Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and MountainsJon Krakauer (1990) |
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THE A5 BOOK REVIEWJon Krakauer's passion for the history and the adventure of mountain climbing is evident in this collection of his best articles from his work at magazines like Outside and Smithsonian. In Eiger Dreams, Krakauer not only shares what it's like to conquer some of the world's most challenging climbs, he peeks into the motivation behind why some are so compelled to face that kind of danger. Articles cover his own experience attempting the North Face of the Eiger, descriptions of bouldering and frozen waterfall climbing, the lives of mountain pilots, the history of Denali (previously called Mt. McKinley), the culture of adventure in Chamonix, the historical debate over which mountain is truly the highest, and the lives of two hell-raising climbing legend brothers from the UK. Perhaps the most chilling story is the article on the summer of 1986 when 13 people died in several different incidents on K2 in Pakistan. At 28,250 feet, K2 is about 800 feet lower than Mt. Everest, but the features of the mountain make it perhaps even a more difficult one to climb. The last story is an excellent recount of his own solo climb of the Devil's Thumb in Alaska. Like with Into Thin Air, Krakauer's brilliant descriptive style makes the book very compelling for anyone who likes the outdoors.
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OTHER A5 RECOMMENDED TRAVEL BOOKS - JON KRAKAUER
Best known for his experience on Mount Everest in his book Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer remains as one of the most renowned adventure travel journalists. In Into the Wild, he tells the story of Christopher McCandless, the young man who abandoned civilization to escape and ultimately die of starvation in Alaska. Click here to learn more about Jon Krakauer and his work.
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LEAVE YOUR OWN REVIEW HEREGREAT QUOTES FROM EIGER DREAMS“One of the differences between us was that Marc wanted very badly to climb the Eiger, while I wanted very badly only to have climbed the Eiger. Marc, understand, is at that age when the pituitary secretes an overabundance of those hormones that mask the subtler emotions, such as fear. He tends to confuse things like life-or-death climbing with fun.”
- Jon Krakauer, Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains INTERESTING LINKS:
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