- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Hutchinson; 2005 First Edition, edition (5 May 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 009180034X
- ISBN-13: 978-0091800345
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 520,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
At age sixteen, Andy Cave followed in his father's and his grandfather's footsteps and became a miner - one of the last recruits into a dying world. Every day he would descend 3,500 feet into the Grimethorpe pit - and for [pound]25, spend up to seven hours in thigh deep water, in the pitch black digging for coal. But at weekends Andy inhabited a very different world - thousands of feet above the pitheads of the colliery. Introduced to his local mountaineering club while a miner, he soon learned to cherish this new-found freedom, high above the slag heaps of his home town. Living through the strikes of the mid-eighties - the guilt, the broken friendships, the poverty - Andy continued to indulge his passion, and in 1986, after much soul-searching, he quit his job as a miner in order to take up mountaineering professionally. In the Himalaya in 1997 Andy achieved one of the hardest climbs ever recorded on one of the steepest and most difficult summits of the world - the north face of Changabang. Seventeen days later, he and two of his teammates - his best friend had already perished in an avalanche - crawled into basecamp, frostbitten and emaciated. His account of this terrifying experience provides a dramatic climax to this extraordinary story. Learning to Breathe is, first and foremost, a lively and humorous memoir, written with energy and insight, about two very different groups of men, each navigating equally inhospitable worlds. Finally, on a larger scale, it is an examination of our ability to draw on inner strengths and the strengths of others.
From the Publisher
The extraordinary autobiography of a brilliant young climber who began life as one of the last generation of British miners.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
breathtaking stuff,
This review is from: Learning to Breathe (Hardcover)
Andy Cave has a good story to tell and he tells it really well. In a straightforward style, he doesn't mess with the essence of this gripping account of how he came up for air from the gritty life of a Yorkshire miner in the Thatcher era and found his purpose in rock climbing and later extreme alpinism at the top end of the sport. I couldn't imagine taking this book on a Himalayan expedition though - you'd want to finish it too quickly! The pictures he paints of how focussed, how skilled and how lucky you have to be to tackle climbs on Gasherbrum IV and Changabang and come back again make for a great read. Besides the climbing, his self effacing writing and his generosity towards the people who appear in his life, make this, for me at least, one of the best climbing autobiographies published in recent years.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Honest Account,
By Julie (Oxford United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Learning to Breathe (Hardcover)
Most of us will never venture into the high mountains nor into the pits. This beautifully written book gives a clear and honest picture of life in the collieries in the 1980s and Andy Cave's escape from it via climbing to the roof of the world. I found the description of his family sensitive and moving and I found myself revisiting my own memories of the coalstrike. I have to admit it made me feel uncomfortable but it helped me to understand things more clearly too.What I also liked very much about this book was Andy's honesty about his fears in the mountains as well as his passion for them. It rang familiar bells and made it much easier to feel with him the pain and anguish he must have felt at the death of Brendan Murphy.This is an important book and a great contribution to mountaineering literature. Andy's style is easy to read, often witty and always engaging. His descriptions of the mountains are often elegiac and I loved that.Read this book and listen to the message.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding,
This review is from: Learning to Breathe (Hardcover)
Having tried to read several mountaineering books, by experienced mountaineers, I have realised that there understanding of what makes a good read, is not the same as their undoubted mountaineering talent, there are sometimes, too many references which detract from the story. Having read, and enjoyed all of Joe Simpsons excellent books, I spotted Andy Caves book. I was as much drawn to his background, as I live only 15 miles from where he was raised, as I was by his exploits. Andys writing talent is superb. I was unable to put the book down, and look forward in hope to reading more of his work, either fiction or non-fiction. Well recommended even if you have no interest in mountaineering or climbing.
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