The Second Death of George Mallory: The Enigma and Spirit of Mount Everest (Us) [Hardcover]

Reinhold Messner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2001

As a child, Reinhold Messner's mother read him stories about George Mallory and fellow climber Andrew Irvine; their heroic and tragic attempt to scale the world's tallest peak in 1924 inspired his own unequalled exploits in the Himalayas. To Messner, Mallory was a climber of the purest order, and his final ascent a work of genius, beauty and unparalleled courage. His disappearance haunted and inspired the imagination. Though Mallory's remains were discovered in 1999, the question of whether or not he made it to the top of Everest rests unanswered. Moreover, believes Messner, though we have found Mallory's bones we have lost or destroyed the spirit of amateur adventure that pushed him inexorably higher. Today, climbing Everest has become a mundane media event involving sophisticated equipment and corporate funding. THE SECOND DEATH OF GEORGE MALLORY is both an investigation into the death of George Mallory and a deeply felt homage - to a mountain, to the spirit of an age, and to the man who inspired those who followed in his footsteps.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author has had a lifelong obsession with George Mallory's three attempts to, in his hero's own words, "catch the summit by surprise" in 1921, 1922 and on the 1924 quest from which he never returned. In this homage, Messner (My Quest for the Yeti) draws from Mallory's own journal entries to relive those three expeditions, fleshing them out for the reader with his own heroic experiences in climbing Everest. Avid mountaineers will be especially intrigued by the step-by-step detail Messner shares, enabling his readers to see the mountain as Mallory did. What is even more important to Messner is to celebrate Mallory's legacy and "the disappearance of the spirit of amateurism that drove him." Although he believes that Mallory never reached Everest's summit, Messner is adamant that all who came after this pioneer owe him a great debt. Employing Mallory's spirit, the author recounts subsequent expeditions, imagining what Mallory would say about each: the 1933 trip by Wager and Harris, who found an ice ax that could have been left behind only by Mallory or his colleague Irvine nine years before; Hillary and Tensing's triumphant climb in 1953; the expedition sponsored by the Chinese government in 1960 and the subsequent trek in 1975, which was the first time that "artificial climbing aids" (in contrast to Mallory's tweed jacket, hobnailed boots and a book by Keats) were used and have been so ever since; and, finally, the 1999 expedition during which Mallory's remains were found and ceremoniously buried. This tribute will resonate most strongly with veteran climbers, but even armchair enthusiasts will be gripped by Messner's seductive and uplifting narrative. 30 b&w photos; 6 maps.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Legendary Italian climber Messner (My Quest for the Yeti, LJ 5/1/00), whose accomplishments include being the first to climb Mount Everest without bottled oxygen and the first to climb all 14 of the world's peaks over 8000 meters, attempts to trace what he considers the loss of the spirit of amateur adventure in mountaineering. The author quotes Mallory and his contemporaries and reconstructs Mallory's succession of expeditions to Everest from 1922 to 1924 through evidence found via the 1999 discovery of Mallory's body. This approach is useful for understanding the changes in motivation and attitudes toward climbing over the years. It gets a bit odd, however, when Messner attempts to comment on the current state of affairs by using Mallory's imagined voice, rendered in italics. All told, however, this is an interesting take on the evolution of climbing, adding perspective to the body of works on Mallory and the unsolved question of the circumstances surrounding his death. With its useful bibliography and 30 black-and-white photos, this would be a good acquisition, after David Breashears's Last Climb (National Geographic, 1999), especially for larger public libraries and those with extensive mountaineering/adventure collections. Tim Markus, Evergreen State Coll. Lib., Olympia, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312268068
• ISBN-13: 978-0312268060
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,732,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Unique View Of Everest, June 5, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Second Death of George Mallory: The Enigma and Spirit of Mount Everest (Us) (Hardcover)

Although not a climber I have read and enjoyed many books about Everest, individual climbers, and other noted mountains as well. The Author of this book, Mr. Reinhold Messner, is a climbing legend who has accomplished a list of firsts that is almost beyond imagining. Even when he chooses a challenge other than the world's highest peaks, it is to walk across Antarctica and Greenland. He is a man of strong convictions that I imagine will upset many. However he has the personal expertise, and a history of accomplishment that gives credence to his thoughts. He is a practitioner of what he speaks.

Since the disaster of 1996 that claimed two of the world's great climbers and several of their clients there have been a number of books written about this tallest of mountains. Many have focused on placing blame, and that is an issue for each individual to judge based upon who is writing, and whom they are writing about.

Mr. Messner speaks of a second death, which occurred when the ability to write a check became the necessary qualification to attempt Everest. When a mountain that is spoken, and often written of, in awe struck manor has become in spots a junkyard with the highest elevation. Everest has become an extreme sport for the wealthy, some of which remain on the mountain forever.

He tells the tale of the three attempts that Mr. Mallory made, adds his own thoughts, and some hypothetical thoughts of Mallory as well. This last element could have been terribly contrived, but here it was an excellent addition to the book, and skillfully written. That it succeeded may in part be due to the philosophy of the man who wrote this book and the man who is the primary subject of it. For them and others like them, the guided tourist attraction that Everest has become is or would have been anathema to them.

Mr. Messner also gave the best description of whether or not Mallory and Irvine made the Summit. He is objective and keeps his admiration for those who tried separate from what he believes to be true. It was great reading, and it is a shame that the commercial review had to spoil it for readers. If you have not read it please don't, enjoy Mr. Messner's work as it was meant to be read.

While it is true that Mr. Mallory died on the mountain it is also true he was qualified to be there. He spent more time on and around Everest in clothing that would not be enough for most to venture out to shovel their driveway in. The technology available to him was virtually nil compared to today. But as Mr. Messner points out, Mr. Mallory's reason for climbing and his abilities not only qualified him then, but also continue to keep him in the Pantheon of the greatest climbers ever to have stepped on Everest, and a man who did so with respect for the mountain, and not for profit, and without endangering the lives of others.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars messner's mallory, October 15, 2001

By 

peter farquhar (tasmania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Second Death of George Mallory: The Enigma and Spirit of Mount Everest (Us) (Hardcover)

There is no doubt Reinhold Messner knows mountains.
Despite losing his younger brother on his first notable Himalayan ascent, Messner went on to become the first man to scale all 14 of the world's mountains exceeding 8000 metres.
In 1980, he made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without the use of bottled oxygen, and his feats in crossing Greenland and Antarctica on foot have made him the stuff of modern adventuring legend.
Yet he draws his inspiration from the man most notable for not making the summit of the world's highest mountain - English mountaineer George Mallory.
But did Mallory actually die on way down? It's a question that has fired the imagination of climbers worldwide, particularly since Mallory's body was found by an American expedition in May 1999.
Only the discovery of Mallory's camera will settle the argument, but Messner has made a quite extraordinary step toward solving the mystery himself in THE SECOND DEATH OF GEORGE MALLORY.
Using Mallory's own journals and letters, Messner recreates his two reconnaissance climbs, and his final, fatal 1924 assault on Everest.
But fans of Hollywood mountaineering blockbusters should not expect an adrenaline-fuelled page-turner filled with crumbling crevasses and rumbling avalanches - this is a nostalgic, bittersweet recreation of the mental challenge and constant heartbreak that are as much a hurdle for climbers as the mountains themselves.
In tracing Mallory's journey, Messner pays homage to the forgotten glory days of ``amateur'' climbing - when men challenged the mountain armed with little more than a pick, a sturdy pair of hobnailed boots and seven jumpers.
He also takes a quite extraordinary step in assuming the dead voice of Mallory himself, to give a personal account of his own fateful attempt, as well as pass judgement on the efforts of those climbers who followed after him.
It doesn't always work - ``Mallory's'' criticism of the Chinese attempts is more than a little irresponsible - but after 14 mountaineering books, Messner cannot be blamed for wanting to mix it up a bit.
Nevertheless, THE SECOND DEATH OF GEORGE MALLORY is still an inspiring and moving read, which also goes a long way toward helping those less-adventurous among us understand what drives people to risk their lives for a good view.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, August 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Second Death of George Mallory: The Enigma and Spirit of Mount Everest (Us) (Hardcover)

I thought this book was terrible, and I was glad I checked it out at the library and hadn't wasted any money buying it. Messner publishes selected journal entries of Mallory's, strings them together in a barely coherent fashion and calls it a book. To that he adds his own fantasies about what Mallory might have been thinking at given points in time.

It doesn't work. So many of Mallory's entries are left out that one misses the sense of having heard the whole story. Messner's additions do not really help to complete the story. In fact, if I hadn't already read a lot about Everest expeditions and Mallory's in particular in other books I would have had trouble following Messner's.

In addition, Messner does not really give the reader very much added information that might be useful. How about an in depth comparison of climbing clothing today versus then, altitude sickness and it's effects, dehydration issues at altitude, etc. Instead, he includes an entire chapter on the Chinese ascents of Everest which he fails to make even remotely interesting.

I'm sorry I wasted my time reading this, and am only happy I didn't waste my money too.