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- #61
Yes, good for you for finishing it, when your heart wasn't into it, and you knew it wouldn't be a happy ending.Well I did finish the book - last night while sitting with my new foster cats. Skimmed over the bits I couldn't stomach. So sad!
I am fairly certain that climbing the Eiffel Tower, fire escape etc. were all incidences made up by the author; the actual wording of the letters, too. But other details, such as the clothing and food were probably correct. I find historical fiction, when the main characters really lived, rather disconcerting, but, in this case, at least the basic framework of the story was correct so the added incidences created a certaim amount of lightheartedness and made the novel easier to read and appreciate. Does the film of either of the 2 expeditions still exist?
I feel bad about the fact that I was not really in the mood for such a book, so I will give it !
And 4 stars.
I wasn't even that generous.
I have to say that I've gotten more interested in Mount Everest and the climbing attempts since we've started discussing the book, than I was just reading it. So I'm so glad it was one we read as a group.
Not film from the expeditions, however, I see there's ton of videos on Youtube, including this 2020 documentary which looks really good. I must confess I'd never heard of the Sherpas before reading the book, so it should be interesting.
The above video is 56 minutes long, so isn't a quick watch.
This one, however, is only 4 minutes long, and shows the final climb.