This not just an adventure story but one of resilience and courage Having the advantage of having a keen eye, and a degree in geology gives a unique perspective

To the Greatest Heights: Facing Danger, Finding Humility, and Climbing a Mountain of Truth by Vanessa O’Brien is a memoir of this world record breaking explorer

The strength of the book is in the way Mr. Krakauer tells the story, combining an adventure with social commentary without resorting to dry timeline lists. Some environmental issues, government bureaucracy (mostly Nepalese) and significant historical accounts are also weaved into the book, however they do not take away from the main storyline, but only add context.

Article first published as Book Review: Above All Things by Tanis Rideout on Blogcritics. About: Above All Things by Tanis Rideout is a historical fiction account of George Mallory’s 1924 attempt to climb Mt. Everest. It is still not known if Mallory’s attempt was successful or not. 400 pages Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam Language: English ISBN-10: 0399160582     My rat­ing for Above All Things– 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format* Thoughts: Above All Things by Tanis Rideout (website | Facebook | @tanisrideout) is an excellent novel which moves at two speeds, slow (Ruth Mallory) and fast (George Mallory). Ms. Rideout succeeded in creating an engaging book filled with excellent descriptions and believable characters. The parts which I found the most fascinating were the climb on Mt. Everest. The author does not romanticized the climb, I could feel the chills, the heaviness and other ailments which come at being at such a high altitude. Ms. Rideout brilliantly juxtaposes between Mr. Mallory’s celebrated climb and only a day in the life of Mrs. Mallory. You could not help but feel the helplessness of the couple as they missed, craved and thought about each other but were still supportive from afar. To…