Rating: 
Summary: OK , but not the Top of the World
Review: The introspect into the life of a high altitude climber/cinematographer provided in this book is quite good. However the book labors on about the 1996 Everest season. While this may have been the author's attempt to deal with the tragedy, it comes off as another climber trying to cash in on the deaths of others. Granted it is far better than Krakauer's "Into Thin Air". I was hoping to read more about what it takes to be a world class climber. This book started to do just that then... it plunged into the death zone. It was a real struggle to finish once the 1996 episode was started. Over all a good read. Quite interesting early on.
Rating: 
Summary: Much more than just the Everest disaster
Review: Many have written about the accounting in this book of the 1996 Everest disaster. While David Breashears was there, and he shares his perspective on it, this book is really his autobiography, and contains so much more than just that one incident.
David Breashears is a rare individual in this day and age. He is an adventurer and an explorer. But even more than that, he is a remarkably honest individual. I have read many autobiographies in my life, and this is the first one I have ever read where the author made a serious attempt to document the facts of his or her life without any "editorial slant." More than once Breashears points out where he was wrong without attempting to make excuses or explain it away. That kind of honest self-appraisal is rare and refreshing. And in the case of his failed marriage, it is bittersweet. Perhaps there is something about the nature of alpinists and mountaineers; at high altitude it is necessary for their very survival to view reality for what it is, rather than what they would like it to be. Some have paid a heavy price for wearing rose-colored glasses on the mountain. But I think there is also something about David Breashears that is unique, his ability to face the truth without fear or flinching. And that is what makes this book worthwhile.
If you have an interest in mountain-climbing or high-adventure, this book will thrill you. But even if you don't, if you admire people who can look back on their own lives without pretense, this book will move you.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent Read
Review: This is a very good book if you find the culture of mountain climbing as interesting as I do. If you are looking for something as gripping as "Into Thin Air" by Jon Kraukauer, you will probably be disappointed. This book is more of a autobiography of David Brashears and his adventures climbing and filming the world's greatest peaks. One section toward the end is devoted to the summit disaster on Everest. After reading "Into Thin Air," it was interesting to get a different perspective on the disaster from someone who was there but not directly involved in the drama.
Rating: 
Summary: 320 pages of the same content...!
Review: OK, so the book starts out excelent then it soon drops and fast. After about the third chapter it becomes just about the same stories after another. And he isn't the best writer so it is hard to stick to the book. It gets all my 2 thumbs down.
Rating:
Summary: High Exposure from the Female Perspective
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I'm been pressed for time lately and had read the first three-quarters before putting it down and surrendering to my busy holiday schedule. It wasn't that I was bored with it, just pressed for time. Then, over Christmas, my cousin loaned me several videos about Everest, including Breashears' IMAX movie, and The Death Zone, a movie made by, and including, Breashears. After viewing those one evening with a visiting friend, I was fired up to finish the book, and I'm glad I did! Breashears' voice is authentic and matter-of-fact. He approaches the mountain and his relationships with the same understanding of circumstance and his own shortcomings. He doesn't emote, nor is he cold. I was touched by his descriptions of the Everest accidents of 1996 and, frankly, suprised by his even-handed, kind descriptions of Sandy Hill Pittman, who was eaten alive by the media following the disaster. It was nice to hear the perspective of someone who knows her and had climbed with her previously. It was obvious that many mistakes were made on the summit attempts that season. It also showed me that the media may have skewered Ms. Hill (since divorced from Pittman) for being a "socialite" and a wealthy woman, with the emphasis on woman, when in fact many people attempted to buy their way to the summit of Everest that season. Many of the people who have summited Everest and are not professional alpinists are extremely wealthy men who are also extremely determined. Faults that may not figure into their media descriptions when disaster strikes. In fact, money and determination are the subtheme of this book. Breashears makes it clear how much money figures into Everest climbs -- corporate sponsorship, individual "purchase" of place on teams, the increased sale of climbing permits which overcrowd the mountain, the need of guides to try and deliver what their clients have paid for, and the cost of work and constant travel on Breashears' relationship. In fact, the scene that really hit home with me in describing the failure of his marriage was not one of Breashears' departures on a long, dangerous expedition, but rather his description of spending his few days at home answering and making phone calls, sending and receiving faxes, and methodically laying out his gear across the living room floor days in advance. Breashears doesn't come across as a cruel person, just a focused one with the most extreme case of wanderlust. It's clear that he likes and honors women. It's also clear that he likes and honors Everest. It seems that his most successful relationships triangulate with the mountain, and minus that, falter. His craft, photography, really plays second fiddle to climbing in this book. That is, until the end portion, when the IMAX camera becomes a focal point of an Everest summit. Nonetheless, the technical information is enlightening and interesting. I really recommend this read.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining climbing biography
Review: Seing as I read this book in one 3 hour setting, I would say that I liked it very much. As climbing biographies go, this one was entertaining, informative, and an easy read. David Breashears has lead a very interesting life and this book tells the story well.
Rating:
Summary: High Exposure
Review: What I found most fascinating about this book, his life, is the fact that Breashears manages to make a living out of his passion. Times were certainly hard for him in the beginning but he made it. Not only does he manage to make a living but in doing so combines his other passion (filming) with it, through this he gets to travel and see other cultures. As a European, now living in the US, I find this enviable. I am somewhat surprised that other reviewers are hung up on his failed marriage. While I certainly feel for his ex-wife (and him!), I see his father's disapperance as the great tragedy in his life and it reminded me of Jon Krakauer's theme in his book "Into the Wild".
Rating:
Summary: Autobiographies don't get much better
Review: Right off the bat, readers will notice that Breashears has a knack for writing. Whereas Greg Child's natural talent surfaces through his wit and humour, David's writing style shines in his ability to make you empathise with him on every occasion. He obviously posseses the determination of a climber, and the insight of a top-notch photographer/cinematographer. Not only is the writing remarkable, but his life-story is absolutely fascinating. Many climbers have a fairly predictable story-line to their autobiographies, but Breashears' tale twists and turns as he juggles not only a climbing career, but a photographic and cinematic one as well. Don't pass this one up. Stories from old-school climbers are fading, and Breashear's tale should certainly be acknowledged and preserved.
Rating:
Summary: Adventurer711
Review: Another great climbing book with the obligatory coverage of the 1996 disaster on Everest. One point has begun to haunt me. Each account says that Rob Hall was radioing from above the Hillary Step, that he could get himself down, but not Doug Hansen. Yet, he was found below the Hillary Step. Seems to be a disconnect. I can recommend this book to anyone enraptured with climbing, or just reading about it.
Rating:
Summary: Shows the passion one man has
Review: Reading other books about Everest and being told how hard it is to take a few steps or to even breath while at the top of the world, it is amazing how much courage it took Breashears, his fellow climbers and Sherpas to lug the IMAX camera to the top of Everest to allow the rest of the world to catch a glimpse of what it looks like to look down upon the rest of the planet. This book is wonderfully written and includes not only the Everest climb in 96' but also leads the reader into the lesser known history of climbing in America through Breashears own past experiences in the Rocky Mountains. I would highly recommend this book to those readers who enjoy this genre.
|
