"Paths of Glory" by Jeffrey Archer

For someone like me who is at ease only when both her feet are planted firmly on solid earth and who starts shivering when the AC temp drops from 24 degree C to23 degree C, reading 2 books on Chomolungma is a major achievement. :-) I had mentioned on this blog before about my reading of "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer about the 1996 expedition that ended in disaster. My 2nd reading was "Paths of Glory" by Jeffrey Archer - which I finished last week.


Are you puzzled by the word "Chomolungma" that I used in the last paragraph? Well, that's what the Everest is known as to the locals. Some Brit (no doubt the "the-sun-never-sets-on-the-empire" type!) named it after another Brit! So I prefer to call it Chomolungma - never matter the tongue-twisting it causes.

So this is the story of George Mallory, who lost his life while attempting to summit the Chomolungma. Whether he succeeded or not is debated even today. But if he had, he would have been the first person to do so.

I must confess that in the beginning I found the book pretty boring as Archer depicts George's early life in great detail. But lateron I couldn't keep the book down right till the end. Needless to say, that I recommended it to all my friends who like to read.

P.S. Though it was clearly wrong, I liked the way that Tibetan officer fleeced General Bruce :-)