Customer Reviews

White Spider

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book details Heinrich Harrer's participation in the first successful ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in the Alps. Harrer goes far beyond simply recounting the story of their 3-day ascent and describes the earlier unsuccessful and often fatal efforts that helped pave the way for their ultimate ascent and several of the subsequent successful and tragic ascents as well. Although written in a somewhat dispassionate manner that may be due to the translation from original German, this book is a very comprehensive description of the story behind the climbs of the Eiger. Worth reading.

I enjoyed this book, but I kept feeling something was missing. For one thing, I expected long treatment of the famous Lachenal-Terray second ascent in the immediate post-war era, and this was most disappointingly lacking.

Second, there was just .... something missing, somehow. The book seemed like a sterile recounting of history, not like something lived in the passion of the moment. Where were the great blow-by-blow descriptions of entire climbs, complete with pitches from hell, near-falls and miraculous saves, desperate bivouacs, all the great stuff ... ?

I have to agree with the earlier reviewer who said that climbing literature just ain't what it used to be. Sure, it's good to see this classic in English translation. Likewise, it's great to see Gaston Rebuffat's Starlight and Storm in bookstores. But there is so much better out there. Why isn't Lionel Terray's "Conquistadors of the Useless" (for my money the best climbing book of them all) still in print in the US? And why haven't Louis Lachenal's "Vertigo Notebooks" ever been translated into English? And what about Heckmair's own memoirs? Like the other reviewer said: kids today don't know what they're missing. Too bad for them.

I love this book, and I love all of the writings of Mr. Harrer. The two Tibet books and this are must reading if you love Mountain books, and if you are interested in Tibet. Another fantastic book to read about the Eiger is The Climb Up To Hell, by Olsen. Mr. Harrer was on the team that made the first successful ascent of the North Face of the Eiger. It is an incredible event, truly one of the most fantastic in the history of mountaineering. I have to laugh sometimes when I see and hear about all the "extreme" sports and athletes, letting us all know how radical they are, using their thousands of dollars of equipment and guides to do these things. Just wait until we can get helicopters to fly higher in thin air, then we'll ALL be able to get to the summits of these mountains and have a beer and a bratwurst. Until then, do yourself a favor and read Mr. Harrer's books.

A book which I found fascinating and gripping, but which I also found disappointing in several ways. The author researched the Eiger exhaustively, and his accounts are filled with details which bring them alive.

But I have three complaints about the book. First, the author at times spent too long writing about the philosophical aspect of climbing, and climbing the Eiger in particular. Thus the books starts off slowly, but once he gets to the actual climb stories, it picks up nicely. Second, I think the translation from German is wretched. Numerous times I had to reread tortured convoluted sentences. (I blame this on the translator since "Seven Years in Tibet" doesn't have this problem.)

The biggest flaw, however, is that the accounts end in 1964. Much of interest has happened since then such as the diretissima attempts. The only mention of these are brief descriptions given in a time-line in an appendix.

Its flaws notwithstanding, I did enjoy the book and do recommend it, but would love another book describing in equal detail the history from 1964 to present.

I have admired Heinrich Harrer ever since I came across his book 'Seven Years in Tibet' many years ago. In 2010, I even visited his home village of Huettenberg in Austria and visited the Harrer Museum there. In the Museum, I found old newspaper clippings from 1938 showing that he was also one of the party of four which made the first successful ascent of the Eiger North face. Having seen the immense vertical wall of the Eiger North Face when I had hiked the Bernese Alps some years before, I wanted to read Harrer's account of his climb.
The book is actually an account of the drama, excitement and tragedies of the ascent of Eiger North Face in history - particularly from 1935 up to 1962. The North Face, being a vertical rock wall rising 6000 ft from the ground at Alpiglen, it had been a challenge to the mountaineers. Harrer captures the spirit of the times in the 1930s when every summer, the imagination of the European public and journalists was riveted on the North Face. The wall is completely exposed as it stood and so spectators and journalists could watch every attempt on the Face through telescopes in the train station or even in the comfort of their hotels. Only bad weather obstructed their visual entertainment. And the Eiger North Face was famous for extremely unpredictable and bad weather. Still, because of this ability to watch every climb from beginning to end, every layman and journalist who has never even stepped on a rock face, became an expert critic and commentator about the 'follies' and 'mistakes' of the climbers. Harrer writes about all this without grudges and with reticent Austrian humour. He writes about his own team's successful assault with clinical details and graphic descriptions of the various portions of the ascent on ice and rock and over waterfalls. The writng style is that of 60 years ago and also I read the translation in English from the original in German. Today's readers may find the style pedestrian and even a bit tedious, especially if one is used to the electrifying pace of Jon Krakauer in his book 'Into Thin Air', describing the 1996 Everest disaster. But anyone who is fascinated by Eiger would find it quite gripping and informative. For me, the maps showing the route on the North face in great detail along with Harrer's narrative made it all come alive.
Harrer also describes the tragedies of 1957 and 1962 when the behavior of a couple of climbers - Italian and British - came under intense scrutiny for the deaths of their companions on the mountain. In fact, over the 25 years of climbing reported in the book, one could see acts of great courage, honesty, humility, selflessness as well as some doubtful acts of false pride and even dishonesty and untruthfulness. All in all, it is a microcosm of human life as it is lived.
I found the book warm in its humanity and captivating in the narration of the events on the mountain. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the adventures on the high mountains, particularly the stunning Eiger North Face.

even non-climbers. Once people get going on this book, they won't want to let it go. I've passed it around to friends - climbers and non-climbers alike - and always get the same reaction: riveting reading. Harrer does a great job of describing the early attempts on the Eiger Nordwand, and he does it with great insight, skill and compassion; and that's all well and good. What really made this book stand out in my mind was the way he tied the subject matter into the historical context of the times. I was able to understand that climbing, for these people, was a very different kind of activity than it is for me and my generation. Fascinating stuff.

If you want to get drawn in by an incredible story, and at the same time get a history lesson about the world's most infamous North Face, this is the book for you.

Harrer's ability to put you on the mountain and suffer with bold climbers is incredible. Several attempts and a glorious first ascent make for a superb climax early in the book.

I have spent every free second the last few days to read this magnificent book on the Eiger ascents, and is truly a big fan of those climbers both those who who tried and failed and those who succeded.

The Eiger North face has been a magnet to me the last 15 years, and after wisiting Grindelwald and the JungfrauBahn this book is really a magnificent source of information. Harrer write not only his own story, but also manage to bring me along the other ascents he describes. This is definately the volume to read before anyone try to climb this mountain.

Well done Mr Harrer!!!

I spent the summer of 1977 as an American college student hosteling my way across Europe. I bought this book in a small bookstore in Grindelwald, Switzerland and then proceeded to enjoy a blissful couple of days sitting on the front balcony of the youth hostel, reading The White Spider, with the north face of the Eiger towering overhead. I would read from the book, and then gaze up to identify the exact routes and landmarks described in the text, which were clearly visible on the massive wall of rock before me. It remains one of the great youthful literary/adventure experiences of my life, and fires my imagination to this day.

The White Spider of the title, for those who are curious, refers to a difficult network of ice-filled cracks and crevasses high on the face of the Eiger through which all the early routes passed.

I too am enjoying the book but finding the reading very awkward. Perhaps it is because of the German to English translation - I don't know, but the sentences do not flow very well together and many times I found myself having to go back and reread them over again, and perhaps again - to get the gist of what he was trying to convey. Personally - I feel that the book 'Eiger Wall of Death; but Arthur J. Roth is a much more colorful read, flows much more easily, has more photo's as well and also has a nice chronological chart in the back of dates of who and when did the first bunch of ascents on the mountain - successes, failures, deaths, dates, etc. While this book is now out of print it can many time be found as a used copy out on eBay. I just bought one myself recently on there and it makes for a wonderful addition for any person who loves the history of he Eiger and follows it - as I do.