Paths of Glory (Click here to own a copy)
It was such that I was unable to revisit Tibet this summer. Where I had planned to go, it is biting cold, harsh and pristine. Set at the top of the world, this grassland sits with the Himalayas since time immemorial. However I found some consolation in finding some time to read Jeffrey Archer’s “Paths of Glory”.
And it was some consolation. Archer, again, in his distinct style (and imagination) weaves another probable tale about the conquest of Chomolungma.
Chomolungma? Mount Everest, my friend. Goddess of the Earth, that’s how the Natives, the Tibetans address her before English changed her name.
Edmund Hilary & Sherpa Tenzing Norgay
Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay are recorded as having reached the peak of Mt Everest on 29th May 1953 but this Archer tale tells us that a certain George Mallory succeeded long before Hilary. Of course, this is not what we care about when we read an Archer novel. It is the submission to his writing and his imagination that captivates us time and again, luring us into spending hours and hours lost in his world.
Within the cosy comforts of home, I could feel the piercing unforgiving cold as the story unfolds. I could empathize with the climbers as they struggled to acclimatize to the altitude. Every step of their breathless struggle reminded me of my own breathlessness before. And I was only at 12000 feet. Chomolungma is 29,028 feet. (Archer says 29,002 feet probably Everest has sunk since my schooldays.)
George Mallory
Each chapter is distinct and follows a straight chronological style. For aged readers like me, this makes it easier to put down. You know what I mean. When one is young, a novel is read non-stop. The story is feasted on the couch, on the floor, the meal table, on the bed never letting go until every morsel is devoured, eyes never leaving the pages. It makes one think that evolution has made man to have arms and hands strategically constructed to enable food to reach the mouth without need of eyes or brain.
Ruth Young (Mrs Mallory)
The novel has its juicy moments of romance which serves only as a byline. But come to think of it, the story would be only half as long without it. A simple tale which can, no doubt, be recounted in less than five minutes. But then, most novels are such. Novels are meant to enthrall us and unknowingly move on, eager to know the ending. On this, Archer has done exceedingly well here.
“Because it’s there” this is the famous retort, supposedly by Mallory when asked “Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?”
