The spirit of man - 4 star

“...caught on the barbed wire, drowned in mud, choked by the oily slime of gas, reduced to a spray of red mist quartered limbs hanging from shattered branches of burnt trees, bodies swollen and blackened with flies, skulls gnawed by rats, corpses stuck in the sides of trenches that aged with each day into the colours of the dead”............”This was not war he wrote; it was the monstrous inversion of civilization. To call it war was to imply that something of the sun remained, when in fact all that existed was a bruised sky in a bitter night of cobalt rain”......”Not a village had been taken, nor a single major objective achieved. Machine guns cut the men down like scythes slicing through grass”..

And so starts this epic novel of human endurance and human spirit told against the backdrop of the senseless slaughter of WW1 and the cold unforgiving heights of a treacherous Mt Everest. Before George Mallory embarked on his third, and what was to tragically prove his final attempt at ascending this great mountain, he was asked what was the purpose of conquering such a merciless foe he simply replied….because it is there. Yet such a simple response hides the enormity of the task that faced Mallory and Irvine as they set about vanquishing all their fears and summit this frozen mountainous landscape, many years removed from the mud and blood of never to be forgotten names...Ypres, Verdun, Somme (the Somme in particular accounting for more than a million men from all sides killed wounded or captured, British casualties on the first day alone amounting to over 57,000) It is perhaps of little wonder that the men who had survived the battle fields embraced with such passion a need to climb, a need to cleanse their souls, find some meaning in wasted lives, sacrifice, and perhaps by reaching out they might touch the hand of God…

Into the silence is a large novel that requires some perseverance and dedicated reading time to fully appreciate what is being described to the reader. I felt that the earlier part of the book with its gory WW1 imagery was some of the most disturbing I have ever encountered. The preparation for and the 3 ascensions of Everest were a little too detailed giving at times overlong historical and geographical descriptions as various permissions were sought and the lower reaches of Everest constantly surveyed in an attempt to select the best and most practical route for a successful ascent. This however is a minor criticism and for the most part I was enthralled by this boy's own adventure unfolding before me, where amongst other noteworthy facts oxygen was used for the first time. If we also appreciate how simplistic the standard of equipment was compared to the present then the achievements of these earlier innovators is outstanding. Many years were to pass before the ultimate fate of Mallory and Irvine was known, it had always been hoped that they had reached the summit and that speculation still remains today even though Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999 it gives little clue as to his final moments…

An important read not only for its historical significance but a wonderful study of the essence of man and his ability to rise above all adversity in the search of a dream…..”from that day it was certain that he had found in snow mountains the perfect medium for the expression of his physical and spiritual being”......”His great desire she wrote very simply was for the spirit of man to exercise itself freely and fearlessly and joyously as a climber on a hill”.......
Highly Recommended