Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA subtle masterpiece on Everest written in the post-truth style
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2021
Mark Synnott adds a bunch of information to the mystery of Mallory and Irvine, but does so in a subtle method that is necessary in the post-truth era we live in.
For instance, he starts by praising the 1999 search team for finding Mallory's body -- which is the conventional narrative which everyone expects. He then proceeds to systematically take apart everything you thought you knew about the incident. He provides a detailed and gruesome account of how Mallory's body was ripped from the ice causing the searchers to choke on the dust of the disintegrating remains. He describes in chilling detail how one climber crawls underneaths Mallory's body to stroke his face with his hand and possibly inventing, from thin air, one of the major mysteries surrounding Mallory's death. And he goes further to dismantle nearly everything you thought you knew about this mystery.
Synnott also sets up a larger allegory for his own search out to the "Holzel" slot to illustrate a point about Mallory's climb. It is a very subtle point, but Synnott does not provide any photos of his excursion to the slot, and people have been curious as to whether he actually made it all the way there. But that is just the point Synnott is trying to make. Do you really need a photo to know what happened?
The books answers a lot of questions, but for every one it answers, it poses two or three more. Most importantly, it illustrates how to convey information in the post-truth world. If you are a Mallory and Irvine fan, this book is a must read. If you are not really familiar with the 1924 expedition, it provides enough background and signal points to follow along, and a couple simple searches on the internet can explain why he goes into such detail on seemingly trivial points.
This is a thinking person's book. If you think it is just about some people climbing a mountain, you are missing the real story.
