The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing's Greatest Generation

Willis' current book (he's edited a number of collected excerpts) was the most intriguing mountaineering book I've read in a long time -- and I've read quite a few, although I myself am an "armchair" climber. Perhaps true mountaineers will find the book wanting for lengthy descriptions of raising funds for the climb; of the travails of arriving at base camp; of the flora, fauna and cultures encountered on the way in, but personally when I read about the extremes of high-altitude climbing, I'm always most attracted to how the alpinists themselves -- as humans -- cope with such extreme conditions. What do they think? Feel? What does this other worldly existence -- for it's nothing like everyday life -- give them that drives them to return, again and again, despite the torments, the cold, the hunger, the closeness to death that almost inevitably accompanies every serious ascent? Willis allows himself some artistic freedom in placing himself in the climbers' boots as they wake to bitter cold; as they jumar up old ropes; as they place weak protection knowing that any failure can lead to their death and possibly the death of their comrades. But this is why I, for one, read about alpinists: they compell themselves to extremes, and Willis -- far better than anyone -- places you alongside these climbers as they unravel, or ignore, the reasons they are high on these mountains, and always destined to return to them.

"From the mid 1950's to mid 1980's, Bonington's Boys changed the nature of climbing Mount Everest. The risks they took and the price they paid is unimaginable but told vividly in this stunning book."

The Boys of Everest is all of these things. As a college student with very little experience with climbing or with climbing literature, I was surprised at how easily I followed the descriptions of climbing techniques and strategies that help drive this story. Climbing technicalities never got in the way of telling a great story, which was always Willis's first priority. I imagine any avid climber would devour this book, but the audience of "Boys" is by no means restricted to mountain climbers or even armchair adventurers. First and foremost, "Boys" is a story about a dynamic group of driven, complex, at times heroic, often troubled and truly singular men. Willis's ability to make the reader feel at different times compassion, anger, admiration and even love for these boys of Everest is astounding. "Boys" is both an epic and a page turner, a scrupulously researched piece of journalism and artfully crafted story. It is a wonderful representative of its genre and of contemporary literature in general. Willis has achieved the rare and enviable. "Boys" is a one of a kind story.

I've read Clint Willis' work before, so I knew I could expect a great yarn and fresh look into the psyches of our planet's greatest adventurers and explorers. But I wasn't expecting anything like this: rivetting, exciting, sad, inspiring. This book is a must for anyone who thinks about challenging himself or herself in the harshest climes of nature. It's an adventure in reading, truly.

As an armchair mountain climber (I read these books out of amazement that anyone would ever try these stunts), I have to say that author Willis is at the top of the heap. He not only seems to get what's going on in the heads of extreme mountain climbers, but he knows how to convey it--in gripping prose that is never clicheed. I have some of Willis' anthologies of adventure writing, so I know he is well-read in the genre (and a mountaineer himself). He has clearly absorbed the best of that writing, and turned it into something fresh in his own effort. Paradoxically, for a story that celebrates a bunch of social misfits, the book is full of wisdom about how to live life. This is no ordinary biography. As for the actual climbing passages--good luck putting this book down. I had to force myself not to flip ahead and see who dies next.