Commentary/review

It was recommended to me as a “book about leadership” and indeed it is. Among books where authors feel required to write about their “enthusiasm”, “grit”, “ambition”, “shock” and “grief”, absurd topics when it comes to mountaineering, this book is about decision-making, cause and effect, responsibility, planning, correct attitude and a healthy state of mind. I was enthralled and learned a lot from Anatoli, this incredible individual who certainly died too young. The narration style is fantastic – Lloyd James is interested in the text, follows the narration with commitment, intelligence and with some emotion (though not exceedingly). A wonderful audiobook experience and memorable lessons.

I also finished “Edge of the Map: the Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff”, written by Johanna Garton, read by Emily Durante. The book is read with an absurd tone somewhere between a tv add and a “feel good” romance novel – being obviously neither of these. The book is rather well-written; Johanna Garton was professional enough to include bits and dialogues that she, I suspect, did not fully understand – but her readers might. I admire her for such a leap of faith. The fragments where she describes exchanges with Tibetan monks are really fascinating. The resulting text is good; the narration style by Emily Durante is offending, silly and completely out of place. Please do not cast her in serious books about serious people in the future, please.

The cover for “The Climb” is very good, like the book itself. The other cover is bizarre, just as the lector’s performance.

Cover Photo by Sebastian Pena Lambarri on Unsplash.