Starlight and Storm

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book from Outstanding Climber!
Review: "Starlight and Storm" is one of these rare examples of an outstanding climber who can also write engagingly and with poetic verve!

Rebuffat is unquestionably one of the outstanding climbers of the early post WW II mountaineering in Europe and perhaps the most outstanding French climber of the period. His achievements (first French climb of the Walker Spur of the Grand Jorasses; first French Climb of the north face of Eiger, member of the Anapurna expedition) speak for themselves.

What also sets apart Rebuffat from many others (many climbers write books to underwrite financially their future expeditions or to underscore their achievements) is his joyful, honest and inspired writing. Rebuffat has a real talent to convey beautifully his emotions and leads us masterfully along his fascinating climbs.

This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in mountaineering, and I commend John Krakauer for including it in the new "Exploration" series!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book from Outstanding Climber!
Review: "Starlight and Storm" is one of these rare examples of an outstanding climber who can also write engagingly and with poetic verve!

Rebuffat is unquestionably one of the outstanding climbers of the early post WW II mountaineering in Europe and perhaps the most outstanding French climber of the period. His achievements (first French climb of the Walker Spur of the Grand Jorasses; first French Climb of the north face of Eiger, member of the Anapurna expedition) speak for themselves.

What also sets apart Rebuffat from many others (many climbers write books to underwrite financially their future expeditions or to underscore their achievements) is his joyful, honest and inspired writing. Rebuffat has a real talent to convey beautifully his emotions and leads us masterfully along his fascinating climbs.

This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in mountaineering, and I commend John Krakauer for including it in the new "Exploration" series!

Rating:
Summary: A short, perhaps too sweet, classic
Review: Gaston Rebuffat is clearly a very nice guy, and much of the glory of this book is how clearly that shows through. But what doesn't shine nearly so much is his discussion of the climbs themselves. There is little interest in how the various climbs are achieved, in the technical nature of the accomplishments, or even the excitement of the climbs themselves. Instead, we get alot of stuff about the brotherhood of the hills, and the sort of touchy-feely love of the mountains which in the 1950s was probably much less annoying than it is now. Despite this, Rebuffat's book is still a classic, if only because he was the first climber in so many cases to put us right on the mountain with him. I would recommend his former climbing partner Maurice Herzog's Annapurna before this one, but still feel that Rebuffat's Starlight and Storm is a more than amiable companion.

Rating:
Summary: For Alps and Mountaineering Lovers
Review: I really liked this book, but I believe one has to be enraptured of the Alps, or the history of mountain climbing, to share my enthusiasm for it. After living in Europe, and continuing to travel there frequently, I find that I am fascinated by the Alps and their history. This book is a pleasant excursion into the Alps for those interested in mountain climbing, but not a travel book, or even much of a story book, although the story is interesting. I find myself comparing old maps to new ones, and relating them to the places I have been. A bit more of a research project than light reading. This book is like watching a documentary, one that airs on public TV for specific audiences, not one on the networks for general consumption. If you are interested in the Alps, or personal stories of mountain climbing you will enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Starlight and Storm
Review: In short this is a great book. I am glad to see how humble a climber Gaston is during a time when rivals were few and far between. I wish today's climbers could write about what climbing is about, friendships and the mountains, and not about how hard they climb and how they conquered over all. Good reading.

Rating:
Summary: For Alps and Mountaineering Lovers
Review: Lyrically written, the author, Gaston Rebuffat, one of the world's climbing greats, expresses such joy for mountaineering that it is infectious. No climbing enthusiast's library should be without this book. The photograph of Rebuffat which graces the cover of this book is alone worth the price of the book.

Rebuffat is positively poetic in his description of various climbs. The reader almost feels as if one were one with the mountain. A purist, the author climbed not for the glory of it, but for the sheer joy of the brotherhood of the rope. In these days, where climbing is often just a reason for a media event, the author's approach is refreshing, indeed.

Rating:
Summary: POETRY IN MOTION...THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROPE
Review: Lyrically written, the author, Gaston Rebuffat, one of the world's climbing greats, expresses such joy for mountaineering that it is infectious. No climbing enthusiast's library should be without this book. The photograph of Rebuffat which graces the cover of this book is alone worth the price of the book.

Rebuffat is positively poetic in his description of various climbs. The reader almost feels as if one were one with the mountain. A purist, the author climbed not for the glory of it, but for the sheer joy of the brotherhood of the rope. In these days, where climbing is often just a reason for a media event, the author's approach is refreshing, indeed.

Rating:
Summary: Classic, but not unique
Review: This book belongs on the shelf of anyone who collects climbing literature. Beautifully written (and/or beautifully translated), it presents a romantic, joyous view of climbing which may seem foreign to many modern climbers. The material on Alpine expeditions is very similar to that found in the works of Diemberger and Buhl, so it probably isn't worth buying the book for those alone; Rebuffat skips over Annapurna, for reasons which become clear when you read the introduction. _Starlight and Storm_ does, however, have an added bonus in a wonderful essay on climbing and danger, included in the section on technique. Overall, a book worth having.

Rating:
Summary: One of the classics
Review: This is a great book, one of the classics. However, I do agree with the reviewer who complains that there isn't enough stuff about the actual climbing. Not only did Rebuffat do many famous ascents, but he also climbed with the greatest French climbers of his generation, most notably fellow Annapurna expedition members Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray -- and he basically never mentions them. It is as if Gaston was too humble, and thought no one would be interested -- but we are, we are!

Anyone who enjoys this book needs to run not walk to find Lionel Terray's "Conquistadors of the Useless" which is very sadly out of print in English (although still a mainstay of French climbing literature). Not only do you get great stories of Gaston himself from Terray (including their ill-starred and hysterically funny attempt to run a farm together), but you also get all the blow by blow descriptions you could ever want of the big climbs -- the Walker, the Eiger, etc, -- as done by the legendary Lachenal-Terray rope.

Also, look out for "True Summit" by David Roberts, a new history of the Annapurna expedition which is due to be released later this Spring. And if you read French, try the two hot books in French climbing circles these days: Rebuffat's recently published biography and Louis Lachenal's memoirs ("Carnets du Vertige")

... not to mention Rebuffat's several other books and, yes, even movies!