Jim Davidson (2)

I am on a roll with the books this year (knock on wood). Still waiting for the first clunker, lol. This book was NOT it.

Honestly, I'm really not normally a person who cries when reading. [b:The Housekeeper and the Professor|3181564|The Housekeeper and the Professor|Yōko Ogawa|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1344313042s/3181564.jpg|3214322] touched me and brought a tear to my eye, but like sobbing? Um, no. Maybe it is premenopause. I don't know, but this book really made me cry. The author does a really great job of putting the reader in the midst of a life threatening crisis in a way that you are practically in his brain as he tries to save himself. I was so relieved when he finally emerged (not a spoiler, I mean the guy wrote a book about it, lol), that I sobbed. His resilience touched me.

The author paces the book well. He gives enough background information to make you care about him and his friend, Mike, and then the middle section is riveting. I don't know much about mountaineering, but I think books about it appeal to me because I love the idea of being outdoors doing physical activity, but this sport has an element of risk that I personally can't get my mind around. I'm fascinated by people for whom this is their passion. [b:Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster|1898|Into Thin Air A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster|Jon Krakauer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463384482s/1898.jpg|1816662] is one of my favorite all time books.

So for me, this book teetered toward five stars. I couldn't put it down. Two things made me give it four. The aftermath of the Rainier climb felt anticlimactic and a little overwrought. I was more interested in why Jim decided to climb again than I really was about how he found peace in the aftermath of a disaster. There was a stronger focus on the latter.

All in all though, if you like reading about outdoor adventure, I would absolutely throw this one on the TBR.

… (mehr)

I received this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really found this book slow and repetitive. The author went into the fine details of camp life a little too much. It's fine to go into detail once about something but don't do it a second or even a third time, don't pad the story. We the readers get the drift. Also, I felt there was a lot of self-aggrandizing going on. The author comes across as someone who WANTS you to know how much HE has done. How he helped the people of Nepal, organizing charity events don't you know, after the horrendous earthquake of 2015 in which he was a non-participant. (He felt the quake but witnessed the death and destruction after he left his camp, which escaped without any harm. He also was airlifted out of harm's way fairly quickly.) He describes how his eyes teared up, come on! This is privileged rich drivel and isn't needed in the narrative. "Surviving the Mountains Deadliest Day" is just using a terrible catastrophe to sell book copies. Cringe-worthy. But on the plus side, at least the author's $11,000 for his first attempt at Everest wasn't taken from him by the Nepali government at a time when they could really have used it.… (mehr)

Almost too hard to read because Davidson and Vaughan have provided such an overwhelming amount of detail in Davidson's escape from his fall into the crevasse. It really is incredible to realize how amazing it was that there were so many things that arose to make it almost impossible for him TO escape---but that he overcame! I was exhausted when he finally reached the surface but STILL realized he probably wouldn't make it without help. People actually saw him yelling and waving the red sharf from the rangers' hut about a mile away. How many things had to go exactly right?… (mehr)

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The Next Everest: Surviving the Mountain’s Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again by Jim Davidson is a memoir of the author’s experience being trapped on the mountain during a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, and going back. Mr. Davidson. The author is an avid climber and motivational speaker.

The book starts off with the author on Mt. Everest, moments before the biggest disaster to every hit the mountain occurs. Correspondingly, Mr. Davidson establishes the terrifying scene very quickly and efficiently, drawing a chilling picture to the reader.

The Next Everest: Surviving the Mountain’s Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again by Jim Davidson is not just an adventure story, but one of resilience and courage. Having the advantage of a keen eye, and a degree in geology gives this story a unique perspective than the other thrill seekers.

The author doesn’t sugarcoat the dangers mountaineers face on Everest. Frankly, his training and education might even be a handicap since his mind can process the possibilities of dangers all around. This is not just a climbing story, Mr. Davidson shares his feelings, fears, and thoughts. The difficulties in leaving behind a family for weeks or months to pursue a passion, and the cost some people pay both financially and emotionally.

Above all, the author takes the reader up the mountain with him, almost step by step. I’ve read several books about this subject, but this one really made me feel the effort and sacrifice needed to achieve a summit – not to mention luck.

It’s important to realize that every little thing that might go wrong at those altitudes could be a catastrophe. Mr. Davidson makes that particularly clear over and over again – and he’s right.

Mr. Davidson is a keynote speaker, as well as a motivational speaker as his bio shows. This book is, I assume, geared towards that market and credentials for future jobs. That is fine, by all means, it’s still a fascinating story, well told, insightful, with self-reflection and honesty.… (mehr)