My review of Honnold's new book in the Wall Street Journal

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Contractor

Boulder climber

Nov 26, 2015 - 10:48am PT

You're right Mr. AP Lit guy, Walden doesn't quite work-thanks for the tip!

From a lowly highschool drop-out :)

AP Lit guy- Removing your critical post is just being lame :)

Happiegrrrl2

Trad climber

Nov 26, 2015 - 11:33am PT

Thank you for the response Gregory. You're correct - I don't think we have ever met, so it is true you wouldn't know what I "like."

As for what better to spend on than a book? Well, there is food, and dog food for my Lucas, and car insurance...not that they are "better" than a book, but sometimes it is a choice between one or the other and the book would usually not be the chosen one.

But I have always loved reading(first book was "To Kill a Mocking bird" at aged six, and it just went on from there). And I hope to hell that if I ever get my first novel(winding to the end, at on chapter 48, with three years on and off writing under the belt) I surely hope that people will buy it(though not at the expense of food for their doggy).

Anyway - thank you for the response.

Gregory Crouch

Social climber

Walnut Creek, California

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 27, 2015 - 08:47am PT

food, and dog food for my Lucas, and car insurance...not that they are "better" than a book, but sometimes it is a choice between one or the other and the book would usually not be the chosen one.

Okay, Happiegrrrl2, in that case, I think you should hold out for the paperback. Or a loaner. Or use the library. Alex won't hold it against you.

my first novel(winding to the end, at on chapter 48, with three years on and off writing under the belt)

Keep grinding. And congratulations.

Brian in SLC

Social climber

Salt Lake City, UT

Nov 27, 2015 - 11:39am PT

Kevin...nice route name!

Mine is "niggling tyrannies". Ha ha!

Nice review, Greg!

survival

Big Wall climber

Terrapin Station

Nov 27, 2015 - 12:02pm PT

Werner, always whacking away on everyone's poor "knowledge" yet is right here posting away with us cavemen.

Great article!

Gregory Crouch

Social climber

Walnut Creek, California

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 28, 2015 - 07:56am PT

I've posted (what I hope) is a readable image of the review on my website. (If I've done it right, it should enlarge with a click for easy reading.)

It's on page C9 of today's WSJ. (11/28-29/2015)

Gregory Crouch

Social climber

Walnut Creek, California

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 28, 2015 - 08:27am PT

Tami, your grandmother is correct.

(And yes, I do remember why you'd appreciate that.)

looking sketchy there...

Social climber

Lassitude 33

Nov 28, 2015 - 06:58pm PT

Excellent review that accurately captures the essence of the book and Honnold.

Gregory Crouch

Social climber

Walnut Creek, California

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 28, 2015 - 08:02pm PT

Thanks, Lookin Sketchy...

Sorry, Tam... Mum then... Else that or you're actually 25 and have been cartooning since birth

Rick A

climber

Boulder, Colorado

Nov 29, 2015 - 06:07am PT

Got the hard copy yesterday. I agree with Armando on the wonderful, succinct description of climbing.

This was my favorite part:

Crucially, Mr. Honnold does seem to have an exit strategy. “ I don’t think I’ll continue to do this forever… But I won’t stop because of the risk. I’ll stop because I lose the love of it.”
One hopes he recognizes that internal shift one climb too early, rather than one too late.

The terrible consequences of a mistake are emphasized by the cool understatement. Lovely.

A brief note on language. The article includes a quote from “stonemaster John Long”. Does the lack of capitalization indicate that “stonemaster” is now part of the lexicon and will soon appear in the OED?

nopantsben

climber

europe

Nov 29, 2015 - 09:33am PT

I missed a more thorough examination of what makes (or doesn't make) this book a good piece of writing. Is it written well? Is it structured well? Is there a storyline that keeps the reader interested?

And don't say these qualities don't matter much in climbing literature, because Enduring Patagonia is good because it's such a fun read, not because the author is a celebrity :O

I have not read the book, but these are the aspects of a review that I'd be interested in. I really enjoyed reading the review because it's written in such cool style, but it seems to review Honnold as much as his book.

-ben

Peter Haan

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, CA

Nov 29, 2015 - 09:41am PT

Very intelligent competent and yet low-key review, here Greg! Thanks very much.

As usual you take an unrivaled look at a very difficult and controversial subject; here it's modern climbing. As well, it is a very good thing that David Roberts and Alex were able to combine forces for the book. As you point out, there still remains the deepest question, why soloing is taking place at all. "Badass" is despite its meaning, weak sauce for to take a reader much further than the empty-handedness one had at page one. Were we to find "this final answer" perhaps it could only be conveyed by other means than prose.

jstan

climber

Nov 29, 2015 - 02:44pm PT

there still remains the deepest question, why soloing is taking place at all.

OK. I'll try that one.

Perhaps deep down we love things like 911, Sandy Hook, and packing heat and arguing about it. Perhaps this is why Bush was able to sell Iraq at all. All these things are meaningful, in the moment. Somehow we all are in search for meaning (however we personally define it).

A climber who is willing to court the ultimate price, seems more meaningful than one who is not so willing. Go with that for the moment. Then we have to ask why it is we used to solo but doing so was never a burning topic of conversation? It never was you know.

Why now? Proceeding under the above assumption, this is happening now because people used to have more meaning in their lives. After college just about everyone got a pretty decent job. They had things to accomplish. Goals.

Now? Even a President can't get things done.

This thread is about Alex and today seems my day to repeat myself. So

In brief, Alex handles himself extremely well and gives evidence of a very well grounded view of himself and the world around him. Very rare. A question. Pick any demographic. ST for example. How many of us on ST have that kind of base?

We are going to need Alex. We need to stop feeding this nonsensical soloing discussion.

Gregory Crouch

Social climber

Walnut Creek, California

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2015 - 03:13pm PT

Team, sorry to have neglected thread curation for the last 48 hours--had to drive back and forth to LA with my son to attend an Eagle Scout Court of Honor and deliver the Eagle Charge. Feeling a little cross eyed right now.

First off, when I posted the image of the story on my website from my phone while in LA, I neglected to link the image to the media file. Now that I've done that, you can click on the image and read it easily. Sorry about that.

A brief note on language. The article includes a quote from “stonemaster John Long”. Does the lack of capitalization indicate that “stonemaster” is now part of the lexicon and will soon appear in the OED?

Rick A, I suspect the copy editors... It was capitalized in my MSS. They probably just thought, oh, that's a cute piece of wordsmithing, but he clearly shouldn't capitalize that... Usually, they give me a last look at things, but things got pretty jammed for them on Wednesday, which is the busiest day of the year in a newsroom since they have several issues to prepare so people can get home for the holiday. I have insisted on a last look since one of them flexed their google muscle and added "in Oregon" to my mention of Barry Blanchard's clients accident being on Mt. Baker... I had to say, uh, Barry's Canadian, his people were hurt on the Mt. Baker IN CANADA. That stuff irks me no end, but it's surprisingly difficult to eliminate in general interest publications--especially one that is being published six times a week. (If you think that's easy, you've never tried it.) And the WSJ is pretty good at this stuff in my opinion. It's great to be working for a publication that does care about getting things right. They screw themselves up when they get in over their heads. Note, this is commentary on their copy editors. The editor with whom I work is excellent. He ALWAYS listens to me when I say, "No, we can't say it that way. That's not technically true."

The other tweak the CEs made on this story that peeved me is switching "Achilles' choice" to "Faustian bargin." Alex didn't make a deal with the devil, but I fear he HAS made the choice Achilles made when he decided to sail for the Trojan War. The prophecy was that if he stayed home, he'd live a long, but obscure life and would die of old age surrounded by his children. If he went to the war, however, he'd die young and without children but his deeds would be remembered for all time.

Achilles decided for the war.

And don't say these qualities don't matter much in climbing literature, because Enduring Patagonia is good because it's such a fun read, not because the author is a celebrity :O

So you're the one who read it. ;-)

If you're gonna eat cheese like that, NoPantsBen, I suppose I'm gonna have to answer the question...

Okay, so I did find the switch back and forth between David's interpretation and Alex's narration distracting. I didn't like Alex's parts being all in italics. It's hard to read large swaths of italics, in my opinion. However, I'm not sure how else you would have done it.

I think Roberts wrote Alex's parts, too. If that's the case, David would have passed drafts of those parts over to Alex, and Alex would have tweaked them to make them more in his voice, then David would have incorporated those changes. The MSS probably went back and forth several times between them. That's normal.

Is it written well? Yes, of course. The story line is a chronological tour of Honnold's most significant climbs, and it's purpose is pretty much "let's get to know Alex," which I did enjoy. I hope I get the chance to talk to him sometime, at length. But it's a co-authored book, and I never feel like those are as tight and coherent as books with a single, professional author. Two cooks and all. I can think of many of co-authored books I've enjoyed and am happy that I've read, but I don't think they often cross into the canon of "classic."

That said, I'd love to get a co-authoring gig. I'll be actively looking for one when I'm finished with my current book project. Mostly because I'm dying to write a story with just a single source.

So if you happen to know anybody... ;-)

Roberts has done a lot of climbing co-authoring in recent years. Carved himself out a good nitche doing it. I've reviewed two of them for the WSJ. (This one and The Mountain, which he did with Ed Viesturs.) I've enjoyed them both.

Incidentally, David is really struggling right now. He's trying to fight back from a bout with throat cancer. He has been making some very moving posts about it on his FB author page. He says he draws a lot of strength from the good wishes he is receiving from the climbing community, so if you've got a few minutes, pop over, read some of his posts, and give him a like. They're intense. And I'm proud to see that he's getting so much staunch support from his closest friends in the climbing community.

We are going to need Alex. We need to stop feeding this nonsensical soloing discussion.

Soloing is his choice. I get that. But I'm also afraid for him. Maybe I'm a coward for feeling like that. Maybe I'm just older. There were a couple of times when my climbing got pretty wild. Sometimes thinking about them keeps me up at night. I think of everything I'd have missed if things had played out a tiny bit differently, and I'd have gotten the chop instead of surviving. I feel like I'd like Alex if I ever met him, and friends of mine who do know him well have told me that they really do enjoy him as a person--Chris Weidner and Jenn Flemming, specifically. (And I really like and admire both of them.) So the loop's not huge. He's our hero, our champion, if you will. What he has accomplished is simply astonishing. And because of all those things, I really f*#king want him to live. To survive. If he gets killed doing it, I think it will diminish the body of his accomplishment.

So, the question I'd like to ask him is, "Alex, are you learning anything up there without a rope that you can't learn with a rope? Elaborate and explain."

I wish the answer was in Alone on the Wall.

yanqui

climber

Balcarce, Argentina

Nov 29, 2015 - 03:52pm PT

Here's what I read in facebook today:

The Wall Street Journal ran a review of my book Alone on the Wall written by an actual climber! Someone who actually understands the motivations and pleasures of free soloing! "Less obvious, it’s megatons of fun. For serious climbers, good climbing is measured in volume, and a free soloist like Mr. Honnold, liberated from the niggling tyrannies of ropes, hardware and partners, can do more climbing in a long weekend than most climbers manage in a year, an unfettered orgy of joyous movement that, for him, must feel like having wings." Hahah, I've always sought liberation from the niggling tyrannies of a rope!

jstan

climber

Nov 29, 2015 - 03:55pm PT

Greg:
I neglected to say I thought your review very good. Sorry about that.

When this chick asked Alex on national TV whether the bed in his van saw a lot of action, he made a wry face saying, "Don't I wish."

Killer.

Gregory Crouch

Social climber

Walnut Creek, California

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 29, 2015 - 04:29pm PT

Thanks for bringing that to my attention, Yanqui.

From his FB post, I'm super-relieved to read that I still qualify as "an actual climber."

Because anyone who has seen me shaking like a dog shitting peach pits at Lover's Leap, Phantom Spires, Sugarloaf, Donner, or City of Rocks this season might have reasonable doubt.

(Not to worry, Jstan.)

jsj

climber

Nov 29, 2015 - 05:04pm PT

An enjoyable, well-written piece but it didn't seem like a review of the book: Only the third-to-last paragraph really talks about the content of the actual book (the rest eloquently dealing with Honnold and his practice of free soloing). Unfortunately I can't really get a feel for the book's merits from it.

Fritz

Trad climber

Choss Creek, ID

Nov 29, 2015 - 08:19pm PT

Greg: Thanks for sharing your WSJ review links and your great replies to posts on this thread.

I enjoyed your review, but although I appreciate the review was for the WSJ, it did seem strange to read a climber's thoughts about a fellow climber, who had to be described as: Mr. Honnold.

Oh Well, That's the way of it, in New York City, at the WSJ.

Best Wishes!