K2: Savage Mountain, Savage Summer [Hardcover]

John Barry (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Oxford Illustrated Press (September 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 094660942X
• ISBN-13: 978-0946609420
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,234,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > Travel > Asia > Pakistan

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A different take on the 1986 K2 climbing season, March 6, 2011

By 

Khumbu Trekker (Sierras Nevada Mountains, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: K2: Savage Mountain, Savage Summer (Hardcover)

I've read about 200 climbing books, and this one was quite different from all the rest. At first I was turned off by Barry's writing style. It required concentration (like learning a new language), but I kept with it and it grew on me. His British humor sometimes went straight over my head, and I had to google a few of the slang words (I never knew "dossing" meant sleeping), but that just made it colorful.

I've read several books that address the disastrous 1986 climbing season on K2 (including Jim Curran's "K2: Triumph and Tragedy", Kurt Diemberger's "The Endless Knot", and Ed Viesturs' "K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain"), plus numerous excerpts from other authors. Even though Jim Curran and John Barry were on the same expedition, their perspectives differ (particularly regarding leader Al Rouse), so it was interesting to read another take on the events as they unfolded. Ultimately, I enjoyed Barry's dry wit and liked this book, even though much of it was merely taken from his journal entries. Not the finest book about the 1986 season (I prefer Diemberger's & Curran's books), but I thought it was an enjoyable read.