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Women's Fiction
Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest

Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest

List Price: $15.95
Your Price: $10.85
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: His dad would be proud.
Review: Jamling Tenzing Norgay is many things. He is a husband, father, climber, Buddhist, featured star of the IMAX film Everest and last, and by no means least, son of the Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who in 1953 summated Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary. His book, Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Guide to the Top of Everest (told with Broughton Coburn), is his successful attempt to relate and reconcile these identities.

Throughout this is a very personal account in every sense. It is a tale of his life, his father's life, his climb to the top of Everest, his father's climb to the top of Everest and his attempts to address his feelings about his upbringing, family and flagging religious beliefs. Added to this mix is the literal and emotional climate of the Everest summit attempt during the tragic spring of 1996.

He relates his story in a manner which makes for a very interesting, inspirational and insightful read. He moves fluidly from his climb to his father's, from his life to his family's, from his spiritual issues to the material world, from the tragedy to his personal investment in being a climbing Sherpa, without losing the overarching narrative.

The famous and fateful climb of the IMAX and other teams in 1996 during and after the tragic events of that climbing year are well known, but Jamling gives us some further insight and perspective into those events.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jamling's book
Review: Jamling's book is a classic, a valuable addition to the Everest literature. Apart from being a deeply engaging memoir - and offering a rare personal insight to the legendary Tenzing - the book captures in one graceful and magnificent sweep the world of the Himalayas and Darjeeling (the Queen of the Hills), from a Sherpa as well as a Western perspective. The narrative is kept focused by the tale of the heroic IMAX/Breashears expedition, of which Jamling was a part, including but not limited to the terrible May 1996 tragedy (recounted best by Jon Krakauer in his brilliant "Into Thin Air"). The book conveys a certain freshness and immediacy, contributed no doubt by Jamling's humility and instinctive feel for the mountains.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: -none-
Review: Many think Sir Edmund Hllary was the first to summit Everest and return, but he actually acomplished the goal with the aid of a Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay (Jamlings father). Neither a hero could have made it without one another. I personally think this book rises above the rest because of its view froma Sherpa, instead the tourist (and its humor is good, too). I recomend this book to all because it will educate you far beyond other books, such as Into Thin Air will.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Touching My Father's Soul
Review: Nor what I expected and rather a disappointment, this books seems to be a local writer and a son cashing in on the family name. There is little excitement or depth of character exhibited here and the work seems unlikely to be that of a man Himalayan born and bred. Who actually wrote these words ? Whose thoughts are they ? Not Sherpa thoughts I think.
Far better is another book I have just read - Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest by Tenzing's grandson, Tashi - an uplifting and honourable book about the Sherpas. It is simple and seems to me to truly represent the Sherpa viewpoint. This guy seems to be a true climber and talks like one. A far better book than Jamling's.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Why climb mountains?
Review: Norbu Norgay narrates the audio book of his brother Jamling Norgay's spiritually moving tribute to their enigmatic father Tenzing Norgay, Himalayan Sherpa people and Mount Everest, they call Chomolungma. With relationships to India, Nepal, Tibet, and America, always his father's son, he provides insights into the convergence of diverse cultures for ultimate mountaineering. Jamling's remarkable journey skillfully entwines his 1996 summit climb, for David Breashears' IMAX movie "Everest" with the footsteps of his father's 1953 historic premiere Everest summit climb with New Zealand's Sir Edmund Hillary. Sherpa religion teaches reverence for the gods, nature and to reach Everest's summit may mean death. They never take the smallest detail for granted because "many flakes of snow may cover an entire mountain with snow." This compelling book helps to answer why climb mountains, and ultimately celebrates the triumph of the human spirit.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great alternative to the popular Mt Everest Books!
Review: Norgay did a good job giving us a glimpse into the culture and religion of living at the bast of Mt Everest. It gave great perspective on the Sherpas and is a great follow-up, if you've already read Krakauer.

Using his father's experience as a parallel was refreshing. Even if you don't have a personal interest in climbing a mountain, Norgay's desire to understand his father through his climbing experience is something we can relate to in our own lives.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best of the Everest '96 Books
Review: Perspective - that's the real key this book gives one with respect to the disaster of Everest '96. Many books have been written, from the bigger than life action thriller angle of "Into Thin Air", the defensive shield of "The Climb", the horrific cringe of "Left for Dead" on through the somewhat egotistical air of Lene Gammellgard's book. But to me, "Touching My Father's Soul" is the best of the lot.

This book is not fast moving, nor impressively dramatic but it is exceedingly real. Having been born a Sherpa, raised in India and schooled in America, Jamling brings us a unique perspective on the events. I've read countless books written by westerners that attempt to describe the culture of the Sherpa, but none compare with this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best of the Everest '96 Books
Review: Perspective - that's the real key this book gives one with respect to the disaster of Everest '96. Many books have been written, from the bigger than life action thriller angle of "Into Thin Air", the defensive shield of "The Climb", the horrific cringe of "Left for Dead" on through the somewhat egotistical air of Lene Gammellgard's book. But to me, "Touching My Father's Soul" is the best of the lot.

This book is not fast moving, nor impressively dramatic but it is exceedingly real. Having been born a Sherpa, raised in India and schooled in America, Jamling brings us a unique perspective on the events. I've read countless books written by westerners that attempt to describe the culture of the Sherpa, but none compare with this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best of the Everest '96 Books
Review: Perspective - that's the real key this book gives one with respect to the disaster of Everest '96. Many books have been written, from the bigger than life action thriller angle of "Into Thin Air", the defensive shield of "The Climb", the horrific cringe of "Left for Dead" on through the somewhat egotistical air of Lene Gammellgard's book. But to me, "Touching My Father's Soul" is the best of the lot.

This book is not fast moving, nor impressively dramatic but it is exceedingly real. Having been born a Sherpa, raised in India and schooled in America, Jamling brings us a unique perspective on the events. I've read countless books written by westerners that attempt to describe the culture of the Sherpa, but none compare with this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jamling Norgay Takes Us To The Top
Review: There's a reason the Dalai Lama wrote the foreward to Jamling Norgay's book. This is a story that delves deeper than the typical adventure tale. It is a journey to the core of a man and his relationship to his family, his "people," nature, Buddhism, and himself. It is inspiring, filled with true examples of courage, bravery, and fortitude. For all those enthralled with Everest, Norgay's book provides a view of the mountain from both a historical and cultural aspect. It's fascinating to read how the Sherpas view the mountain and how cultures collide when the peak gets closer. The book is well researched, filled with interesting stories, and a fast, fun read. It is one of those rare books that stays with you long after you've turned the final page.


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