Peter Hillary

It took me a while to get into the style of this book, and I never did quite understand the purpose of the dual narration (maybe an explanation would have helped). But by the end I was mesmerized: the disjunctive style, with Hillary's dream state recreating his past harrowing climbing experiences, perfectly matched his near-delirium. (It helped too that I'm leaving today for Antarctica)

Oddly enough, for a book that's about Antarctica, it mostly isn't. While describing an attempt to recreate a man-hauling expedition from Scott's old base to the South Pole, Peter Hillary is visited by ghosts and stories from his climbing past. The description of hauling sledges across the Antarctica is really very peripheral to the story. The only thing that Hillary really adds to our (armchair) experience of Antarctica is that is an even more miserable place than Scott or Aspley show more Cherry-Garrard conveyed. But it has to be said that Hillary's Antarctic group really only recreate the misery. They are supplied by air at times, use kites to assist in pulling the sleds and arrive at the South Pole having firmly given up any intention of walking back (they flew out...), or ever talking to each other again.

The real gems in this story are the flashbacks, to mountains and climbers, and Hillary's own family. His extended account of K2 and the death of Alison Hargreaves is chilling. One for the mountaineering or Antarctic fans, but it would be hard to recommend it to anyone else, and even then only those who were interested in filling in the obscure details in stories that have been better told elsewhere. show less

Peter Hillary's character is revealed only in glimpses, as those of his companions live and dead, in his account of a harrowing journey across Antarctica.

A grim narration of a grim trip across Antartica.