A ham-handed account of what had all the ingredients to be a gripping adventure tale—Sweden to Kathmandu by bicycle, trek to Everest, climb, return by same route—from Kropp, the second person to ever reach the summit of K2 without supplemental oxygen, assisted by Swedish freelance journalist Lagercrantz. Inspired by the Himalayan feats of Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, the light-traveling by-fair-means high-altitude climbers, Kropp decides to tackle Everest with no support whatsoever. He will get wherever he has to go under his own steam, carry his own food and low-rent gear, climb unassisted by Sherpas or oxygen: “the high tech gadgets, the abandoned equipment, and the left-over, left-behind junk are a rape of nature.” But rather than this being an environmentally sound, good-spirited approach, Kropp comes across as superior, with a scary sense of purity and punishment: “I prepared for the ascent by running in the mountains above the city until I felt the taste of blood in my mouth.” The trip to Nepal is told in juddering diary entries such as “December 29 / Kashan / I get a pencillin shot in a small hospital,” and when he gets to base camp, many of the climbers disgust him: “Everest has become a luxury peak, a place for buffoons who want something to brag about at their garden parties.” (This is May 1996, and a good number of them will soon be dead.) Kropp spends too much time commenting on the conduct of others (“excuse me for gossiping”)—who is having an affair with whom, who lied about summiting what peaks—and too little building a compelling narrative about his own adventure. He climbed without oxygen, and perhaps that robbed him of the experience. He sinks his own self-righteous ship by sneering at Messner, who climbed all the high peaks without oxygen. “The sad thing is, you can tell . . . the thin air has probably damaged his brain.” “So much writing has been done about climbing—and life—at the highest altitudes.” Too much. Add this book to the ballast. (photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-56331-830-X
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
