High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed
“The perfect follow-up to Krakauer’s riveting account of a perfect storm.”
–Miami Herald “Kodas’s absorbing description of the narrow moral compass governing human interaction at the top of the world is bound to shock both armchair adventurers and seasoned mountaineers.”
–Chicago Tribune “(Kodas) discovered more deceit, thievery, and double-crossing among his climbers than you find in a Martin Scorsese gangster film. High Crimes is both an adventure story and an exposé of a sport riddled with danger and corruption.”
–Washington Post Book World “Kodas’s descriptions of the struggles confronting even the best-prepared climbers leave the reader breathless.”
–Dallas… More >>
High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed
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Waste of time. Self-indulgent musings from an also-ran. Didn’t make it the second trip either. Hmmmm
Rating: 1 / 5
I gave this as a gift and don’t know about it. My friend hasn’t read it yet but someone who did, loved it. The delivery was expeditios and I’m always pleased with Amazon’s good service
Rating: 5 / 5
I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to expectations.
The writing is very disorganized and jumps around from place to place and year to year for no apparent reason. Essentially, the lesson seems to be that there are some unpleasant people who climb Everest, and some of them may not be completely honest. People die, mostly because they make the mistake of trusting in guides who are not the best. (I would think the principle of caveat emptor applies here. The buyer should carefully check the credentials of people into whose hands he/she is placing their safety).
The book touches on (but does not go into depth about) some troubling moral issues. What responsibility does one have to a fellow climber? Should a climber put his/her own life in jeopardy in an attempt to save the life of another?
If you want to spend a few hours in the company of some very disagreeable people, then read this book.
Rating: 1 / 5
A very poorly written book in terms of organization. But it confirms my impression that people who climb Everest are mostly narcissistic, selfish, self-centered people whose lives are meaningless. Climb the Rocky Mountains or go help someone if you are so bored with life. The author is no different psychologically than the other selfless losers who go to Everest.
Rating: 1 / 5
I found this book poorly organized. It was as if the author threw all the pages of his manuscript in the air and once they hit the floor he gathered them up and bound them into a book. It jumps from Everest to South America to Pakistan to the US and back again and it has very little to do with the secondary title “The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed”. If you are hoping for another “In to Thin Air” quality book you are going to have to look elsewhere.
One of the previous reviewers used the term “sour grapes” and by the time I got to the end of this book I had the same feeling. Since he is a journalist (pssst …. Michael, don’t quit your day job!!!) I got the feeling he was using this book as his chance to get back at virtually everyone he had ever met.
Rating: 1 / 5