Rating: 
Summary: A thoughtful account of Willi Unsoeld's life and actions
Review: As one of Willi Unsoeld's former students at Evergreen, and a friend of Devi's, I appreciated Robert Roper's thoughtful attempt to explain the philosophical roots of Willi's life and actions, and the circumstances surrounding Devi's death. Some of the details are off, such as a few ridiculously inaccurate claims on pages 170-75 concerning my fellow student Keith Hillsbury, but in the end Roper has succeeded much better at evoking Willi's complex, larger-than-life personality than Lawrence Leamer did in his earlier biography, Ascent, which I found frustratingly one dimensional. This is the best account I've seen of a man who not only was one of the great mountaineers of our time, but also a charismatic teacher and important pioneer of outdoor education.
Rating: 
Summary: You will love this book!
Review: For a non-mountain climber, non-adventurer like myself, this book was a take-me-away introduction to people who are very different from me. I planned to give the book away after I read it, so instead of underlining, like I ususually do when I read, I made notes on the inside back cover of favorite passages. I had 60 of them to type up before I could let the book go. Roper always saves his best sentence for last, always makes you wish you had more than ten minutes to read at a time, always lets the adventure speak to you without requiring you to be knowledgeable about mountain climbing. It isn't a treatise on mountain climbing. It is an idea-stretching, glorious opportunity to climb your own personal mountain.
Rating: 
Summary: Full of inaccuracies and distortions--save your money!
Review: I agree whole-heartedly with sweetmolly's review--it's a fair assessment and right on. Further, I can add that "Fatal Mountaineer" is full of distortions and inaccuracies, more than I have ever seen in any mountaineering novel intended to be non-fiction. Myself being a writer, a collector of mountaineering lit, a climber, and knowing about Willi's life and his expeditions, I was highly disappointed in this book. Overall, the book and subject were very poorly researched; bad preparation and bad writing go hand-in-hand. Knowing that many of Roper's statements are nothing more than second-hand, inaccurate speculations, it was painfully difficult to read. Besides painting John Roskelley as an "enfant terrible" and "buffalo demon" (both of which he is not) throughout the entire novel, Robert Roper (no relation to honorable climber-writer Steve Roper) couldn't even spell Roskelley's name correctly. Never are there citings or resources given--nor is there defined reasoning--for Roper's speculation and suppositions, of which this is one: "Roskelly (sic) is a special sort of bully, someone who tromps all over others in their most uncertain places, who gets his way by his willingness to say hateful things." If you're thinking of reading Roper's "Fatal Mountaineer," don't. Read instead Roskelley's first-hand account of the expedition that fills most pages of Roper's novel, "Nanda Devi: The Tragic Expedition." And even though it has it's own shortcomings, a much better biography of Unsoeld is Lawrence Leamer's "Ascent: The Spiritual and Physical Quest of the Legendary Mountaineer Willi Unsoeld." It's obvious the reviewers here who gave more than a couple stars to "Fatal Mountaineer" have not read Roskelley's book, nor were they previously knowledgable about Unsoeld's life and his tragic Nanda Devi expedition. I'm sure they would have thought differently had this piece of fiction not been their introduction to Willi Unsoeld. While Unsoeld was not perfect, he was a great man and mountaineer, and his memory deserves better than this false attempt of a treatise. And the same is true for John Roskelley, who Roper especially--and wrongly--excoriated.
Rating:
Summary: Fatal Mountaineer
Review: I do not recommend this book because I knew Willi Unsoeld, and this book does not talk about the man I knew. Willi was my teacher in the classroom and in the mountains and I spent many hours with him. The author does not capture the spirit or the vitality of Willi Unsoeld and actually wrote this book against the wishes of Willi's family. Even the title of this book is offensive to people who knew Willi because it is so far from the man who really existed. The author includes many assumptions and speculations about Willi that are far off the mark. I would love a book that explored Willi's life and his remarkable accomplishments, but this is not it.
Rating:
Summary: A complex, meandering read
Review: I just put this book down, after having spent much of the past two days with it in my comfortable armchair. A little reseach yielded the fact that the book did just recently win the rather prestigeous Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature in Nov. 2002. I believe this is well-deserved. Part travelogue, part psycho-philosophical profile of one of the greatest American mountaineers, Roper attempts to contextualize Unsoeld's biography around a variety of fixtures. The "ropes" the authors uses to advance to the "summit" (i.e. the fictional representation of the perceived innermost truth about Unsoeld's life and ulterior motive) are made up of such materials as the history of mountain climbing, political sciences, small group psychology field tests, local religious practice, Bergson and various wilderness philosophies. IMHO, some "ropes" in use are only nine mille thick, while others do last the test of critical readership without fraying. The weave or texture of the theoretical excursions with the main storylines feels strenuous in part, and the reader is thrown into a disjointed crevasse here and there, although there are ladders lying around to drag oneself out of such uneven terrain, such as by simply ignoring a pager or two (but not more!). Even for the uninitiated, it is quite possible to foresee Devi's death by, say, page 15 or earlier already (there are only three children present at Willi's funeral, so clearly something must have gone wrong), and it takes a long climb and some patience to finally sit on the buttress and experience the tragedy of Devi's death. The characterization of the main protagonists may pose problems for some. Lev and Andy and the rest are set in stark contrast to Unsoeld and Roskell(e)y, with the danger of contructing antagonies between the two main figures where there perhaps were none, or none of importance and consequence anyway. It's a temptation for any author to deal with two such diverse characters, and NOT to have them squarely oppose each other, philosophically or in any other form. To give in to the temptation, the story itself attains higher (or lower, depending on your view) ground, and in all complexity becomes easier to follow and to understand. If all this has happened and was in fact the case I am quite doubtful, not having read Roskelley's book (yet). What troubles me, too, and another reviewer took note of that already, is the silence of Willi's family in the book, with one small exception (Willi's older sister), and one big exception (Devi herself, of course). In an attempt to establish an environment of credibility for his narrative, Roper should have explored those avenues of memory more carefully. But perhaps he did, and when he says in the afterword that some did not want Willi's story to be told, he probably includes family members and close relatives. In the end I must say I loved the intricate mesh of events, people and lifestyles, of virtue and philosophies. The way Roper tries to establish principles and seek meaning in modern mountaineering through two major protagonists makes sense to me, although on a larger scale, he may be a tad too quick to dismiss traditional western notions of humanism towards (raw) nature in exchange for sheer opportunism and empty but marketable self-promotion. Highly recommended for careful reading.
Rating:
Summary: A complex, meandering read
Review: I just put this book down, after having spent much of the past two days with it in my comfortable armchair. A little reseach yielded the fact that the book did just recently win the rather prestigeous Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature in Nov. 2002. I believe this is well-deserved. Part travelogue, part psycho-philosophical profile of one of the greatest American mountaineers, Roper attempts to contextualize Unsoeld's biography around a variety of fixtures. The "ropes" the authors uses to advance to the "summit" (i.e. the fictional representation of the perceived innermost truth about Unsoeld's life and ulterior motive) are made up of such materials as the history of mountain climbing, political sciences, small group psychology field tests, local religious practice, Bergson and various wilderness philosophies. IMHO, some "ropes" in use are only nine mille thick, while others do last the test of critical readership without fraying. The weave or texture of the theoretical excursions with the main storylines feels strenuous in part, and the reader is thrown into a disjointed crevasse here and there, although there are ladders lying around to drag oneself out of such uneven terrain, such as by simply ignoring a pager or two (but not more!). Even for the uninitiated, it is quite possible to foresee Devi's death by, say, page 15 or earlier already (there are only three children present at Willi's funeral, so clearly something must have gone wrong), and it takes a long climb and some patience to finally sit on the buttress and experience the tragedy of Devi's death. The characterization of the main protagonists may pose problems for some. Lev and Andy and the rest are set in stark contrast to Unsoeld and Roskell(e)y, with the danger of contructing antagonies between the two main figures where there perhaps were none, or none of importance and consequence anyway. It's a temptation for any author to deal with two such diverse characters, and NOT to have them squarely oppose each other, philosophically or in any other form. To give in to the temptation, the story itself attains higher (or lower, depending on your view) ground, and in all complexity becomes easier to follow and to understand. If all this has happened and was in fact the case I am quite doubtful, not having read Roskelley's book (yet). What troubles me, too, and another reviewer took note of that already, is the silence of Willi's family in the book, with one small exception (Willi's older sister), and one big exception (Devi herself, of course). In an attempt to establish an environment of credibility for his narrative, Roper should have explored those avenues of memory more carefully. But perhaps he did, and when he says in the afterword that some did not want Willi's story to be told, he probably includes family members and close relatives. In the end I must say I loved the intricate mesh of events, people and lifestyles, of virtue and philosophies. The way Roper tries to establish principles and seek meaning in modern mountaineering through two major protagonists makes sense to me, although on a larger scale, he may be a tad too quick to dismiss traditional western notions of humanism towards (raw) nature in exchange for sheer opportunism and empty but marketable self-promotion. Highly recommended for careful reading.
Rating:
Summary: Philosophy and Adventure Roiled into One
Review: I would have given this book five stars but it could have used some editing. Roper tries to see everything from so many points of view that sometimes he completely loses the story line. For example, when two experienced climbers separately leave the expedition before the final (and tragic) assault, Roper simply doesn't give any clear explanation, but diverges into pages of vapid nonsense. If he couldn't get a clear explanation he should have said so. Another weakness is his divergence into philosophy. This was an important part of Willi Unsoeld's life, but I think the many discussions in the book could have been cut by at least half. I must say I did enjoy the discussion of John Muir's change of heart in his older years.
Roper writes very well when describing the assault on the mountain, except right at the end. We have been caught up in two things: the assault on the summit, and wondering when and how somebody is going to lose their life. When they come, they are written so quickly and anticlimatically that the reader wonders why.
Overall, however, this is an interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Where's Willi?
Review: Picture thousands of notes on 3" x 5" file cards and 100 pages of John Roskelly's "Nanda Devi, The Tragic Expedition". Throw them up in the air. Wherever they land, pick them up and submit them as a manuscript. That is the only way I can conceive this disorganized, unedited book was published. It is hard to categorize this book. It is not a biography (see Laurence Leamer's "Ascent"). It is not a memoir; I don't believe the author knew Willi Unsoeld in life. "Fatal Mountaineer" concentrates mainly on three defining moments in Willi's life: his brilliant traverse of Everest via the West Ridge in 1963 when Unsoeld was at the peak of his ability, the tragic death of his daughter Devi on her namesake mountain, and Willi's death in an avalanche on Mt. Rainier at age 54. There are explanations and definitions of Bergson and John Muir's philosophies throughout. These two philosophers supposedly had a significant influence on Willi's spiritual outlook. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was the main subject of this book, Willi or John Roskelly. The author seems to have a love/hate relationship toward Roskelly referring to him as the "Buffalo Demon" and a wily self-promoter while praising his mountaineering abilities to the skies. Mr. Roper's extensive quoting from Roskelly's book is unacknowledged by the author except for an asterisk on page 265. The Nanda Devi climb that culminated in the mysterious death of Unsoeld's daughter, aged 22, is given the most attention. As the expedition leader and as a father, Unsoeld's behavior was strange to say the least; his exploitation of this tragedy afterward via lectures, slideshows, and presentations was inexcusable. His death in an avalanche while a leading a student expedition in the dead of winter was his last tragedy in that he took another 22 year-old girl with him. His judgment was fatally flawed to even think of taking such an inexperienced group on such a venture. It speaks well for the other 20 students that they managed to survive. When closing the book, I had gained no additional insights about this compelling, charismatic man who had great leadership abilities, was larger than life and had a continual adoring coterie of fans around him right up to and including the time of his death. Mr. Roper obviously had no endorsement from Unsoeld's family, he cites no printed sources, has no endnotes, and no bibliography. The book seemed nothing more than an exercise in self-indulgence.
Rating:
Summary: First ascent of a terrific adventure biography
Review: Robert Roper has written a gripping account of one of mountain climbing's most charismastic figures, Willi Unsoeld. "Fatal Mountaineer" will appeal both to mountaineering and adventure enthusiasts and to any serious reader looking for a wrenching drama set in an exquisite landscape. Framed by the story of Unsoeld's eventual demise in an avalanche on Mt Rainier, the centerpiece of the book is the detailed narrative of a fateful ascent of Nanda Devi, India's tallest mountain, by a group of elite climbers. Roper carefully dissects the tensions that emerge from Day One of the expediton between the hard-charging, summit-oriented alpha males of the pack and those sympathetic to the transcendental, growth-oriented perspective of Unsoeld. Included among this latter contingent is Devi Unsoeld, who was named after this mythopoetic mountain, and tragically becomes, or merges with, its resident goddess. Roper's writing is crisp and nuanced, and he is able to bring an immediacy to events he has reconstructed from multiple and often contradictory or sanitized versions of events. Within the first chapters, I felt as though I were in the tent debating whether an ill member of the team, and thus potentially the weakest link (it does not help that this particular climber is also a woman)should make the trek or head back to base camp. Roper tells not only the outward bound story of a mountain-climbing expedition but also draws us within the psyches of the characters, explicating the motives behind this most enigmatic of human undertakings. I would urge readers to go out any buy this book before the Spring thaw.
Rating:
Summary: First ascent of a terrific adventure biography
Review: Robert Roper has written a gripping account of one of mountain climbing's most charismastic figures, Willi Unsoeld. "Fatal Mountaineer" will appeal both to mountaineering and adventure enthusiasts and to any serious reader looking for a wrenching drama set in an exquisite landscape. Framed by the story of Unsoeld's eventual demise in an avalanche on Mt Rainier, the centerpiece of the book is the detailed narrative of a fateful ascent of Nanda Devi, India's tallest mountain, by a group of elite climbers. Roper carefully dissects the tensions that emerge from Day One of the expediton between the hard-charging, summit-oriented alpha males of the pack and those sympathetic to the transcendental, growth-oriented perspective of Unsoeld. Included among this latter contingent is Devi Unsoeld, who was named after this mythopoetic mountain, and tragically becomes, or merges with, its resident goddess. Roper's writing is crisp and nuanced, and he is able to bring an immediacy to events he has reconstructed from multiple and often contradictory or sanitized versions of events. Within the first chapters, I felt as though I were in the tent debating whether an ill member of the team, and thus potentially the weakest link (it does not help that this particular climber is also a woman)should make the trek or head back to base camp. Roper tells not only the outward bound story of a mountain-climbing expedition but also draws us within the psyches of the characters, explicating the motives behind this most enigmatic of human undertakings. I would urge readers to go out any buy this book before the Spring thaw.
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