Customer Reviews

All Elevations Unknown: An Adventure in the Heart of Borneo

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Sam Lightner's tale of his 1999 climb up Borneo's Batu Lawi is a wonderful mix of modern adventure and historical retelling of Major Tom Harrison's 1958 book World Within. His story is a classic first-climb adventure in which he and his friends attempt to be the first (as far as they knew) to climb a mystical spire deep in the heart of Borneo. Lightner learned of the peak from an obscure referrence in Tom Harrison's World Within and uses this text as both his guide to the land and the people.

In reading about his adventure, you gain insight into not only the heart of a true adventurist trying to step foot where few have ever been and the hardships involved in such undertakings. You'll certainly think twice about sponsorship of your next adventure, especially any video documentation after hearing of his conflicts with his camera crew. At the same time, you'll gain a love of the people and land of Borneo. This tale is perfect for those who love adventure as well as learning the history of a people and their land.

Although Lightner's account of his climb up a mountain in Borneo is not in the same league as Eric Hansen's STRANGER IN THE FOREST (an account of his 3 month trek across Borneo in the 1970;s--a great book), this book's historical accounting of WW 2 battles fought in Borneo (based upon the biography of Maj. Harrison) gave me more insight into the tribes and history of this magical land.

Like other readers, I found Lightner's writings about Maj. Harrison's battles with the Japanese soldiers far more interesting than the snippy arguments he details between himself and the film crew that documents his climb. It was amusing (as a woman) to see that a group of men can be just as catty to one another, but Lightner goes into far too much detail about these highly personal spats, and many times, leaves me wanting more detail about the flora, the sights, the sounds and smells and to learn more about the indigenous guides that the author is traveling with.

This book made me want to read more about Maj. Harrison's amazing and brave liberation of Borneo because Harrison, like author Eric Hansen 30+ years later, fell in love with the tribal people of Borneo; he grew to respect their customs, and in many instances their ecological reverence for the rainforest in which they dwelt. Hopefully, the biography of Maj. Harrison will not remain out of print for too long. If you're interested in climbing, the rainforest or in Borneo, this book is worth your time.

I enjoyed the book very much but was disappointed that there were no photographs. I think that a few would have been appropriate considering the unusual terrain. This lack was ironic in that there was much described tension between the climbers and the sponsor's "video guys" because the filming actually interfered with the travel. It just seemed that the author by having sponsors for his trip gave away rights which would have made the book more effective.

Sam Lightner, Jr., read about Major Tom Harrison's daring exploits in Borneo during the war, and of his feelings for the local people. Being a climber, he was fascinated by descriptions of a peak in the middle of the inpenetrable rainforest, so of course he had to find it and climb it.

But this is not a book about climbing, it is a book about following a dream even though very challenging. Lightner weaves a great story with history of Borneo's "White Rajah's" and of the work of Major Harrison. It is a good story rich with the culture and natural environment of Borneo. It is a book for anyone who has ever seen a picture of an exotic far-off place and dreamed of traveling there.

This is a good book, but not a great one, undermined by three difficulties, not all of them the author's fault. Problem number one is an excess of hype on the part of the publisher; Lightner's interweaving of two stories, even if separated by more than 50 years, isn't revolutionary. It is entertaining, however, and it works nicely. It's just oversold.

Nevertheless, the dual stories make the book. Lightner correctly realizes that his own climbing tale is simply too thin. His other main problem is that the World War II story is far more interesting, especially since most people have no clue about how the war was fought on Borneo. (My own reference library on World War II devotes two sentences to the island: the Japanese captured it; later the Allies took it back.) Lightner has done a wonderful job of bringing this little-known story to life, but by so doing, he emphasizes the thinness of his own tale, whose central conflict turns out to be between himself and the film crew who helped finance the expedition. The "video guys," as he calls them, want things in exchange for their money that change the nature of the climbers' goals. That's interesting...but not as much so as a world war.

The third problem is that in his efforts to bring the story to life, Lightner's gone farther than needed, by fabricating dialog, characters' reactions to each other, and additional perceptual material to fill in gaps in the narrative. He admits this, but it's an ill-considered approach to a story with drama enough to stand on its own if he'd made it clear which material is based on someone's memoirs, and which is interpolated. Not doing it in the traditional manner leaves the reader wondering how much of the story is real, and how much is guesswork. Worse, it casts doubt on Lightner's own tale. Every time he intercuts from the present to the past, he does so by having himself reflect on the World War II story. The third time he did this, I wondered: Is this also a device? Might he have been napping at the time, rather than thinking about World War II? And if so, what else in the tale is a device?

None of this destroys the versimilitude of the whole, but it does undermine it. But that said, it's a good book, recommended to those with an interest in adventure travel, history, and to a lesser extent, climbing.

This book is smartly and excitingly written. I could feel the pounding rain, smell the dampness of the jungle, and the stinging and sucking of the leaches.

By combining two stories, Lightner displays the hardships encountered by any outsider trying to achieve goals in harsh, inaccesable Borneo. Lightner's inclusion of Major Tom Harrison during WWII adds depth to the story and his admiration of the major comes through as well as his conflict with the photographers who urge Lightner to take more climbing risks than he knows are prudent.

I hope to see more books by the talented rock climber who is also an excellent writer.

This is a great little book. I knew very little about climbing and found it facinating, but it was the history and research that this author shared with me that kept my attention. The book keeps shifting from the present expedition of climbing a long sought after peak in Borneo, to the expereinces of some Australian special forces that were dropped into the region in WWII to organize resistance of the natives against the Japanese. You will gain the feel of hiking through the jungle, and all the hazards and elements that must be endured. You will also gain a deep respect for the "backward" natives who thrive in the region. Their intelligence and values were quite impressive. Read this book!

In the echo of the fast-paced twentieth century, a time where the world seems to have decreased in size and cultural barriers, Sam Lighner Jr. poignantly reminds us of the enxcitement, frustration, and pride one experiences while exploring one of the planet's remaining treasures, Boreno, and all the cultural riches it harbors. By craftly interweaving the stories of Harrison's struggles during the War with his own obstacles of leading an expedition, Lightner creates a strong anchor of knowledge and historical context for readers to absorb and build upon as they let their imaginations reanact the two tales.

As an avid reader of both historical and adventure books, I was thrilled that this book brilliantly meshed the best of both. It takes two stories, separated by time and circumstance, and makes it seem as if the outcomes depend upon each other. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't fiction! Overall, a great read.