Literature Mountain Literature Classics: Scrambles Amongst the Alps by Edward Whymper
The engravings may be better than the writing, but with its blend of triumph and tragedy, the story of Whymper's five-year campaign for the first ascent of the Matterhorn is one of mountain climbing's defining narratives, says Ronald Turnbull.
Comments
I enjoyed the book, but had a feeling it was ghost written... Is it still a classic if so? Maybe this review focusing on the film so much reflects this too?
The film was terrible, but enjoyed the book.
Joe Simpson dangling from a piton on the Walker Spur? Are you sure you don't mean the Bonatti Pillar? Or is this yet another epic?
If anyone in the world were to have two ledges collapse from underneath them on a bivi, you probably wouldn't bet against it being Joe Simpson.
Not quite the opposite but I thought the book was ok (I found he came across as a pretty unlikeable person which I found odd if he wrote it - but perhaps it was ghost written as lex says which would perhaps explain that to some extent). However, I found the film good and enjoyable - much more so than the book.
I certainly wouldn't consider the book to be a classic by a long shot.