Book Review: Forever on the Mountain

One sign of a really good book is that you cannot get it out of your head for days or even weeks after you finish it. Well, I cannot stop thinking about this book. It is the true story of a group of 12 young men that climbed Mt. McKinley in 1967. A huge storm hits while 7 of them were near the summit, and all 7 died. Beyond just retelling the story, the book is a comprehensive look at events before and after the climb. I found the book to be simply riveting, and James Tabor is clearly a brilliant writer. One thing thing that struck me while reading the book is the importance that people placed on the expedition leader in 1967. While I've climbed a dozen 14ers and another dozen 13ers in my life, I've never climbed anything close to McKinley. That said, I think that climbers today take a more personal view of their safety and rely less on the group leader. The huge importance (and blame) placed on the group leader in 1967 (Joe Wilcox) may be related to the fact that many of those young men served in the army (WWII, Korea, or Vietnam) before climbing the mountain. In summary, great book. Grade: B+

Almost Perfect Things....

(1) Urban/commuter bike: Kona Dew. Properties that the perfect commuter bike should possess: knobby road bike tires for efficiency, flat bar for comfort, NO shocks for weight/efficiency, and a very low price. I purchased a 2008 Kona Dew for $300 and it possess all those properties. I love it.

(2) Mountain bike: Specialized Stumpjumper. I have owned and ridden a number of mountain bikes, including full suspension and hard tail. For the type of riding I like to do -- riding up 1000-2000 verticle feet on fire roads and trails and then riding down single track -- a light weight hard tail is ideal. The stumpjumper, in my mind, gives you the best bang for your buck in the light weight hard tail catagory. You could upgrade to a stumpjumper pro or comp model, but I would save the money and just by a new stumpjumper a little bit sooner.

(3) Sunglasses: Smith Slider 01. Very light weight, very comfortable, and changable lenses. I've owned my pair for about 8 years and I still love them (although the are getting pretty scratched).

(4) Coffee Maker: Keurig B77. This coffee maker uses K-cup pods, which are expensive at about $0.50 each and they fill up the landfill, but, overall, it is so convient and the coffee is wonderful. I am just sick of cleaning the old coffee pot and love getting a nice cup of coffee at the push of a button in the morning when I am half awake.

(5) Bag: Timbuk2 Messenger Lapton bag. Very comfortable and useful. Perfect.

Funny...

From the NY Times regarding the potests around healthcare reform:

"There was a telling incident at a town hall held by Representative Gene Green, D-Tex. An activist turned to his fellow attendees and asked if they “oppose any form of socialized or government-run health care.” Nearly all did. Then Representative Green asked how many of those present were on Medicare. Almost half raised their hands."

Book Review: The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy

Let us begin by exploring what it means to describe a book as being part of a trilogy. I would expect that a trilogy of books would contain at least one common character, common geography, and sequential time periods. The common character requirement is probably the strongest, in my opinion. With this in mind, I decided to read "The Crossing" because I enjoyed "All the Pretty Horses", and I assumed the next book in the "Border Trilogy" would tell the story of what happened next to John Grady Cole. Wow, was I disappointed. As far as I could tell, there was no connection whatsoever between the two books -- no common characters, no common towns, no common time period. Just because two book are set on the border between the US and Mexico and they both have horses, does not mean they are a trilogy!

Beyond feeling deceived by the "Trilogy" description, I really did not enjoy this book at all. McCarthy's unique style that made "All the Pretty Horses" enjoyable was much weaker in this book. There were a few compelling pages in the book, but 90% of it was incredibly boring, overly dark, and just plain miserable drivel. I recommend skipping this book. Grade: D