Page 44 - 2017 AMA Winter

BookReviews By Tomo Thompson
Slightly different format this month, with only two books to review. Both of them have been shortlisted for the prestigious Boardman Tasker Mountain Literature Award and, in my humble opinion, either would make a worthy winner.
THE MAGICIAN’S GLASS – ED DOUGLAS (VERTEBRATE PUBLISHING)
‘How much risk is worth taking for so beautiful a prize ?’
This is a collection of eight essays that have previously graced the pages of several American climbing publications. This essay structure of the book, along with the clipped, concise writing, and the contemporary nature of much of the subject matter, make the book quite unique in the current sea of mountaineer- ing literature. It reads easily (in the sense that the essays are relatively short, and no great knowledge of mountaineering is required to really enjoy it), but the no-holds barred, bright white light that is shone on the fragility and risk of mountaineering at the upper limits of the possible, lend the book a dark side too. Any student wishing to psychologically understand the ‘why’ of extreme mountaineering would do worse than consider this as an essential text. Mountaineering history anoraks will have more than their fill in these pages too !
It is probable that a book by Ed Douglas already graces your bookshelf. He has written biographies of Tenzing Norgay, Ben Moon, Alison Hargreaves and Ron Fawcett. Something for everyone there. His biography of Fawcett (Rock Athlete) won the Boardman Tasker award in 2010. He sticks his vey sharp pencil in to the
countryside nerve regularly in The Guardian and The Observer, and is the current editor of The Alpine Journal.
Throughout all those books, Ed doesn’t shy from opinion or comment, however unpopular, but lays out his store with com- prehensive research and a deep well of subject matter knowledge across all facets of mountaineering. This willingness to address the challenging issues and events of contemporary climbing and moun- taineering, and the characters therein, is what makes this book very very good. Characters that get caught in the white light of Douglas’s interrogation include Cesare Maestri, Tomaz Humer, Kurt Albert, Ueli Steck, Patrick Edlinger and Andy Parkin.
The book offers something to a very wide readership. Commentary, story telling, analysis, detective work, thriller, opinion, and more. Its wide appeal, and the broad subject matter will appeal to many, and may just persuade a few Boardman Tasker judges too.
It’s a shame that mountaineering journalism, in following climbing and moun- taineering itself, has often followed the path of the quickest, media driven, fix. These essays, adapted for a British readership, from their original long-form publication
in the American mountaineering media (notably Rock & Ice and Alpinist), deserve time and deserve proper digestion.
There’s something ever egotistical in mountain tops and towers, and all the other grand and lofty things...which like a magician’s glass, to each and every man in turn but mirrors back to his own mysterious self – Captain Ahab (Moby Dick by Herman Melville)
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