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The Death Zone: Climbing Everest Through the Killer Storm
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| List Price: | £8.99 |
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Product Description
The autobiographical account of the author's climb up Mount Everest. Ten expeditions from around the world were preparing for the final climb when a devastating storm hit Everest, leaving eight climbers dead. This is a look at all that happened on the mountain that day.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #22972 in Books
- Published on: 1998-07-02
- Original language: English
- Binding: Paperback
- 256 pages
Customer Reviews
You'll need oxygen just to read this book
Having read Into Thin Air and The Climb and also Addicted to Danger and A Slender Thread in quick succession, I was doubtful that The Death Zone would add anything new or keep my interest, especially with respect to the 1996 Everest disaster. But it was a totally enthralling read. For some reason, perhaps because the author isn't a climbing afficionado but instead a rather clumsy film-maker, or perhaps because the book is well written, with a fair dose of dry humour, the book is totally engaging. You really feel the climb, breath by breath, the alieness of the mountain - and the equipment - and also the strangeness of the ultimate survival instinct that comes into play at high altitude, whilst people are dying or dead in the same region. It's a good book that keeps you gripped and is a good addition to other books written about the disaster at the time.
A book that takes you to the top and back down again
Having read "Into Thin Air" (absolutely fantastic and a must read - my No. 1 Everest book) I thought it would be impossible to read another book that I could enjoy as much about the ascents of Everest that fateful year. However, I climbed every step of the way with Matt whilst reading this book. I shared with him the highs, the lows and the complete one-mindedness that takes you beyond every human limitation. This book gives you an insight into what it is like to take on Mother Nature at her very worst - it is not a game of winning, you merely survive (and even survival can come at a cost). An excellent read, it takes you to the very top and back down again and leaves you no questions as to the level of ambition, committment, pain, despair, faith and sheer focus that is needed to take you to 29,029 feet and stand on the roof of the World. A book I will read again and again.
Truly compelling.
"One of those books that you simply can't put down" - sounds like a cliche, but it sums up Matt's book fully.
It is not a long book, but is one that keeps pulling you back - Matt transports you right back to Everest in 1996 and it keeps moving until the end. This is a book that is perfect for airports etc, as it makes you oblivious to what is happening around you.
I am not a mountaineer, but this book makes for compelling reading with its observations. It is written in a way that makes it easy to grasp the enormity of what is happening, without the reader needing to have had similar experiences. It is every bit as graphic as if it had been a film.
