Paths of Glory - Jeffery Archer

I am a fan of Jeffrey Archer's fictional writing - and this book was no exception. Although Archer has presented well researched facts, this should not be treated as a factual book about Mallory but instead to be read as a story. If you see just the plain words this book could be called a catalogue of one person's achievements and set backs, but being the consummate story teller that he is - Archer has woven facts with fiction and created an amazing tale of Mallory's obsession. Despite the fact that I have no clue or love about Mountaineering or rock climbing, it's a testament to Archer's story telling skill that I was so engrossed in the book that I could not put it down until I finished it.

This book was a quick easy read told in Archers own style, but still I could not but feel disappointed that there were not more details given. I would not probably understand complicated details about Mountaineering, but still it seemed as if there were no details about the hard ships encountered by Mallory and his team. Please do not take me wrongly, I loved this book, but some how I did not feel how hard it was to climb Mount Everest when I read this book. I mean from Mallory's perspective it might not have been hard, but I knew from facts that it indeed was and it did not come through in this book. Also I felt like he could have developed a little bit more insight about what motivated Mallory etc. My two cents anyways.

But the book is absorbing and hard to put down. You would think there would be nothing interesting about Mountain climbing and a mountain itself, but the way Archer writes, you are transported to a world where the Mountain is transformed into something else, where time is enchanted and passes quickly and before you know you are the end of the book. I ended the book with feelings of wanting more, sadness for Mallory and his wife, euphoric feeling that Mallory had indeed succeeded and more. Definitely a must read recommendation from my side.

As I end this post, wanted to quote the the description on this book as mentioned on Archers's own website, highlighting the last line from it.

"This is the story of a man who loved two women, and one of them killed him.

Some people have dreams that are so outrageous that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. Francis Drake, Robert Scott, Percy Fawcett, Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson, Sir Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong are among such individuals.

But what if one man had such a dream, and when he’d achieved it, there was no proof that he had fulfilled his ambition?

Paths of Glory is the story of such a man. But not until you’ve turned the last page of this extraordinary novel, will you be able to decide if George Mallory should be added to this list of legends, because if he were, another name would have to be removed. "