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Mar. 25th, 2014 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ivyficApparently this is a new fascination of mine. (Well, not new. My bookshelves have already accumulated a startling number of books on disastrous expeditions.)
I watched Touching the Void, which is another reenactment of a mountaineering disaster, this one in Patagonia. (No sherpas=much fewer ethical issues.) But in this case, all parties survived. In short form, two self-reportedly arrogant twenty somethings set out to climb a mountain face that had never been climbed before (for a reason). They got up fine, but on the way down, one broke his leg. The other attempted to lower him down the mountain in 300-ft (the length of their rope) increments. After some hours of this, without propane to melt snow, in the dark, as a storm descended, he accidentally lowered his injured companion over a cliff. They could not hear each other's shouting, so as hours passed with weight on the line, and the uninjured guy was slowly being pulled off the side of the mountain, he cut the line, then descended safely himself, convinced his friend was dead. The guy with the broken leg fell 150 feet into a crevasse, survived, and managed to crawl off the mountain, reaching their base camp four days later just as his friend was about to leave. This guy has of course written a book about it. The documentary is helped immensely by how goddamn good looking this guy is, as he narrates his ordeal. (One review of the film also says that the re-enactor playing him should have won an Oscar. Yes, where are the accolades for documentary re-enactors?)
What I find funny is that I will totally watch this, but I would never in a million years watch 127 Hours. Never. But if you had the actual guy narrate his experience and cut that with the footage of James Franco? I'd totally watch that. I don't know why I have such a thing about real, true, survival stories but absolutely abhor their fictional counterparts. Best I can place it is that I find the experiences of real people inherently interesting, and their trials inherently moving, but in a fictional telling of a similar story, I just feel jerked around by the screenwriter.
All this to say that I, of course, starting reading Into Thin Air. Oh what a world that I can think of a book and instantly have it in my hands. I also decided just to read the intro before dinner. Fifty pages later...I am hungry. God damn there's a reason this book is so famous, and it's not just Everest. (It seems like everyone who's had a near death experience up a mountain has written a book about it. Go to Everest, manage not to die, write a book. But, you know, most of them aren't trained journalists who know exactly how to spin a tale.)
ETA: Okay, I just found another reason to be charmed by Joe Simpson, the injured mountaineer above. I did a google search to verify the name of the doc, and it led to his website. He has a section titled "Students." Here is what that section reads:
Oh, I have a new crush. And he does speaking engagements. Who wants to go in on a pool to hear an aging mountaineer?
I watched Touching the Void, which is another reenactment of a mountaineering disaster, this one in Patagonia. (No sherpas=much fewer ethical issues.) But in this case, all parties survived. In short form, two self-reportedly arrogant twenty somethings set out to climb a mountain face that had never been climbed before (for a reason). They got up fine, but on the way down, one broke his leg. The other attempted to lower him down the mountain in 300-ft (the length of their rope) increments. After some hours of this, without propane to melt snow, in the dark, as a storm descended, he accidentally lowered his injured companion over a cliff. They could not hear each other's shouting, so as hours passed with weight on the line, and the uninjured guy was slowly being pulled off the side of the mountain, he cut the line, then descended safely himself, convinced his friend was dead. The guy with the broken leg fell 150 feet into a crevasse, survived, and managed to crawl off the mountain, reaching their base camp four days later just as his friend was about to leave. This guy has of course written a book about it. The documentary is helped immensely by how goddamn good looking this guy is, as he narrates his ordeal. (One review of the film also says that the re-enactor playing him should have won an Oscar. Yes, where are the accolades for documentary re-enactors?)
What I find funny is that I will totally watch this, but I would never in a million years watch 127 Hours. Never. But if you had the actual guy narrate his experience and cut that with the footage of James Franco? I'd totally watch that. I don't know why I have such a thing about real, true, survival stories but absolutely abhor their fictional counterparts. Best I can place it is that I find the experiences of real people inherently interesting, and their trials inherently moving, but in a fictional telling of a similar story, I just feel jerked around by the screenwriter.
All this to say that I, of course, starting reading Into Thin Air. Oh what a world that I can think of a book and instantly have it in my hands. I also decided just to read the intro before dinner. Fifty pages later...I am hungry. God damn there's a reason this book is so famous, and it's not just Everest. (It seems like everyone who's had a near death experience up a mountain has written a book about it. Go to Everest, manage not to die, write a book. But, you know, most of them aren't trained journalists who know exactly how to spin a tale.)
ETA: Okay, I just found another reason to be charmed by Joe Simpson, the injured mountaineer above. I did a google search to verify the name of the doc, and it led to his website. He has a section titled "Students." Here is what that section reads:
Dear Students throughout the world,
You are probably here because you have to study my book, Touching the Void. I didn’t ask for it to be added to the curriculum, but it is there and we all have to deal with the consequences.
I hope you enjoy the book and though I say so myself, I think it may be one of the more interesting books that you could have been stuck with.
Initially I tried to respond to questions about the book, but there were just too many and there was no easy way of fairly selecting those who should, or should not, receive an answer. I have now found a fair solution which makes my life a lot easier, which is to say, “Sorry, I’m not answering any more questions.”
I realise that this may not make your life a lot easier, so here are a few suggestions: -
1. Read the book, you will find that most of the questions I have been asked by students are answered in the text of the book.
2. Watch the film. Most of the questions I have been asked that are not answered in the book, are answered in the film.
3. Ask your teacher, they are paid to answer your questions.
4. Google it, or get hold of some study aid.
5. Give up! English Literature is not for you.
Best wishes,
Joe
Oh, I have a new crush. And he does speaking engagements. Who wants to go in on a pool to hear an aging mountaineer?
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Date: 2014-03-26 06:04 pm (UTC)Heh -- this should probably be said more often.