wrote this review shortly after, because I knew if I waited till now to write it, I'd have forgotten half of what I'd read.
So here goes...
I’d never heard of George Mallory before, so reading this novel introduced me to him and his life-long obsession of climbing. Since he was a real person, and not a fictionalized character, I'd like to know which parts of the novel were based on fact, and which were from the author's imagination. Obviously his family and climbing partners were real. But did he really climb the walls of the school, when he was late for his appointment? Somehow, I think not.
I didn’t find the book to be a “page turner” until I was motivated by my library loan nearing expiry, and then I read most of it in just a few days. Once we got to the actual Everest climbing attempts it got much more interesting, than the earlier parts with his life at the schools, and at war.
I found I had a hard time keeping all the characters clear in my head, and only a few, like George Finch and Guy Bullock were easy to remember.
If I’d never read the description for the book, I would not have known Mallory died during the 2nd attempt to conquer Chomolungma, so part of me wonders if the prologue takes away the suspense of knowing how things turn out. And because I knew he was going to die, it put a bit of a depressing feel to my mood whenever his wife and children were mentioned.
Because none of the names of the climbers were familiar to me, I did forget the 2nd name mentioned in the prologue, which left me to wonder who Mallory would choose as his partner for the final leg of the climb.
The prologue also confused me a bit, with the realization that Ruth’s picture was not found on Mallory’s body, so throughout the book, I was expecting them to split up, or for him to cheat on her, especially when the wealthy widow showed up on scene. So was happy that he stayed faithful to Ruth.
Did Mallory reach the top of Everest? I’ll say, yes. I mean, what do I know, but it would have made him happy, so I’d like to think he had a few minutes, at least, of joy on knowing he was the first man to reach the top of the world, before he fell to his death.
I thought it was interesting, sad really, that his daughter, Claire, was left a widow with 3 children, like her mother, after her husband died in a climbing accident.
All in all, an interesting book, albeit a little depressing. I’ll rate it 3 stars out of 5.
So here goes...
I’d never heard of George Mallory before, so reading this novel introduced me to him and his life-long obsession of climbing. Since he was a real person, and not a fictionalized character, I'd like to know which parts of the novel were based on fact, and which were from the author's imagination. Obviously his family and climbing partners were real. But did he really climb the walls of the school, when he was late for his appointment? Somehow, I think not.
I didn’t find the book to be a “page turner” until I was motivated by my library loan nearing expiry, and then I read most of it in just a few days. Once we got to the actual Everest climbing attempts it got much more interesting, than the earlier parts with his life at the schools, and at war.
I found I had a hard time keeping all the characters clear in my head, and only a few, like George Finch and Guy Bullock were easy to remember.
If I’d never read the description for the book, I would not have known Mallory died during the 2nd attempt to conquer Chomolungma, so part of me wonders if the prologue takes away the suspense of knowing how things turn out. And because I knew he was going to die, it put a bit of a depressing feel to my mood whenever his wife and children were mentioned.
Because none of the names of the climbers were familiar to me, I did forget the 2nd name mentioned in the prologue, which left me to wonder who Mallory would choose as his partner for the final leg of the climb.
The prologue also confused me a bit, with the realization that Ruth’s picture was not found on Mallory’s body, so throughout the book, I was expecting them to split up, or for him to cheat on her, especially when the wealthy widow showed up on scene. So was happy that he stayed faithful to Ruth.
Did Mallory reach the top of Everest? I’ll say, yes. I mean, what do I know, but it would have made him happy, so I’d like to think he had a few minutes, at least, of joy on knowing he was the first man to reach the top of the world, before he fell to his death.
I thought it was interesting, sad really, that his daughter, Claire, was left a widow with 3 children, like her mother, after her husband died in a climbing accident.
All in all, an interesting book, albeit a little depressing. I’ll rate it 3 stars out of 5.