Left for Dead : My Journey Home from Everest

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good overall
Review: This is a pretty good book. However at least half of the book is dedicated to Weathers' home life and problems with his marriage. While not bad, I didnt really buy a book on mountain climbing to read about family issues. Anyway, Overall though its pretty good as long as your not expecting solid mountain climbing action through and through.

Rating:
Summary: Why climb a mountain?
Review: Pretty much the autobiography of how a man almost lost his life on Everest, but somehow recovered his body and soul in the end. This book has got some nice insights into what attracts a man to climb the mountains. But sometimes it wander too far off to tell us about the author's martial affairs that don't really concern with the main plot of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Some insight as to what happened
Review: You kind of have to dig to find out what Dr. Weathers really thinks about the whole Everest 96 disaster. Bottom line: He was climbing when he should have been husbanding. The most telling line in the book: Boukreev didn't stay with the people who paid him to guide them. When he did make his way up to the South Col, he only bothered to save the ones in his expedition.

Rating:
Summary: Ah, so that explains it!
Review: I have always looked beyond the flippant "Because it is there" to understand why people climb mountains like Everest. In Weathers' case, it was depression, perhaps manic-depression. While he was busy challenging his physical existence, he did not feel depressed, it was that simple. This book tells, in his own words and those of his devoted but long-suffering wife, friends, and children, the story of how this escalated to the point where he nearly killed himself. If you are looking for more facts, figures, objectivity, etc., about the ill-fated 1996 climb, read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, an excellent book. This, however is about Weathers' epiphany, how his upbringing and personal history contributed to his obsession with climbing, and how after maiming his marriage and his physical self, he is attempting to live a normal life. Weathers is not a writer, but I defy anyone not to be moved by the passages about his brother-in-law's death.

Rating:
Summary: Ask for a refund
Review: Beck Weathers' book starts out mildly interesting as it explores his story of the 1996 Everest diaster, and then regresses into a self absorbed examination of how intelligent and how atheletically able Beck Weathers sees himself. Weathers airs out his struggle with an affliction suffered by millions, depression, but it's hard to judge if he truly is afflicted, or if his claim of depression is just an excuse for a life of self absorbtion and selfishness. The first few chapters of the book is a cheap and not well written attempt to grab the readers attention as it thinly describes the Everest adventure, the middle of the book about the life of Weathers growing up can (and should)be skipped entirely, and the end has some intersting tales of Weathers' climbing experiences around the world. When you finish this book, you'll want two things. First, you'll want at least half of whatever money you spent on the book back, and second, you'll feel certain that Jon Krakauer is owed the other half, because Beck Wethers certainly would never have sold a single book had Krakauer not published his brilliant "Into Thin Air."

Rating:
Summary: A Brave Attempt to Make Up to His Wife
Review: Dr. Weathers clearly has undergone a terrible tragedy; however the tone of this book is clearly one of hopeful self-flagellation--"maybe if I beat myself up enough about what a jerk I have been others will stop doing so themselves!" Let's hope his wife doesn't let him forget. Not very well written, but it is faily entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: A good book, not a great one.
Review: Having a chance to meet Beck Weathers and hear his story during an event at work I thought "I want to know more" and being that my first name is Beck as well I ran out and got the book. The first 25% of the book is great. I could not put it down. But the other 75% Beck gets on a soapbox about depression, and it almost come off a little whiney. Do not get me wrong, I would recommend this book to anyone. I just think most people who go to pick this book up are going to assume it deals with 75% of what happen on the mountain and how the doctors put him back together and 25% of how his depression got him there and saved him and his family. If Beck was to write a book on just what happen on the mountain I would read it in a heartbeat.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read!
Review: I was fortunate enough to hear Beck Weathers speak at our national convention (Medical Library Association) in Dallas last month. The story he tells his extremely compelling. When he tells the details of the climb and rescue, he does not mention the more personal anguish of depression and the derailment of his homelife. This is very integral to the major event of the climb, so I was glad to have the opportunity to get to know Beck Weathers through this book in addition to his personal tale of the struggle of life and death on Everest. I know that many reviewers thought this was extraneous, but it's not! And that's the whole point. To understand the psyche of this man who was overpowered with the idea of climbing the "Seven Summits", one cannot ignore the personal drive and journey that Beck Weathers took, virtually "solo" with the concomitant neglect of his wife and children. While this might seem very egregious and selfish, it appears that the author was so driven by depression and the need for concrete achievement, that he was almost unaware of the impact of the toll that this path would finally take. It's interesting that his children were always forgiving; the greater impact was on his wife who, although very angry (and justifiably so), never waivered (at least on the unconscious level) in her faithfulness and love towards him. The most poignant part of the book deals with Beck's relationship with his dying brother-in-law. Peach (Beck's wife's) brother is the role model for Beck's children. He was always there when Beck wasn't. The irony is that Beck is there for him at his time of need - out of genuine love and insight into what this man did for his family - and also as a means to demonstrate to Peach that he indeed loves her and this is one way to genuinely show it.
The mountain cost him plenty. He will never "undo" what he did to his family. But he does have a second chance to engage in a life where he knows the true value of his family. How many people get to realize this even once in their lifetime!
Bravo for bringing all the pieces of the puzzle together in this book. If you ever have a chance to hear Beck Weathers speak, don't miss it! During his speech, he mentions how against all odds, he made it back to camp after being left for dead, and told the audience that everyone has the "metal" to go on and do what he did. I went up to him afterwards and told him that "no, not everyone has that ability". It's sometimes easier to give up than to go on. And this is what makes this true story so very powerful. Hats off to Peach, too, and their two terrific children.

Rating:
Summary: Letdown
Review: After reading many accounts of the 1996 tragedy on Everest, I expected Beck Weathers' story to be one of the more interesting. After all, he endured life threatening injuries, a night out in the dead zone, an unprecedented helicopter rescue, and a long recovery period. When I saw the book, I thought "Great! I always wondered what happened to that guy!"
I think I probably would have been better off with my own fantasies and speculation as to what became of him.
His account of the events leading up to his helicopter ride off the mountain was sketchy at best. It didn't explain to the reader the difficulties in logistics, the weather complications, the complex terrain and technical expertise required to climb Everest. I suspect he remembers very little, but this doesn't stop him from stating his opinions as facts (Sandy Hill Pittman is an excellent mountaineer, Anatoly Boukreev sacrificed the Hall climbers to save the Fischer climbers, etc). These types of statements will serve to polarize readers, who likely have their own opinions of the other players and will find it annoying that this egotistical, underqualified, wealthy hiker who could afford to be pulled to the top has the audacity to speak ill of anyone else on that mountain. At this point in the book, I decided the interesting part would be his recovery, the road to self enlightenment, and the reunification of his family. Wrong again! I was subjected to several chapters detailing his family tree (who cares?), his upbringing (not relevant), his courtship with Peach (boring), and entry into the world of mountaineering (uninspired). Peach comes across as an angry uptight woman constantly left wondering where her husband has disappeared to. I found Beck to be self absorbed and whiny. His jokes appear to be made in an effort to distract others from real issues. He didn't delve deeply enough into the issues that redeemed him in his family's eyes and I was left to think they were so grateful he was alive, they just decided they'd all kiss and make up. Other than his clear vision (apparently the only time his vision was ever clear) of his family when he woke up face down in the snow, he never answers any of the obvious questions---in what ways has he changed? How does he view his family now? Are they a family, or do they continue to be 4 individuals who sometimes interact with one another? I was letdown in a big way with this book, and look forward to reading the next installment, the one where Peach discovers "divorce" CAN be in her vocabulary, and his kids finally say "I thought he'd changed, but he didn't". On second thought, I don't look forward to that at all.

Rating:
Summary: Not Your Average Everest Book
Review: While the fateful events on Everest of May '96 may have thrust Weathers to center stage, 'Left for Dead' treats them simply as a focal point in the much larger tale of Beck's life itself. This is really the story of how an ordinary guy with ordinary problems gets so seduced by the power of the mountains that he doesn't see all that has gone askew in his life until his seduction nearly kills him. I think that's something that all of us who spend time in the mountains, or are wrapped up in any hobby, can relate to. Sure, his ramblings about the nuts and bolts of his family history get really old really fast. Sure, sometimes I wonder if this book was written by Beck and Peach's marital counselor. Sure, I wonder if my lasting memory of this book will be about a married couple so dysfunctional that they were only able to express themselves through their cats. But I like the "un-edited feel" of the first person narrative -- there is no doubt that you are hearing this story from Beck, the ordinary husband, father and physician from North Dallas, and not some larger-than-life rock jock.