What are you reading?

[Jack_E]

Mixed Emotions by Greg Child good bunch of short stories

[mathguy]

I just finished The Abominable, a new novel by Dan Simmons. As soon as I saw that it was about a bootleg 1925 rescue climb of Everest and somehow involved yetis, I had high hopes for a farce of "Vertical Limit" proportions. Initially, I was disappointed; the author clearly has a deep familiarity with mountaineering history, and he ladles on the details (mostly accurate, more on this later) with a heavy hand, but in a generally engaging style. This book is huge and sometimes a slog, as Simmons' descriptions often run on and on (multiple pages on the drive into an English country estate, for example).

Just finished "The Abominable" myself and your comments are totally dead-on. I ended up kind of liking it for the climbing sequences, which seemed pretty realistic to a neophyte like me. He also seemed to know the history of the Mallory-Irvine ascent in great detail and he weaved his fictional account pretty cleverly into what really happened (or at least what is known to have happened). But "slog" it is in spots (yes, the country estate was described in absolutely minute detail wasn't it?). I hesitated to say something about it in this thread because I was wondering if Simmons is a 14ers.com member (he lives in CO, seems well informed about mountaineering, etc.) But you started it ...

[jmanner]

I just finished The Abominable, a new novel by Dan Simmons. As soon as I saw that it was about a bootleg 1925 rescue climb of Everest and somehow involved yetis, I had high hopes for a farce of "Vertical Limit" proportions. Initially, I was disappointed; the author clearly has a deep familiarity with mountaineering history, and he ladles on the details (mostly accurate, more on this later) with a heavy hand, but in a generally engaging style. This book is huge and sometimes a slog, as Simmons' descriptions often run on and on (multiple pages on the drive into an English country estate, for example).

Just finished "The Abominable" myself and your comments are totally dead-on. I ended up kind of liking it for the climbing sequences, which seemed pretty realistic to a neophyte like me. He also seemed to know the history of the Mallory-Irvine ascent in great detail and he weaved his fictional account pretty cleverly into what really happened (or at least what is known to have happened). But "slog" it is in spots (yes, the country estate was described in absolutely minute detail wasn't it?). I hesitated to say something about it in this thread because I was wondering if Simmons is a 14ers.com member (he lives in CO, seems well informed about mountaineering, etc.) But you started it ...

I was Eyeballing this one... I really like Dan Simmons particularly his Hyperion series. FYI he has a great sci-fi mountaineering short story about three men and an alien attempting K2. Good read.

[SuperPolok]

I was Eyeballing this one... I really like Dan Simmons

One of my favorite reads was The Terror. I actually read most of this on a backpack trip up to Noname Creek to climb Pigeon/Turret and Jagged. I remember getting the shivers from his descriptions even though it was sunny and 80+ degrees in the tent!

[Jim Davies]

FYI he has a great sci-fi mountaineering short story about three men and an alien attempting K2. Good read.

Wow, I'll have to find that one. Do you remember the title?

edit: Google knows all: "On K2 With Kanakaredes", in Worlds Enough and Time.

[Point North]

Can't remember the title to a book that came out a few years ago. It's about our genes being in control of our actions.

Our genes are the true players. They're immortal, in that they're passed from generation to generation, while "we" are just along for the ride and die.

Anyone remember the title?

[peter303]

Can't remember the title to a book that came out a few years ago. It's about our genes being in control of our actions.
Our genes are the true players. They're immortal, in that they're passed from generation to generation, while "we" are just along for the ride and die.
Anyone remember the title?

The Selfish Gene by Dawkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selfish_Gene
"A chicken is an egg's way of making more eggs"

[Point North]

The Selfish Gene by Dawkins http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selfish_Gene
"A chicken is an egg's way of making more eggs"

That's a good one. I'll check it out.

But there was another book published about five or so years ago, along the same lines. Anyone remember?

[SurfNTurf]

I've been on a 70s/80s mountaineering kick lately*. All of these books are somewhat interrelated, and it's been great reading about the same experiences from several different perspectives. I recommend every single one, especially if tackled in succession.

Savage Arena - Joe Tasker
The Shining Mountain - Peter Boardman
Thin Air - Greg Child
Mixed Emotions - Greg Child

I'll also say that Greg Child quickly vaulted himself onto my personal top rung of mountaineering writers, along with Krakauer and David Roberts.

Now up are The Villain: A Portrait of Don Whillans by Jim Perrin (continuing in the same vein) and Training for the New Alpinism by Steve House. I hope the latter will help me get back into shape after a winter spent recovering from surgery. At the very least, it has pretty pictures.

*this is what happens when you work in the same building as the American Alpine Club Library

[Shaolin]

The Milky Way An Insider's Guide, William H. Waller

[SkaredShtles]

NetBackup technical documentation.

[Doug Shaw]

NetBackup technical documentation.

I'm so sorry.