Ecurb
07-11-2013, 07:30 PM
In the "do you like your body" thread, I posted a review of my favorite moutaineering books. Wondering what I may have missed, I did a couple of quick googles, and discovered a National Geographic list of great outdoor adventure literature: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0404/adventure_books_1-19.html
I've read all the mountaineering books on the list, and more than half of the non-mountaineering books. This lists omits my favorite mountaineering book: "In the Shadow of Denali". This isn't surprising -- the book isn't all that popular. It also omits David Roberts' book on Annapurna ("Moutain of my Fears" by Roberts makes the list, and Hezog's "Annapurna" is the #1 mountaineeering book. The Terray and Rebuffat books I mentioned are both on the list),. Here's how I listed my favorites in the other thread:
In the Shadow of Denali -- Jonathon Waterman This may be my favorite moutaineering book (and although I've slacked off in the last decade or so, I'd read almost all of them before that). It's not as well known as some others on the list, but if you like mountaineering literature, don't miss it.
Into Thin Air -- Krakauer -- I've red three or four other books about the same disasterous Everest expedition, but this is the best.
Annapurna: the True story by Dave Roberts. Harvard educated Roberts has written dozens of great climbing stories, but this is my favorite. Maurice Herzog's "Annapurna" was the best-selling moutaineering book in history prior to "Into Thin Air". It chronicled the first ascent of any 8000 meter peak, in classic militaristic, patriotic, hyperolic style (and it's still well worth reading). The 4 key climbers were Herzog, Lionel Terray (the greatest French expedition climber, who also penned one of the best climbing autobiographies, "Conquistadors of the Useless"), Gaston Rebuffat (who also went on to write lyrical climbing books, such as "Starlight and Storm"), and Louis Lachenal, who, along with Terray was the greatest of French alpinists. Revisionists have tried to suggest that the team faked the ascent -- Roberts chronicles the revisionist version of the climb, and the conflicts between the personalities. At one point, he finds the original, handwritten manuscript of "Conquistadors of the Useless" -- a book that critics thought must have been ghost written, becausse Terray had never progressed past 8th grade in school. Hardly a word had been changed. It's the most thrilling moment in the book.
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer. Harrer was one of four climbers to complete the first ascent of the Eigerwand, the last of the great alpine faces to be climbed. He later wrote "Seven years in Tibet", his chronicle about escaping from a British prisoner of war camp during WW2 (he was on an expedition to the Himalayas at the time), hiking over the Himalayas into Tibet, and tudoring the young Dalai Lama for seven years. One can only wonder why the Brits thought they had any chance of holding him prisoner.
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson ---- Epic adventure at its most thrilling. In the sequel, Simpson recounts winning the Booker Prize for non-fiction for this book, beating out (I forget which) world famous writers. It was the high school dropout Simpson's first book (but not his last).
I completely concur with National Geographic's #1 choice: "The Worst Journey in the World" by Cherry-Gerrard. It's about the R.F. Scott South Pole expedition, although the titular "Worst Journey" is a winter march to the roosting grounds of the Emperor Penguin. Here's a teaser (demonstrating Cherry-Gerard's style) from the end of the book:
“Exploration is the physical expression of the Intellectual Passion.
And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore. If you are a brave man you will do nothing: if you are fearful you may do much, for none but cowards have need to prove their bravery. Some will tell you that you are mad, and nearly all will say, “What is the use?” For we are a nation of shopkeepers, and no shopkeeper will look at research which does not promise him a financial return within a year. And so you will sledge nearly alone, but those with whom you sledge will not be shopkeepers: that is worth a good deal. If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin’s egg.”
I've read the first 17 on the list -- and they're all excellent. IN addition to "Worst Journey" I particularly recommend "Arabian Sands", by Wilfred Theisiger. My favorite complete history of Arctic exploration is "Arctic Grail: Quest for the NW Passage and the Norht Pole", by Perre Berton, which is not on the National Geo. list (N.G. appears to prefer first person accounts). Berton's book on the Klondike gold rush is excellent, too.
Does anyone else have any mountaineering or exploration favorites that aren't listed by National Geographic?
I've read all the mountaineering books on the list, and more than half of the non-mountaineering books. This lists omits my favorite mountaineering book: "In the Shadow of Denali". This isn't surprising -- the book isn't all that popular. It also omits David Roberts' book on Annapurna ("Moutain of my Fears" by Roberts makes the list, and Hezog's "Annapurna" is the #1 mountaineeering book. The Terray and Rebuffat books I mentioned are both on the list),. Here's how I listed my favorites in the other thread:
In the Shadow of Denali -- Jonathon Waterman This may be my favorite moutaineering book (and although I've slacked off in the last decade or so, I'd read almost all of them before that). It's not as well known as some others on the list, but if you like mountaineering literature, don't miss it.
Into Thin Air -- Krakauer -- I've red three or four other books about the same disasterous Everest expedition, but this is the best.
Annapurna: the True story by Dave Roberts. Harvard educated Roberts has written dozens of great climbing stories, but this is my favorite. Maurice Herzog's "Annapurna" was the best-selling moutaineering book in history prior to "Into Thin Air". It chronicled the first ascent of any 8000 meter peak, in classic militaristic, patriotic, hyperolic style (and it's still well worth reading). The 4 key climbers were Herzog, Lionel Terray (the greatest French expedition climber, who also penned one of the best climbing autobiographies, "Conquistadors of the Useless"), Gaston Rebuffat (who also went on to write lyrical climbing books, such as "Starlight and Storm"), and Louis Lachenal, who, along with Terray was the greatest of French alpinists. Revisionists have tried to suggest that the team faked the ascent -- Roberts chronicles the revisionist version of the climb, and the conflicts between the personalities. At one point, he finds the original, handwritten manuscript of "Conquistadors of the Useless" -- a book that critics thought must have been ghost written, becausse Terray had never progressed past 8th grade in school. Hardly a word had been changed. It's the most thrilling moment in the book.
The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer. Harrer was one of four climbers to complete the first ascent of the Eigerwand, the last of the great alpine faces to be climbed. He later wrote "Seven years in Tibet", his chronicle about escaping from a British prisoner of war camp during WW2 (he was on an expedition to the Himalayas at the time), hiking over the Himalayas into Tibet, and tudoring the young Dalai Lama for seven years. One can only wonder why the Brits thought they had any chance of holding him prisoner.
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson ---- Epic adventure at its most thrilling. In the sequel, Simpson recounts winning the Booker Prize for non-fiction for this book, beating out (I forget which) world famous writers. It was the high school dropout Simpson's first book (but not his last).
I completely concur with National Geographic's #1 choice: "The Worst Journey in the World" by Cherry-Gerrard. It's about the R.F. Scott South Pole expedition, although the titular "Worst Journey" is a winter march to the roosting grounds of the Emperor Penguin. Here's a teaser (demonstrating Cherry-Gerard's style) from the end of the book:
“Exploration is the physical expression of the Intellectual Passion.
And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore. If you are a brave man you will do nothing: if you are fearful you may do much, for none but cowards have need to prove their bravery. Some will tell you that you are mad, and nearly all will say, “What is the use?” For we are a nation of shopkeepers, and no shopkeeper will look at research which does not promise him a financial return within a year. And so you will sledge nearly alone, but those with whom you sledge will not be shopkeepers: that is worth a good deal. If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin’s egg.”
I've read the first 17 on the list -- and they're all excellent. IN addition to "Worst Journey" I particularly recommend "Arabian Sands", by Wilfred Theisiger. My favorite complete history of Arctic exploration is "Arctic Grail: Quest for the NW Passage and the Norht Pole", by Perre Berton, which is not on the National Geo. list (N.G. appears to prefer first person accounts). Berton's book on the Klondike gold rush is excellent, too.
Does anyone else have any mountaineering or exploration favorites that aren't listed by National Geographic?