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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
An absolutely essential mountaineering classic
No mountaineering bookshelf is complete without a copy of this compelling volume. It details every significant attempt on the North face of the Eiger from the first disastrous climb in 1932 to the many successes and failures of the 1960s. By the time you reach the end you'll feel as if you've climbed every agonising or inspiring step with the men and women that Harrer...
Published on 16 Sep 1999
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9 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Mountain books for beginners
This is not the best-ever mountaineering book in the history of time, as some may affirm. Harrer's history of the north face of the Eiger is a fair example of early mountaineering books, however. It's easy enough to read, and accessible to a wide audience thanks to its avoidance of overly technical mountaineering jargon. But it lacks a certain something. Maybe it's a...
Published on 1 Aug 2005 by Lis
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
An absolutely essential mountaineering classic, 16 Sep 1999
By A Customer
No mountaineering bookshelf is complete without a copy of this compelling volume. It details every significant attempt on the North face of the Eiger from the first disastrous climb in 1932 to the many successes and failures of the 1960s. By the time you reach the end you'll feel as if you've climbed every agonising or inspiring step with the men and women that Harrer portrays.The horror of the failed climbs and the ecstasy of the successes are vividly painted by Harrer's straightforward, unadorned style, which makes this such a gripping read. The only part of the book that jars is his rather old-fashioned and patronising description of the first attempts on the face by women. But this is a minor flaw in an otherwise influential and well-written book.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
The Famous Book about the first ascent of the Infamous Face, 8 Sep 1999
By A Customer
Heinrick Harrer, along with his companions Fritz Kasparek, Andreas Heckmair and Ludwig Vorg, made the first successful ascent of the North face of the Eiger, arriving on the summit at around 3:00pm on 24th July 1938. The book describes the endless battles faught on the face, sometimes to save others, sometimes to save themselves and sometimes in vain. It also tries to resolve some of the mysteries which shroud the face (It even has a route guide for anyone considering the climb). Despite the fact that the book was first published 40years ago and that the translation slips up from time to time does not alter the fact that this is a brilliant read. Unfortunately it didn't inspire to climb big faces as much as Joe Simpson's books did but alas it did inspire Joe Simpson and undoubtably many others to go out to the far flung reaches of the globe and climb.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Compulsive reading., 28 May 2002
By A Customer
An absolute must for the true mountaineer or aspiring hopeful. Not to be read however immediatly before a bid to climb the face, but required reading whilst contemplating At times Harrer confronts you with the terrible bleakness of the stricken parties on the face, whilst remaining factual in a Tutonic way. Excellent. PS Another good account of the Eigerwand can be found in The Boardman Tasker Omnibus. The first book gives an account of the first succesful British Winter Ascent by Joe Tasker.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
A seminal text-book, 4 Oct 1999
By A Customer
Definitely a classic, and at times moving and fascinating, but I would say this is more a book for the climber or the obsessed armchair mountaineer than for your average reader who's just read a couple of mountaineering books. Harrer is a bit of an old romantic, and you can't help sensing a touch of homo-eroticism in his accounts of fine men doing fine things in the perfect harmony of the rope. It's all very old-fashioned (particularly the almost comical attitude to women). After a while it becomes a bit of a catalogue of ascents, but you certainly feel like you know the mountain by the end. It certainly inspired me to look for other accounts of climbing the North Face of the Eiger (a good one can be found in Dougal Haston's "In High Places".)A plea to whoever is putting the next edition together: please get someone good to re-translate it: some of the phrases really grate.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
The White Spider, 22 Dec 2003
This book is truly inspirational. I enjoyed every second of it. These are men who don’t know what CAN’T means, true heroes, in the vein of Joe Simpson and Reinhold Messner. Only now can I hope to understand 1% the type of men mountaineers are.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
The White Spider, 11 Jan 2009
'The White Spider' is Harrers masterly history of the north face of the Eiger. This is the book that inspired Joe Simpson, and indeed has an introduction by him. This covers Harrers first ascent, as well as previous and subsequent failed and successful ascents. The style is a touch dated and takes some time to get used to, but once you do you are captivated by the various tales of bravery and climbing expertise and folly in it's pages. There are many names in this book, which makes it hard to remember where you are up to at times, but it is a marvelous catalogue of climbers and their attempts at the Eiger. This has become a climbing classic, and rightly so, and the chapter describing Harrers own ascent more than makes up the purchase price. There are a few photo plates in the middle, a extensive list of ascents and attempts, as well as an in-depth route guide for the North Face. Overall this is required reading for climbers who are considering the Eiger and for those interested in climbing and climbing books in general.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Gripping Stuff!, 28 Jun 2007
As an armchair (couch potato!) reader of real-life high adventure, I've recently read various books of thrilling climbs, daring treks etc. This was certainly one of the best - it combined mountain climbing information with the human angle and never left me too far behind with technical jargon.
As I read of the desperate conditions endured by the bold (mad!) climbers, I was truly gripped by the account of the eventual conquest of the Eiger.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
if you love mountain porn, you'll love this otherwise..., 15 May 2007
I had previously read Joe Simpson's 'The Beckoning Silence' and was fascinated by the Eiger and all that had happened in its eventful history. However, this book was written by one of the first mountaineers to scale it and Harrer's tales of the early and later attempts are absorbing to read. His detailing of the unfortunate Toni Kurz is rather poignant and while he attempts to remain objective, you can feel his affinity, respect and awe for the Nordwand as he depicts the years going by. However, I realise that I am a mountain literature proselyte so I do appreciate that others may not find this as fascinating as I did and the chronicling of such events may not be your cup of tea. There are easier books to read on such subjects e.g. aforementioned Simpson book but none as detailed and in my view as accurate and compelling as Harrer's novel. A classic.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
The White Spider..., 2 Jun 2006
...was the first book on mountaineering that I ever read: it is also the scariest by far! Harrer writes in such a way that you identify with the brave souls high up on the Eiger; their fears become your fears; their deaths feel like a personal loss.
Fow some weeks after reading this I experienced terrible nightmares, imagining myself stuck on the Eiger, balanced on a precariously narrow ledge with only a short piece of rope in my kit - grim indeed! 'The Spider' moved me greatly.
This book is full of true stories of human courage, achievement and sacrifice. Well worth a read, imo -mountaineer or not.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Absolutely Amazing Book!, 14 Nov 2007
This is a great book by one of the first ascentists of the North Face of the Eiger, one of the last major challenges in the Alps to be climbed. It reviews the history of the attempts on the North Face in an exciting and very readable way. It gets the reader hooked! Heinrich Harrer was a unique person who led an amazing life. He also later spent Seven Years in Tibet and was tutor to the Dalai Lama. I would also recomend his autobiography Beyond Seven Years in Tibet, My life before, during and after, which has just come out and is an amazing read!
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