Left for Dead : My Journey Home from Everest

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely horrible
Review: This book should have been fantastic. Beck Weathers went through hell on the side of the mountain and could tell one of the greatest adventure stories ever. Unfortunately what the book contains is a lot of self congratulating about past accomplishments, needless anecdotes,and most irritatingly, a lengthy argument between him and his wife about who is the worse spouse.
If you want to read about the Everest disaster go out and get Anatoli Boukreev's The Climb or Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. Both of these books focus on the event itself, not boring filler.

Rating:
Summary: Spirit, Courage, Survival and Unbelievable Strength
Review: I am very fond of the Mt. Everest climbing books. They show so much bravery, courage, determination and spirit. Beck Weathers journey to and then home from Mt. Everest did not let me down.

He was on the mountain on May 10, 1996 along with nine other climbers who perished in a blizzard high on the mountain. On the following day Beck Weathers, who had been left for dead, was given a second chance at life. The true story is thrilling and inspirational.

Rating:
Summary: Audio version: YUK!
Review: I'm laughing from reading the other reviews....this book was definitely a bait and switch but I still mostly liked it even though Mt. Everest figured only as a backdrop. It was more like reading someone's personal journal and I did find it interesting. Actually, I listened to the unabridged tapes. I am sorry to say this but the reader was horrible and grated terribly on my nerves... almost to the point of not finishing. My biggest complaint was the reader's rendition of a woman's southern accent. Maybe the real Peach really sounds like that but I live in the south and the accent sounded totally fake to me....the way a non southerner would imagine it. Also, I'm nit-picking but there were several mispronounciations: the worst for me as a nurse was calling an AMBU bag an "AMU" bag. I guess Beck didn't listen to the tape???? Also....hello, Beck? One doesn't walk into a hospital for a summer job and work as a "Scrub NURSE". Last time I checked we still had to go to nursing school and take state boards before practicing as an RN. I'm splitting hairs...I guess he was referring to a scrub STUDENT? nurse/tech position but as a doc he should have known better. Like Peach said, he was NOT aware of how other people reacted to him....still isn't, I guess.As one other reader mentioned, my favorite part was about their cats. That was pretty creative and made me laugh. I did like what Beck says at the end about his spiritual side being a "work in progress." but I didn't get the feeling he'd really made ammends with his family.

Rating:
Summary: "this book is boring me ****less." - a comment to my wife
Review: To be perfectly clear, I am glad I read this book. The problem is that I'm only glad to have read about 20% of it, the rest is stuff that I frankly could care less about. Now, there are people would appreciate the soap opera Weathers describes as the relationship between he and his wife deteriorates. You can find these people in the trash-novel section of your local booksture. The folks who browse the mountaineering section of said bookstore are more interested in the 20% that I was referring to above - The actual experience on everest and its aftermath, which is presented honestly and is quite intriguing. Even gripping. It has value. It is worth the $7. It is the reason why I gave this book two stars, not one. However, the majority of this book is a chore to read.