|
| 
 enlarge | Authors: Anatoli Boukreev, G. Weston Dewalt
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $2.23
You Save: $13.72 (86%)
New (25) Used (52) Collectible (1) from $2.23
Avg. Customer Rating:  259 reviews
Sales Rank: 19396
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312206372
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.522095496
EAN: 9780312206376
ASIN: 0312206372
Publication Date: July 16, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: LIGHTLY READ, PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE, COVER HAS MINOR SHELF WEAR, PLASTIC COATING CURLED AT UPPER EDGES, OTHERWISE FINE.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 LIke Anything Russian, It's Crude but Effective February 5, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I read Krakauer's book first and then I read Anatoli's book. I had the following reactions: First, Krakauer has a way of making broad sweeping statements, as in "all of the Sherpa's hated Boukreev." How would he know that? Second, he assumes that Boukreev decided on his own to descend from the summit when he did. Third, it was Boukreev, not Krakauer or anyone else who after arriving at the camp, turned around and rescued three of the stranded climbers. Fourth, when Boukreev asked Krakauer to go with him on his rescue attempt, Krakauer refused. Finally, after reviewing all of the evidence from multible sources, including "Into Thin Air" the American Alpine Club awarded Boukreev it's heroism award for his attempt to save lives during the 1996 Everest Expedition. Into Thin Air is slick, written for Outside Magazine readers who hike and climb in only the most up to date uber expensive gear. It looks good, it sounds good, but its not real. Boukreev's account is crude, definitely not slick, but like a old school pair of boots or backpack, it works and keeps on working. It's True.
 Waste of money January 28, 2008
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
When I purchased Into Thin Air a few weeks ago, the cashier told me that once I'd finished, I should read The Climb, as it was a response by Boukreev to Krakauer's account of the tragedy.
Not until I got to the postscript of ITA did I think anything in Krakauer's account even deserve a rebuttal. I thought ITA provided a well-balanced, well-developed account from a journalistic point of view. Still, remembering the cashier's words, I went out and spent the $15 on the Climb.
I found The Climb difficult to read mostly because I was never sure who was speaking. Switching from 3rd person, to Boukreev narrating, to unidentified speakers made the book jumpy at best, and completely unintelligble at its worst. I understand that DeWalt was providing a narrative of events, but DeWalt wasn't actually on the mountain that day. And from my understanding has never been on the mountain. So for anyone to speak with such authority about an event that they didn't witness always brings into question the truthfulness of their words.
It is much easier to believe that Krakauer, who was on assignment as a journalist, was keeping, at a minimum, a mental list of things that happened on the trek. He knew he would be writing about them, and undoubtedly assumed that those he was writing about would be there to read his words, and accuracy mattered. The concept that Boukreev remembers every detail of everything that was said or happened is farfetched if not impossible given these events took place over the course of two months. At one point in the book, Boukreev criticizes everyone on Hall's team as being old and slow. However in the debriefing, Boukreev assumed Krakauer was a guide and referred to him and Andy Harris as a strong climber. So which is it?
I don't particularly care who was at fault because it doesn't matter anymore. What I do believe is that Boukreev had no position being a guide. He was not interested in his clients, thought Americans were essentially worthless, and was portrayed even in The Climb to be interested solely in getting a paid trek up the mountain. This was Scott Fischer's error in judgement. It is also important to note that Krakauer was NOT a guide. He was an experienced climber with no 8000 experience. The guides were responsible for him and his safety, not the other way around.
In my mind, the only worth to this book are the maps, the photos, and the transcript of the debriefing on May 15th.
 Boukreev's writer has never rebutted Krakauer's response January 17, 2008
10 out of 16 found this review helpful
If you read the newest version of Krakauer's Into Thin Air, the epilogue provides Krakauer's exhaustive criticism of this book.
The long and short of it-- the writer of this book, DeWalt-- not Boukreev-- interviewed almost nobody compared to the interviews Krakauer conducted. Boukreev's claims that Reinhold Messner approved of his guiding without oxygen are fabricated, as are many other claims made in order to excuse irresponsible guiding behavior.
Despite Boukreev's bravery in helping to rescue some people, this is the worst sort of book-- it is well written, but it is also self-aggrandizing excuse-making by a man who made many mistakes and couldn't own up to them. . . or should I say by a collaborator who can't own up to Boukreev's mistakes, since Boukreev has been dead for almost 10 years.
Boukreev was a great climber, but he made a lot of mistakes, and this book is a cover-up and a money maker. Nothing more. At this point, Boukreev isn't even around to retract it.
An Inconvenient Truth about Everest January 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This a great book and really puts Krakauer's book, "Into Thin Air" into a new perspective. I thoroughly enjoyed it and now have a petter understanding of what really happened that fateful year on Everest. This guy was probably the greatest high altitude climber of all time.
Boukreev's POV November 23, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I had first read Krakauer's Into Thin Air - an astonishing, well-written, and sensational account of the 1996 season on Everest - which started my interest in mountaineering memoirs and in Everest stories, in particular. I purchased The Climb with great anticipation about a separate, "rebuttal" point of view, and was not disappointed. Whatever your opinion about what happened in 1996, it is hard not to respect and admire Boukreev after reading this. Sure, the writing is not as polished as Krakauer's book, but I was still turning pages as quickly as possible. Even a completely non-narrative, factual account of the goings-on in 1996 at the roof of the world would be gripping. As a singular book, I think The Climb absolutely can stand on its own. As one in a series on Everest 1996, the story becomes even more compelling.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
