Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey
Göran Kropp, the Crazy Swede, narrates the great endeavor of his ascent of Everest in 1996. He biked roughly 12875 km (8000 miles) from Stockholm, Sweden, in his 29th year, towing all his equipment behind his bike, which he would need for the following year. He biked through some rough trails with disturbing accompaniments until he reached India and exclaimed -
“India is a paradise after Pakistan, and soon after passing the India-Pakistan border, I meet an exotic woman clad in beautiful shawls who spontaneously wishes me good luck on my journey. This makes me strangely happy. It’s been a long time since I saw a woman. In eastern Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, I saw only men, and now when a woman on the street even smiles at me, the whole world looks better. The landscape is the same as in Pakistan, but still, so much more beautiful.”
He hauled his 65 kg (143 pounds) of equipment to the Everest base camp without help from a porter. On his third attempt, he succeeded at the summit without assistance from a Sherpa or supplemental oxygen. 1996, the year he summited, was a tragic year on Everest; 15 people lost their lives that climbing season. Göran Kropp’s had doubts and confusion; his determination and high endurance helped him accomplish his crazy dream.
This book is a raw, to-the-point, no-nonsense, first-person experience of human endurance. Kropp climbed with his principles and rules, making this a good read.
Everest: Mountain Without Mercy
While reading the book “Into Thin Air” and “Touching My Father’s soul” (My notes on these two books here), I always thought a photographic reference to the expedition would be more enjoyable, so I bookmarked this book. My partner presented the book on my birthday in 2021. This book with photographs is my prized possession considering my interest in photography. This book is my fourth, about the infamous 1996 Everest Disaster. More than the text, I have gone through the photographs several times, over and over again.
The book is an outcome of Greg MacGillivray and David Breashears’s movie Everest, shot on the large format camera IMAX. MacGillivray thought that the IMAX was the only perfect camera to capture the glorious vastness of Everest and play on large museum theater screens. A book was published since the 40-minute movie would still not do justice to the effort behind the expedition.
Rightly said in the book, the story “stands of heroism and tragedy, science and spirit, all braided together and wound about various troubling questions of motivation and purpose.” The book is a good read, and the photographs are outstanding, making it a good coffee table book for whoever awes the majestic Himalayas, especially Everest.
The book highlights the tiny intricate things (and details) around (us in life) that we usually tend to miss easily, even with a keen eye. The book has a very comfortable background of Kerala and its beauty in its entirety, but you dash upon tension-filled instances here and there and run through the pages to find a more relaxing time. The tiny details are not just about things; it is also about people and their emotions, society and its complexities which are agreed upon, often without our acknowledgment. Being in Mangalore for nearly six years and traveling the west coast (to some extent), I can sharply visualize the setup the author puts forth of Kerala. The scene, the people, the smell, the humidity, and the rain come right off the book while I read through them.
Estha, Rahel, and Sophie had their turns to keep me wondering and often helped me get lost within myself. I read a few paragraphs repeatedly to ensure that my thought was the same as the book was trying to convey. I later realized I could only think about what I had experienced despite the book trying to speak in its language. It gets difficult to read sometimes when awkward situations are worded but otherwise often looks plain. There are pure joy, equally complicated problems that put off enthusiasm, and total disappointment almost equivalent to not getting the candy promised when we were kids. It is an assortment of emotions; if you forget, it is a mere novel. The elders and the politics of the society have a significant role in the book, but the three kids take center stage for me.
The Conquest of Everest: Original Photographs from the Legendary First Ascent — is a coffee table book filled with some stunning photos from the first ascent of Everest. The textual description in Hillary’s High Adventure and Tenzing’s Tiger of the Snows of their story to the top of the world did not thoroughly satisfy the adventure I had visualized. I had to see the photographs and re-read the books in parallel to walk with them one day at a time to imagine the adventure entirely. The photos are of high value and speak of the team’s virgin adventure.
The book is a short, thought-provoking, satisfying, and easy read. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a gull, like any other, wants to fly on his terms; he could care less about the onlookers’ thoughts and comments. He tends to excel in his flight without a second thought and without consciously knowing that he is trying to improve at what he likes. He enjoyed flying (living) to the fullest. The reality burnt down hard when I felt the gull was preaching something philosophical.
At my current juncture of life (not that I have experienced everything), the unconscious fight to be better at something but being pulled down by a lot of other factors almost seemed relevant to what gull has in its mind. Fly high (life) or merely survive? It is a challenging question for anyone. I’m trying to be Jonathan Livingston Seagull; his profound thoughts are life lessons.
I have a brief experience photographing seashore birds (sorry, I have mostly failed to capture the perfect movements), and I could closely relate to the author’s explanation of the gull’s flight. That also reminded me that I should start shooting again, but I haven’t returned to the hobby yet.
Onam in a Nightie: Stories from a Kerala Quarantine
The days of lockdown are far gone (I hope the worse doesn’t happen again). Most of us are back to the (new) normal, though some things are not normal anymore. The book cover caught my attention while watching a video on YT. I was just curious to hear stories. I was ready for some worse situations because the time was that. The author walks through her daily routine, adding her experiences as the day passes during the strict lockdown. A casual read, though the times were frightening, the book somewhere draws a ray of hope.
Lost Lhasa: Heinrich Harrer’s Tibet
The book Seven Years in Tibet introduced me to reading and kept my interest and curiosity. I have watched the movie couple of times to visualize the narration in the book, but nothing like photographs by the author himself. Most of the photos are in journalistic style, and few of them are exceptionally artistic. For the given time and available resources, such a work of images is excellent. I’m always in awe of Harrer’s pure adventure when such a word was not just fancy and not a mere trophy case collection.
I first came across this book mentioned in Himalaya: Adventures, Meditations, Life, a work of anthology By Ruskin Bond and Namita Gokhale, in the chapter The Abominable Snowman. Frank S. Smythe was the first to discover and document the valley (not considering numerous shepherds and locals who have witnessed this beauty but never gave much significance to it). He vividly pictures his days in the valley. His excursions were no less than a quality trek. His attempt to climb peaks around him with his sherpa, porters, and friend are notable. Such raw and virgin adventure is what I long for as well.
I had promised myself to finish this book before our trek to the valley, but I read the last couple of chapters after returning. The valley is so serene now I could only imagine how pristine it would have been when Smythe and his team marched through the non-touched valley.
I do not think I will add this book to my completed list yet. The photographs are fantastic and have enticed me. I will run through the pages again and again. Every time I see any of the photos, I get on my laptop to plan for the new trek, ending disappointedly, though. Who would not love to explore the entire Himalayan range from northeast to northwest, outlining the Indian territory?
