story is a fascinating one, The initial chapters made me worried that the climbing bits would get too technical, or his writing too philosophical, for my taste, but that wasn't the case.
He also has a way of describing beautiful scenery and sweet moments in a way that really touches you, As always, with hiking/climbing stories written by somewhat older men, there are bits that I disagree with or atleast see differently, but that doesn't detract from the book.
It just means I need t find some more of these books written from different perspectives, Extremely strange and scattered, but with fascinating passages, Murray's accounts of his wartime experiences are particularly enthralling, Loved this book. While it contained many climbs that Bill Murray had attempted and completed, he also talked about writing, his wife, conservation, living in a prison camp for three years, the kindness of some of the German soldiers as well as cruelty of the Gestapo.
My favorite memory was how kindly he remembered the porters that helped him and his team in the Himalayas a sharp contrast to when I was growing up.
The term "coolie" was derogatory, usually aimed at uncouth behavior from children who should know better, a relic from my dad's experience with the cast system.
Murray shines a light on these strong, brave men, who leave their families to support the "sahibs" mission of mountain climbing, I had gone with my family to India and quite honestly, the working class impressed me with their strength,
Another oddity was his acceptance of his role as a trailblazer, making easier pathways for other people to follow behind him rather than a "peak bagger", which forms the crux of so many of the books on the Banff Mountain Book Festival list.
It was refreshing to read something different, though he experienced many of the same dangers including a bad climbing accident that seriously injured him and killed one of his friends.
Pioneering climbing in Scotland thes, combat against Rommel's forces, three years in Nazi prison camps, and a near fatal alpine accident marked W.
H. Murray's early life. Three exploratory Himalayan ventures followed including the criticalreconnaissance trip that established the route by which Everest was climbed two years later, Thereafter he built a reputation as a writer and environmental polemicist and was deeply involved with the struggle to protect the Highlands from commercial exploitation.
This autobiography by W. H. Murray is actually not the book I had intended to read, but Im not sorry for the time I spent reading it, He is a good writer and definitely had an interesting life, For the most part he is remembered as a Scottish mountaineer, naturalist, and early conservationist, This book, written at the end of his life, starts with a little of his early life leading into into thes, As an adult he joined mountaineering groups, Actually, that part of the book was the least interesting to me, When WWII came along he ended up in the army in the middleeast, eventually to be captured by Rommels troops, From there he begins what I thought was the most vivid part of the book, his life in at least four POW camps.
Murray and his fellow prisoners had assorted survival strategies, A number spent their time plotting escape, many organized classes and Murray started his first book using his memories of climbing to keep sane and positive.
He began to write his Mountaineering in Scotland surreptitiously, Amazingly, he traded a collection of Shakespeare printed on lovely paper for the rough, thick camp toilet paper, In the circumstances I dont think Shakespeare would have minded, Unfortunately during a camp transfer his book was discovered and he was roughly treated by the Gestapo, It must have been horrible as it was nearing completion when they took the book from him, Undeterred, he wrote it all over again and kept it safe til wars end,
The rest of this book covers his return to mountaineering, his part in the Scottish Himalaya expeditions and his eventual return to Scottish mountains and concerns.
Nan Shepherd was a rough contemporary who may have written more beautifully but her feeling that men were mostly concerned with mountain conquering doesnt really fit Murray.
Like Shepherd he enjoyed the total experience and the physical beauty of the walks, I plan to give the book originally written on toilet
paperx a try, William Hutchison Murray OBE was a Scottish mountaineer and writer, one of a group of active mountain climbers, mainly from Clydeside, before and just after World War II.
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