laviskrg's review
3.0
This is a tough one to review because if it had been fiction, I would have abandoned it somewhere between raging against white men and the pronoun they for a woman. I refuse to tolerate this in the books I choose in order to calm my mind from the madness of today's society. But I wanted to read this book specifically because it is a memoir and I have had a lifelong fascination with Everest and Nepal.
Well, the parts that are about that are generally great, especially the guiding of the sex trafficking and sexual assault survivors to Base Camp. I adored the girls, well, mostly the Nepali girls and their horrific realities are worth far more than 370 pages. One should discuss less spiritual bullshit and more how the world could pressure the disgusting corruption in a country basically maintained by the obsessive deadly Everest tourism. But yeah, in the end, we are all toxic and I agree with this statement.
The parts about Peru were good. I have a strong stomach so I just accepted Silvia's horrendous assaults as the reality of so many children. Just do 5 minutes of digging online and you will get to know far worse, supported and defended by grotesque politicians which go through extreme lengths to unman themselves and protect the unprotectable. So I was not shocked when a toxic family did nothing for their daughter's rape. This is common throughout Latin America during those times as it is common throughout Eastern Europe where I am from even now. What was incomprehensible to me was her decision to continue staying in contact with her family, her respect for a weak mother and her thanking of a violent, incapable of love father in the acknowledgements at the end. To me this is devoid of sense and while obviously a personal thing, I find it invalidates much of the earlier chapters post the trauma.
The parts about America, especially San Francisco are expectedly lame. Not her sexual orientation, I don't care about that, because in my simple brain we are more than what we fuck, despite what is being drilled into kids today. But the audacity for raging against white men, who obviously are all portrayed as lowlife scum, while choosing to delve as deep as possible in being an addict and a fuckboy of the highest degree. People who mindlessly fuck should not judge others who do. People who have more empathy for made believe pronouns than for their life partners should really address their decision making skills.
In the end, it was too little mountain, too much oh woe is me, too much hypocrisy and too little depth. At the same time too long and too short. I love Everest, I love Peru, I love people who overcome trauma but I don't like how this story was chosen to be told. 7 summits were climbed but more was written about gay bars, drinking, mean corporations and invented racial issues.
3 stars because of Everest.
Well, the parts that are about that are generally great, especially the guiding of the sex trafficking and sexual assault survivors to Base Camp. I adored the girls, well, mostly the Nepali girls and their horrific realities are worth far more than 370 pages. One should discuss less spiritual bullshit and more how the world could pressure the disgusting corruption in a country basically maintained by the obsessive deadly Everest tourism. But yeah, in the end, we are all toxic and I agree with this statement.
The parts about Peru were good. I have a strong stomach so I just accepted Silvia's horrendous assaults as the reality of so many children. Just do 5 minutes of digging online and you will get to know far worse, supported and defended by grotesque politicians which go through extreme lengths to unman themselves and protect the unprotectable. So I was not shocked when a toxic family did nothing for their daughter's rape. This is common throughout Latin America during those times as it is common throughout Eastern Europe where I am from even now. What was incomprehensible to me was her decision to continue staying in contact with her family, her respect for a weak mother and her thanking of a violent, incapable of love father in the acknowledgements at the end. To me this is devoid of sense and while obviously a personal thing, I find it invalidates much of the earlier chapters post the trauma.
The parts about America, especially San Francisco are expectedly lame. Not her sexual orientation, I don't care about that, because in my simple brain we are more than what we fuck, despite what is being drilled into kids today. But the audacity for raging against white men, who obviously are all portrayed as lowlife scum, while choosing to delve as deep as possible in being an addict and a fuckboy of the highest degree. People who mindlessly fuck should not judge others who do. People who have more empathy for made believe pronouns than for their life partners should really address their decision making skills.
In the end, it was too little mountain, too much oh woe is me, too much hypocrisy and too little depth. At the same time too long and too short. I love Everest, I love Peru, I love people who overcome trauma but I don't like how this story was chosen to be told. 7 summits were climbed but more was written about gay bars, drinking, mean corporations and invented racial issues.
3 stars because of Everest.
notbucket24's review
5.0
Normally I have a problem with books written in this style (Alternating stories with one being the story of her climbing Everest, and the other the story of her growing up.) Usually I find one story more compelling than the other, and just skim through the other one to get to the "good" part. Both stories were as interesting, compelling, and well-written as the other. This was a hard book to put down.
juliannef's review against another edition
5.0
Awe-inspiring and deep this is an absolute pleasure to read.
On the surface it's about an Everest climb but underneath it's a life story, raw and emotional. It can be triggering at times but this is a book that everyone should read.
On the surface it's about an Everest climb but underneath it's a life story, raw and emotional. It can be triggering at times but this is a book that everyone should read.
cpoole's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
purpleberryblue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75