This book is based on a real life man named George Mallory. It is uncertain whether Mallory was the first man to reach the peak of Mnt Everest. They found his body many years later and Archer attempts to piece together his life in a novel. I enjoyed reading this book but at times I found the novel dragged on a bit too much. I have found that either I really love Archer's books or they drag on a bit too much. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. ( )

Not a very well written book. Liked George Mallory. ( )

A real-life mountaineering mystery serves as the springboard for bestseller Archer's abysmal latest. The plot begins promisingly with the body of mountaineer George Mallory discovered on the slopes of Mt. Everest in 1999, possibly having been the first man to have reached the summit. But hopes of an adventurous yarn are soon dashed as the novel becomes a long flashback, offering stock vignettes of Mallory's childhood, Cambridge days and mountaineering adventures. These passages are hampered by phoned-in writing, clumsy attempts at verisimilitude and a notable lack of psychological depth. Along the way, Mallory marries, becomes a father, serves in WWI and finds himself pitted against Australian mountaineer George Finch as a potential leader of Britain's push to conquer Everest. Archer does eventually offer his opinion as to whether Mallory summited Everest, but by that point all but his most devoted fans will have fled the icy crags of this lifeless novel.

If you like Archer because of his portrayal of the contemporary politics and society or because of his mostly fast moving plots, this book will disappoint you. If you like the way he builds his stories and his way with words, you will probably love it. If you had never read anything by him - do not start with this book if you want to use it as a sample of Archer's writing.

Paths of Glory is a novelized biography of George Mallory – one of the most popular British mountaineers of the 1920s and one of the first people to attempt to climb Mount Everest. It had never been proved one way or another if he managed to step on the summit -- and I had never understood why people think that pursuing the truth for Mallory’s attempt jeopardize or is a disrespect to what Tenzing and Hillary achieved in 1953. Even if Mallory and/or Irvine managed to step on the summit, they never returned and it cannot be counted as the first real climb to the top of the world. And even if it can be counted as the first person on the summit – how exactly searching the truth can be a problem? Anyway – back to the book.

The story opens in 1999 when a body is found… the body of George Mallory. And the picture of his wife is missing from his wallet. If you know the story, it is almost clear what Archer is going for in the book – if not, the missing photo makes little sense at the beginning of the book but it will be important for the future story.

And after the initial two pages set in 1999 (at least these were 2 pages in my edition), the story jumps in 1892 and starts moving forward, finishing in 1924. The initial start in 1999 made me wonder if Archer is planning on pulling a Titanic-like frame around the story…making the whole story sounding as the memories of someone from Mallory’s life. Considering that noone had been with him all the way through his youth and his expeditions, this would have been… way too novelized. Thankfully, Archer does not fail into this particular trap and just delivers the story of the boy that loves to climb and that grows up to be the man that will say that he want to climb Everest “because it's there”.

The book centers around Mallory’s love for two women – his wife Ruth and the Mother Goddess of Earth, Chomolungma (and it’s physical representation – Mount Everest (or Chomolungma if the local name is used)). The wife he wins with climbing; the second love he tries to climb and dies.

The whole story before the first expedition to Everest is of the type you would expect from Archer – Mallory is doing anything he can to achieve his dream – including climbing the walls of a Cambridge College when he is late for an interview, climbing the Eiffel Tower just to prove he can and climbing a church tower in Venice to impress his future wife. I had never seen any historical document talking about these but I had not really been interested in Mallory that much so… who knows – these may be true.

The story changes when the first expedition for the climbing of Everest starts to be assembled. The reckless young man is gone (and whatever remains from his goes away after the war) and Mallory is much more serious and real (ok.. climbing out of a window to save himself from a rich woman is more in the line of the earlier parts of the book but other from this, the book is much more serious). Archer chooses not to play with the facts of who had been in the expedition or who attempts what during it. The thoughts of Mallory are shown in a series of letters sent to his wife – some of them based on real letters, some of them changed and written so they can serve the story). And the story is simple – if the photo of Ruth is not in the wallet, then either George had removed it and had forgotten it in some of the base camps (but noone had seen it and there had been enough people in all of them at the time to see it if it had been there) or he had stepped on the summit and left the picture there (but noone had seen it… although the next person to step there will need 29 years to reach it and a piece of paper can be anywhere after so long). Archer decides to believe the second story and builds the novel accordingly. Some of expressions in the letters sound a bit too familiar if you had read most of Archer’s book and at the same time they work for Mallory as described in the book.

It’s not a novel about the mountains so do not expect breath-taking descriptions of Everest. But Archer did his research and used everything that had been documented to make his story believable. The book does not leave out any of the known facts about this expedition behind – it is a mystery if Mallory stepped in the summit but anything before this last climb from the last base camp to the peak (and to his death) is well documented. And the little foreshadowing (considering that at this time the novel had clearly said that Mallory dies, does it count as foreshadowing?) with the forgotten sovereign sounds as one of these trivia bits that make the stories of pretty much anyone that dies for a good cause. Besides - what's the chances of him forgetting both the sovereign and the photo? And it does explain why later expedition do not find ant proof - if it had been just the photo, it could have been just lost...

I liked the book – even if there was nothing surprising in it, it was a nice historical novel. Although when Mallory was refusing to lead the 1924 expedition, I almost believed it and wondered what Archer is doing and how he plans to tie the story after this. I had always liked Archer’s style and this book is not an exception. But it is really different from anything else I had seen from him. And I had read enough historical books that have less truth in them than this novel so I expected to see a lot more changes in the real history.

The novel ends with a few 'After 1924' notes - detailing what happened to all the participants in the book... and the ones that are born later. Including the tribute which George Mallory II makes when he steps on Everest... some 71 years after his grandfather.

The first few pages can be read here: http://www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk/POG-Ex... and the style remains pretty much the same through the whole book.

PS: Part of the reason for liking the book might be the fact that I had always believed that Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before dying. It might be harder to accept the end and what leads to it if you believe that it never happened. But in this case - this is a novel, not a historical work. Even if it sounds as one. And the novel sent me searching some real historical records of Mallory - which is more than most novelized biographies usually achieve. ( )

This tale supports the theory that mountain climber George Leigh Mallory may have been the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest during his second expedition in 1924.

Written with vivid imagination, Mr Archer relates the life and some of the events surrounding this historical man. From Mallory’s infancy, up to his dark experiences in the trenches of the First World War and on to those two famous expeditions which ultimately brought him to the Himalayas.

The story is very dramatic but we won’t find any twists of faith as the outcome has left many unanswered questions from the start. When Mr Mallory’s body was found in 1999 some facts where discovered that opened many new scenarios. The whereabouts of his climbing partner Mr Alexander Irvine is still an unsolved mystery.

This is not a conventional biography; it reads more like a movie script, broadly covering the facts, simplifying and embroidering events. It ends with a moving memorial service and a post 1924 update of family and followers.

I enjoyed “Paths of Glory” for its simplicity and its entertainment. It is a great story one hard to put down. For those wanting a more precise account of these two heroes, there are many other resources ( )