Amazing, engrossing, thought-provoking, ...but the typos! | Everest : Mountain Without Mercy

Buy your own copy! It's a keepsake. | Everest : Mountain Without Mercy | Broughton Coburn

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	• Everest : Mountain Without Mercy Broughton Coburn National Geographic, 1997 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The details make this more satisfying than "Into Thin Air"

Although this book does not have the emotional punch of Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air", ultimately I found it to be more satisfying mainly due to the amount of detail and the incredible photography. Without a doubt, this is a more complete accounting of the events which occurred during the May 1996 climbing season on Everest. I enjoyed the sections on Everest history, geology, cartography, Sherpa culture and religion, climbing techniques, high-altitude physiology, etc. All this detail may be annoying to some readers - this book is a serious read. Most importantly, I consider the recounting of the Rob Hall & Scott Fischer team disasters to be more objective and credible. Jon Krakauer's telling of the story is more gripping, but it is also tainted by guilt and blame due to his intimacy with the events. I recommend reading both books together - Krakauer's for the emotion, and this one other for the detail, photos, and objectivity. I can't wait to see the IMAX movie.

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Amazing, engrossing, thought-provoking, ...but the typos!

I can't remember the last time I became so engrossed -- even obsessed -- with a book. The fact that it's a true story complete with fantastic photos doesn't hurt. I loved the way it gave plenty of background and technical information, and wasn't afraid to educate it's readers. And how it answered little questions about what it's like up in the death zone, but still left me wondering, yearning for a chance to talk to the expedition members. It painted detailed pictures of the people on the mountain without really giving many specific details -- when life hangs in the balance, you really see what people are made of just from their actions. I grew to admire a few, hate some, and I even developed a crush on Araceli Segarra.

The reason I can't give it a 10, is the editing. I have never seen a book of this quality (or even of considerably lesser quality) with this many mistakes and typos! As Jerry Kratochvil (previous review) stated, the flow of the text was interrupted by the "sidebar" articles, and while I did know the word "cwm" I assume most wouldn't, and they didn't give the definition/explanation of it until it had already been used several times. The book is beautifully laid out from a visual standpoint, but it seems like no editor actually read through it.

Still, I can't recommend the book enough! And for much more about the story, including lots of great stuff including breathtaking QTVR images (the one from the summit is beyond words!)

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Buy your own copy! It's a keepsake.

I borrowed this book from a coworker and I've had it so long, I'm just giving it back to buy my own. The editorial is very compelling, and loaded with sidebars. I gave this book a "9" rating, because it's hard to read in bed. : ) . I've read Into Thin Air by Krakauer, The Climb by Boukreev, about 150 pages of this book, and this weekend I'm going to see the IMAX film on Everest. Can't wait! (Of course, my feet are firmly planted at sea level!!)

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Primer on Buddhist/Sherpa culture

After reading "Into Thin Air," I've been searching out any book or magazine article about the obsession of reaching the top of Everest. After hearing David Breashears on NPR, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. Maybe I expected too much. The photography is stunning, and I appreciated the technical info about the logistics of filming at high altitudes. What I did not like was the extreme detail Coburn went into every time anyone waved a juniper branch. Fully 1/3 of the way into the book I was still reading details of every Buddhist god of every rock on the trek. I realize this faith is extremely important to the Sherpas (and also the author) but my enthusiasm for the prayers and rituals did not match Coburn's need to illuminate me.

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Great Info on the '96 Everest season

In the National Geographic style, this coffee table size book, takes the accounts of the IMAX film team and tells the story of the '96 tradegies , the film team's contribution to the rescues and the team's climb that followed. The writing was easy to follow, although I skipped much of the Budhist parts since I wasn't too interested in the Budhist perspective. I watched the TV movie 'Into Thin Air' and felt that I was left hanging for more information. Everest: Mountain without Mercy filled in the gaps, with all the testimonies, the wonderful photos and the detailed maps.

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