|
clintwillis
Nov 30, 2006, 3:49 PM
Post #1 of 8
(3405 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 25, 2004
Posts: 4
|
I just published a book, The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation. See theboysofeverest.com for more information, including links to reviews in climbing, the New York Times and elsewhere. The book was nominated for the Banff Mountain Literature Award. I would welcome feedback and questions. thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
j_ung
Nov 30, 2006, 4:15 PM
Post #2 of 8
(3385 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 21, 2003
Posts: 18690
|
Fantastic first chapter, Clint. Perhaps I'll slip this quietly onto my X-mas list.
|
|
|
|
|
clintwillis
Nov 30, 2006, 4:28 PM
Post #3 of 8
(3372 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 25, 2004
Posts: 4
|
thanks! Hope the rest holds up for you!
|
|
|
|
|
skinner
Dec 3, 2006, 7:36 PM
Post #4 of 8
(3310 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 1, 2004
Posts: 1747
|
Sounds great!
I'm in the middle of reading:
Epic
Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks
Clint Willis
342 pages of shaking my head at some of the craziest stories of survival at altitude I have ever read.
I had never heard of Clint Willis before this, but the dude has books! He doesn't seem to "write" as much as collect and compile previously written stories or snippets of stories by others. But check out this list of books by.. or co-autored by Clint Willis
¤- The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation
¤- Epic: Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks
¤- Storm: Stories of Survival from the World's Worst Weather
¤- Climb: Stories of Survival from Rock, Snow and Ice
¤- A Slender Thread: Escaping Disaster in the Himalayas
¤- Wild: Stories of Survival From the World's Most Dangerous Places
¤- Ice - Stories Of Survival From Polar Exploration
¤- Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy
¤- Rough Water: Stories of Survival from the Sea
¤- Deep Blue: Stories of Shipwreck, Sunken Treasure and Survival
¤- Big Wave: Stories of Riding the World's Wildest Water
¤- Fire Fighters: Stories of Survival from the Front Lines of Firefighting
¤- NYPD: Stories of Survival from the World's Toughest Beat
¤- Adrenaline 2000: Year's Best Stories of Adventure and Survival
¤- Adrenaline 2001
¤- Adrenaline: The Year's Best Stories of Adventure and Survival
¤- Mob: Stories of Death and Betrayal from Organized Crime
¤- A Lifetime of Wisdom: Essential Writings by and About the Dalai Lama
¤- High Seas: Stories of Battle and Adventure From the Age of the Sail
¤- American Soldier: Stories of Special Forces from Iraq to Afghanistan [i/]
¤- Boots on the Ground: Stories of American Soldiers from Afghanistan to Iraq
¤- The War: Stories of Life and Death from World War II
¤- Semper Fi: Stories of the United States Marines from Boot Camp to Battle
¤- The I Hate Corporate America Reader: How Big Companies from McDonald's to Microsoft are Destroying Our Way of Life
¤- What Do I Do with My Money Now?: Answers to Any Market from Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, and Other Investors You Can Trust[i/]
¤- The I Hate George W. Bush Reader: Why Dubya Is Wrong About Absolutely Everything
¤- The I Hate Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice. . . Reader: Behind the Bush Cabal's War on America
¤- The I Hate Republicans Reader
¤- The I Hate Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity. . . Reader: The Hideous Truth About America's Ugliest Conservatives
¤- We Are the People
¤- Son of Man: Great Writing About Jesus Christ
¤- Jesus Is Not a Republican
¤- Heat
¤- Lawrence Durrell Travel Reader
-Kevin
|
|
|
|
|
clintwillis
Dec 3, 2006, 10:56 PM
Post #5 of 8
(3256 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 25, 2004
Posts: 4
|
The Boys of Everest is reviewed in the New York Times Book Review today, and the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Pleaes check it out and spread the word. Thanks guys.
|
|
|
|
|
m.a.h
Dec 5, 2006, 6:55 PM
Post #6 of 8
(3210 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 5, 2003
Posts: 124
|
Great read it has been my subway reading for the last two months - my ride is very short 15 minutes - when my wife is not with me and the train is not too crowded to read. My objections are that Clint Willis includes the climber’s thoughts (most of whom died years before or never documented these thoughts to the best of my knowledge), the recounting of conversations word for word (Mister Willis is not alone in writing this way) when he was not present, and that in places he becomes a bit flowerily with his prose’s.
The positives of the book are that in one volume Mister Willis pulls together almost 50 years of climbing history, covering the major British climbers of the time, and does this in less then 500* well written pages (other than what I have said above). This is a great read and I would recommend it as good addition to your library. If you have not read much of this period this volume is a great place to start. I also recommend that you read Chris Bonington’s three-volume autobiography, Jim Perrin's "Villain: The Life of Don Whillans", and Jeff Conner's "Dougal Haston: Philosophy of Risk"
I think I should buy an additional copy and send it to a friend's son who is getting into climbing.
--------------------------
* edit 1 - the book is 529 pages.
(This post was edited by m.a.h on Dec 5, 2006, 7:23 PM)
|
|
|
|
|
clintwillis
Dec 5, 2006, 7:57 PM
Post #7 of 8
(3186 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 25, 2004
Posts: 4
|
hey
so glad you liked the book! thanks.
I hear you about my methods. It cost me a fair amount of sleep. But in the end i decided to render some moments as i imgined them. i ran it all past Chris and other climbers, and survivors, and they offered some advice but were pretty okay with it. So that was a help. I didn't make up any names or places or events, just internal moments...
yeah, the prose gets flowery. The Wall Street Journal reviewer used the word "hokum" though he also said it's an exciting book and poignant and gripping...the New York Times reviewer said i "turn reportage into literature". so i guess it comes down to a matter of taste.
Thanks again for reading it and commenting.
I used to ride the subway two hours a day from brooklyn to mid-town manhattan. got some great reading done...
|
|
|
|
|
michaelj2
Dec 7, 2006, 7:15 PM
Post #8 of 8
(3123 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 16, 2006
Posts: 27
|
First, I should say I really enjoyed the book. But I do have reservations about the fictionalized parts. And it's not just "internal moments." Tasker and Boardman's deaths are depicted, although no one knows how this happened. When the author starts making stuff up where does he stop? I thought a lot of the scenes also read as if you were adding details I didn't remember from other accounts I've read. My impression was that about 10 to 20 percent seemed like it was fictionalized. What percent of the book do you think you wound up making up?
|
|
|
|
|
|
