Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest by Beck Weathers
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Book Reviews of Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest
Book Review: A Brave Attempt to Make Up to His Wife
Summary: 2 Stars
Dr. Weathers clearly has undergone a terrible tragedy; however the tone of this book is clearly one of hopeful self-flagellation--"maybe if I beat myself up enough about what a jerk I have been others will stop doing so themselves!" Let's hope his wife doesn't let him forget. Not very well written, but it is faily entertaining.Book Review: expected more
Summary: 2 Stars
Somehow, Beck Weathers managed to write a book about the tragic climb and descent and death and coming back to life atop Everest totally boring. Enjoyed Beck and Peach's chapters on their cats more than anything.Book Review: Do Yourself A Favor - Skip This One
Summary: 1 Stars
I am fascinated by stories of high-altitude climbers, and have read a few. After reading Into Thin Air 1ST Edition, I thought it would be interesting (to say the least!) to get Dr Weather's take on the events of May 1996 on Everest. NOT SO!
I found this book to be literally _unreadable_. Not only is it poorly-written, but the more of it I forced myself to plod through, the more I disliked Beck Weathers. He came across as profoundly selfish and self-centered, shallow, and a whining, self-aggrandizing braggart, with nothing, really, to brag about. His mentions of his wife and family only reinforced my opinion. Any sympathy I originally may have had for Dr Weathers was very quickly drowned in my dislike.
In my opinion, rich, bored, "clients" who spend tens of thousands of dollars attempting to trivialize huge, magnificent peaks into their next "mine is better than yours" vacation have no business at all in "the death zone." (It is called that for a reason, get it?) I wouldn't wish what happened to Dr Weathers on anyone, but why was he there in the first place?
I could not finish this book. I actually threw it across the room in disgust. The ONLY good thing I can say about it is that at least it was Dr Weathers himself ringing the register to cash in on his own suffering.
Do yourself a BIG favor, and read something by Maurice Herzog Annapurna-Heroic Conquest of the Highest Mountain-26, 493 Ft. Ever Climbed By a Man, Ed Viesturs K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain, or Lionel Terray Conquistadors of the Useless: From the Alps to Annapurna instead!
Book Review: Terrible
Summary: 1 Stars
This could have been the greatest story of willpower and physical determination, yet Beck Weathers is so full of himself, does not put any responsibility on his own actions and he wants to belong to the selective group of the best mountaineers on the planet so badly, sorry Beck after reading your book you are not. He is condescending of the villages, cultures and people in the climbing regions and his jokes are misplaced. He is looking for excuses for his own mistakes. If the book was meant to describe an emotionally disturbed person with low self esteem trying to be somebody, it would have been a great success, yet everything points to the fact that Beck wants to be liked and appreciated for what he has done in the mountains and the person he has become. He survived an amazing thing, nobody has ever stood up from the death and could talk about it, why not write about that experience? The family story? Sorry no interest and bad book filling. The power of books in this genre is often the understatement and the matter of fact story telling, like: `Endurance, Shackelton's incredible voyage', or `In the land of White Death', or `the Climb'. Do yourself a favour do not waste your time, energy and money on this book, and remember Beck Weathers for the extraordinary accomplishment of determination by walking of Mount Everest alive, against all odds.Book Review: High expectations, but very disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
OK - I admit it. I read this book without reading all the reviews. My bad - and I have no one to blame but myself. I could have saved myself the trouble.
If you are looking for further insight into the 1996 disaster, don't bother. There is little of that here. Filled more with the self-obsessed ramblings over his personal battle with his wife over which of them is the worse spouse (yawn), and his own shortcomings, a great deal of this book is just poorly written and boring.
If this wasn't bad enough, I have a tendency to be none too pleased when personal opinions are presented as fact. Sandy Pittman is an excellent mountaineer? Yeah right, because all of the excellent mountaineers I know are willing to risk the life of their Sherpa by having them haul their cappuccino machine up a mountain. There is more of that in this book, but I won't go into the boring details.
While I admire his ability to survive, and I never begrudge anyone their opinion, this book is less a riveting story of survival and the aftermath, and more about self indulgence, self-obsession and dysfunction. It is said that most of the people who climb Everest have no business being there - oh, so true.