Customer Reviews

K2, Triumph and Tragedy

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Aside from being a great account of the tragic 1986 season at K2, Curran's book has the quality of masterfully weaving the author's sense of humor with his deeply felt emotions about lost friends.

While some may argue that Curran was not at the forefront of leading the climbing on any of the expeditions, his keen sense of a filmmaker allows him to tell a very human story. In the great tradition of English mountaineering tradition he tells with wit and humor about the scrambles in putting the expedition together. His storytelling about the trials and challenges in the walk-up to base camp is equaled in its jovial spirit perhaps only by Greg Child (see "Thin Air").

When true drama begins to unfold with the death of Casarotto, Curran does not simply "recount" the casualties -- his voice is full of passion, heartache and doubt. His reflections upon the dangers of mountain climbing are deeply felt.

A highly recommended read!

This book is another in the long list of books on epics in the high Himalayas. This one covers the 1986 season on K2 where 13 people lost there lives. The author was a cinematographer with one of the expeditions. He wasn't much of an athlete, he didn't know how to ski, and he didn't go high on the mountain. So the story is told mostly from base camp and from second hand stories by the climbers on the mountain. Therefore, exactly what happened is unclear. This always seems to be the case in these stories because the preception of the characters is often clouded by hypoxia. The 1939 American K2 expedition and the 1996 Everest season comes to mind. Events, times and other occurrences get confused by everyone involved. Plus, with climbers, large egos are usually involved and no one wishes to be criticized for their actions. Hypoxia makes one do strange things high on a mountain and seemingly logical actions later make no sense. This account is a overall account of what happened during that season. The author probably recorded the events as he saw them accurately because he never went too high on the mountain and was probably less affected by hypoxia for that reason. However, his account also is limited because he didn't go high and his view of the events, except for what went on at base camp, was second hand. In particular a lot of his information came from a Taiwanese expedition that always seemed to be wrong, possibly due to a language barrier. A worthy read for overall background. Kurt Diemberger's book, `The Endless Knot' may shed some light on the subject. He was one of the two survivors of seven trapped high on K2 during an extended storm. Again, the story may be hampered by hypoxia.

It is summer...1986. Twenty seven climbers triumph at the K2 summit. Thirteen climbers die in their quest to conquer K2. Therein lies the tale.

The author, a photographer who calls himself a climber, though that is debatable, attempts to make sense of the events that unfolded on the mountain that summer. Relying upon the anecdotes and narratives of others, as well as his own personal observations, he tries to put the events into perspective, even though he has no first hand knowledge of what transpired up on the mountain, for the most part. Although he was there, he rarely ventured past base camp.

The book does make for an interesting read, as we look at events as they unfold before the author. It is amazing that with all the tragedies that seemed to occur at almost every turn, the climbers still kept climbing, never losing sight of their quest. At times this singlemindedness on the part of the climbers comes across as somewhat meglomaniacal.

The author is very candid in his commentary throughout the book and, surprisingly, he does not hesitate to speak ill of the dead. His candor, while somewhat disturbing, is refreshing, and it is interesting to find out that the gods do, indeed, have clay feet.

I enjoyed this book. Jim Curran is a gifted writer, well able to maintain the reader's interest with his fluent, eloquent style and, in turns, he is humourous and tragic. As pointed out in other reviews, he does spend much of his time in and round Base Camp, only venturing as far as Camp II, which some people seem to find makes him boring and/or unable to give the "full story". Personally, this is the first mountaineering book I have read which is delivered by a non-climbing member of an expedition - in many respects, it makes for more gripping and tense reading as you are led through various moments in the climbing season where nobody at Base Camp has the foggiest clue about what is happening up on the hill. The tension, and sadness, on occasions is tremendous. My one complaint about this book is that, having finished it, you do not feel as if you have a good idea of what many of Curran's team were like as people (as opposed to climbers), with the exception of Curran's good friend, Al Rouse. In particular, I was eager to be told more about the Burgess twins, who seemed to be intriguing (and it was hinted at, possibly mischievous), as well as excellent mountaineers. However, all in all, a good book which conveys well the highs and lows, the humour and the tragedy of climbing at the most extreme edge of the sport.

I bought this book because many of the reviews gave it 4-5 stars. I personally found it boring and was tempted more than once halfway through to stop reading it. The first half of this book reads more like a Who's Who Amongst Mountain Climbers, mostly describing the different teams and climbers (and which mountains they've climbed) at Base Camp and climbing K2. I was hoping for more in-depth insight into well-rounded and interesting characters, rather than just a running commentary (full of pure speculation) of who is on the mountain and what is supposedly going on up there. It was confusing keeping track of everyone and which team they were with, etc.

I was also curious about the author's somewhat dismissive attitude toward Reinhold Messner's achievements. Curran dismissively attributes that Messner's ability to climb the high peaks without oxygen is due to his choosing the easiest route. Whether true or not, who is Curran to knock the achievements of one of the best climbers out there? This guy (Curran) doesn't seem to write any better than he climbs, either.

On a more positive note, my interest was captured after most of the British team disbanded, leaving only Al Rouse and Jim Curran. The story picked up a bit after that. While the events that unfolded were tragic, this is not the most gripping mountaineering account out there.

I would not recommend buying this book unless you are intested in a running commentary and general speculation of the various expeditions to visit K2 during the summer of 1986 from someone who spent the bulk of his time at Base Camp.

This book is about the 1986 season on K2 when there were several casualties. It is written in a funny and self-deprecating tone, which is refreshing given the usual self-aggrandisement tone of mountaineering adventures. Of course, the author is not an accomplished mountaineer, but rather an observer who happens to be on the mountain.

He does spend a bit too much time going through the full description of characters on the mountain that season, the first since Pakistan allowed climbers back after a long hiatus. However, I guess it is best to err on the heavier side of character development, so it is okay. It is a quick fun read, if not life-changing like many mountaineering books seem to try to be.

I enjoyed this book very much, and highly recommend it to any adventure reader. As a beginning climber, it was more realistic than most climbing books. It focused on the bad and the good, where most books leave you feeling you are glad to be safely at sea level. This book is loaded with fatalities, but also with hopes and dreams, and day to day life at Base Camp. Instead of saying, "what are you thinking?" to myself after reading this book, I found myself thinking, "There are risks, and rewards. Let's go climb mountains." It didn't hurt that a friend was filling my head with tales of his successful trek to Denali at the same time I was reading this either. It is a great book, much more like being there than the many others I have read.

I bought this book because many of the reviews gave it 4-5 stars. I personally found it boring and was tempted more than once halfway through to stop reading it. The first half of this book reads more like a Who's Who Amongst Mountain Climbers, mostly describing the different teams and climbers (and which mountains they've climbed) at Base Camp and climbing K2. I was hoping for more in-depth insight into well-rounded and interesting characters, rather than just a running commentary (full of pure speculation) of who is on the mountain and what is supposedly going on up there. It was confusing keeping track of everyone and which team they were with, etc.

I was also curious about the author's somewhat dismissive attitude toward Reinhold Messner's achievements. Curran dismissively attributes that Messner's ability to climb the high peaks without oxygen is due to his choosing the easiest route. Whether true or not, who is Curran to knock the achievements of one of the best climbers out there? This guy (Curran) doesn't seem to write any better than he climbs, either.

On a more positive note, my interest was captured after most of the British team disbanded, leaving only Al Rouse and Jim Curran. The story picked up a bit after that. While the events that unfolded were tragic, this is not the most gripping mountaineering account out there.

I would not recommend buying this book unless you are intested in a running commentary and general speculation of the various expeditions to visit K2 during the summer of 1986 from someone who spent the bulk of his time at Base Camp.

Although I am sure I do not have the perspective of an Allison Pennington, as an armchair mountaineer I can say that I have read this book numerous times, and never tire of it. Many people complain that Curran "doesn't get into the action," but I have two comments to make about this. First of all, the base camp vantage point provides a unique perspective. I would argue that this is what makes this particular account interesting. Curran is a humorous writer, lacking the self-serious and somewhat bleak outlook of many of his peers in the field of adventure writing. His commentaries about the international flavor of "The Strip" are funny and dare I say it: educational. "K2" compares favorably to Jon Krakauer's dark and somewhat pretentious prose about the catastrophic year on Everest ten years later (regardless of the fact that Krakauer "climbs"). Secondly, considering the luck of the English up high on this particular mountain, I severely doubt that we would be reading such an interesting book if Curran had gone above Camp 2.

This book is so engaging that I could not stop reading it even for one day. Right after I was finished with the first time reading, I had to start reading it one more time again, more carefully. This book is believed by me to surely and definitely provide sufficient satisfaction to all interested in mountaineering and/or the "white world", Hymalaya. Of course, for more detailed explanations about each expedition's or each climber's tragedy, other individual books should be sought. Considering all, this book has succeeded in describing generally most of the events during one summer, in the order of time This book is about what really happened at K2 during the whole summer of the year 1986. To a great surprise, during only one season as many as 13 climbers lost their deaths at K2 during their descents or summit bids. The figure itself, 13, has contributed greatly to the fact that overall K2 is undoubtedly the most difficult and perilous mountain to climb all over the world. Still, the probability of survival at K2 is the lowest among all the 8,000 meter peaks. The book is composed of three parts : the mountain, the vigil and the reckoning. Reading is becoming more and more interesting and gripping towards the end. The author, Jim Curran, both the climber and the photographer, is thought to be in the good, if not the best, position to record all the tragic accidents during the summer. He had stayed most of the time at the Base Camps, which, including his roles, made him able to be in constantly close contact with most of, if not all, the expeditions, most of the happenings and the other relevant facts. In order to be generally informed of 1986's tragedies at K2, one must not miss this book. The probable causes and effects of all deaths are both well and briefly written on the last part, "the reckoning". I am now feeling something like hollow in my heart, so two times reading is finished.