Description:
Jonathan Waterman says his parents were his motivation for putting together this collection of hundreds of climbing quotes culled from dozens of mountaineering sages, in that he was never able to explain to them adequately as a boy just what the appeal was, and why it wasn't some crazy kind of death-wish stunt. To quote Waterman (this is a book of quotes, after all), "If climbing were merely an accepted and televised sport--in which the spectators never asked why--the literature would not be so tall." If only he'd had Tom Patey's line handy at the time, he could have told them, "The sensation is akin to coasting down the motorway after being held up at every set of traffic lights in Glasgow." And while many of the quotes are not exactly the sorts of pithy responses likely to quell parental fears, they speak volumes about the drives, risks, rewards, and experiences of mountain climbers the world over. Organized by categories such as soloing, spirituality, accidents, summits, hubris, and humility, the quotes range from the religious to the obscene. Says Naomi Uemura on why she goes solo, "In all the splendor of solitude ... it is a test of myself, and one thing I loathe is to have to test myself in front of other people." H.W. Tilman expresses climbing's irresistible appeal ("No pay, no prospects, not much pleasure"). Ed Drummond describes what dedicated climbers have to look forward to ("My puffed and bloody knees, ripe from the night, softly exploded in crimson berries on my dirty trouserless legs"), while Elizabeth Knowlton's summation ("Naked of life, naked of warmth and safety, bare to the sun and stars, beautiful in its stark snow loneliness, the Mountain waits") goes a long way toward elevating the urge from some silly adolescent impulse to a laudable, worthy, and lofty pursuit. --Stephanie Gold
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