Customer Reviews

K2: Savage Mountain, Savage Summer

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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.