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I've enjoyed every one of Simpson's books that I've read. It's hard to say
why -- maybe it's because his books seem more personal than others or maybe
it's because his books tend to ramble in a personal way that cover a lot of
ground -- from personal to philosophical and then to the side of the
mountain. At any rate, this book starts with a climb in the Andes and a near
call with a collapsing serac and Simpson's increasing sense of his own
mortality. For some people, this would be called a mid-life crisis and
Simpson explores the impact of this realization on his own endeavors. Unlike
other people, though, Simpson decides to climb the classic route up the
North Face of the Eiger. As he prepares for the climb, he reflects on some
of the historic efforts in the 1930s -- and then as he details his climb, he
relates the stops and efforts to the history. In fact, he revels in the
history as he ticks off some of the stops on the route. I get the sense that
we haven't heard the last of Simpson yet. |
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