1 comments about Dead Lucky: life After Death of Mount Everest.

1. My mother used to tell me if I didn't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all. But I feel compelled to advise against this book. I haven't read any earlier titles by Lincoln Hall and I won't be rushing to after this book either.
   
   I found his writing style to be very stilted and disjointed, jumping from his experiences on everest to his families concurrent experiences back home, and I got lost a number of times. He didn't introduce his characters well at all, and pushed his own opinion and religion a bit too hard throughout. He came across as very egocentric, which in my limited understanding of tibetan buddhism is a long way from its teachings.
   
   Examples that particularly riled me were during the puja to bless the climb, "The Sherpa's placed their climbing tools... on the chorten, and we climbers were invited to do the same. Mine were among the first" What difference does it make who put their climbing gear up first Mr Hall? It seems very childish.
   Another was when he was deliberating whether to go for the summit, and lists one of the reasons for as "owe it to the boys" then explaining that they would be put down by their classmates if he didn't make it to the top. How about owing it to your boys to come back alive?
   
   Another annoying part was how he describes the method of spreading news of his announced death, with a blow by blow description of who called who, and then who turned up with what kind of cake. I would have preferred a brief description of his wife's reaction, not a copy of her telephone bill!
   
   As a last example, (I could go on) he gets tired one afternoon walking back to advanced base camp and starts seeing rocks as animals. To him this means a higher connection with the mountain and closer step to his nirvana, to a reader it is the bored and hypoxic ramblings of a man desperate to find meaning in the smallest puddle.
   
   Finally, the interesting events on top everest are portrayed as factual, when in all reality it appears that he had varying degrees of cerebral oedema, with limited insight into reality at the time. I feel for the sherpas who he accuses of trying to kill him. I too would give him a good kick if he was delerious and hindering progress downwards at 7600m altitude. He later attributes his survival to previous meditation and fine tuning of his mind, when in truth he was just plain lucky that his cerebral oedema abated enough to enable others to coax him downwards.
   
   So I'm sorry to say that I was extremely disappointed with this book, and would not recommend it at all.

No comments about Lincoln in Black and White: 1910-1925 (NE) (Images of America) (Images of America).

No comments about Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln's Secretary.

No comments about London Above Eye Level: Glimpses of the Unexpected.

5 comments about Forever Red: Confessions of a Cornhusker Football Fan.

1. Steve Smith is a gifted writer and he has captured his love of the Huskers in this witty narrative. I simply could not put this book down. Mr. Smith's true gift is his ability to translate the emotions of a die-hard fan-the very definition of fanatical-into a character set that leaves the reader both relating to, and endeared by his love and devotion for Nebraska Football. This book isn't just for Huskers; every sports fan will enjoy its insight and humor.



2. I highly reccommend this book to all Cornhusker fans! Mr. Smith knows his Big Red football and understands the devotion they inspire because he is such a faithful fan himself. He accurately and humorously portrays what it means to be a Nebraska fan through the good, bad, and the ugly.



3. If you ever wondered what draws Husker fans to Lincoln on Saturdays in the fall, author Steve Smith lays it all out in this book. It is a humorous but honest look from one fan's perspective about the passion surrounding the draw of Husker football. Husker fans will immediately relate to this book. College football fans reading it will say to themselves "Aha! That's why they're so crazy!".
   
   I wouldn't call this a 'fan' book as much as I'd call it a personal search by author Steve Smith trying to understand his love, passion, and fanaticism for Husker football. That search leads through his life starting with his first Husker game - a Nebraska 50-0 win over Iowa on September 20th, 1980 - to the firing of Frank Solich and the initial season of Bill Callahan. It's a journey that many of us have taken, coming from small town Nebraska to attend the University in Lincoln, where we would have expected, as Smith states "like countless hicks from the sticks, I assumed everyone in Lincoln wore Husker gear all the time".
   
   Smith's writing is always entertaining, even when he's being brutally honest about Nebraska, saying things that we all know to be true but would never say out loud. You establish a personal relationship with him as he shares his life centered around Husker football. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as many of the memories related by Smith are similar to my own. Steve Smith has lived a mirror of my life due to our shared obsession with Husker football and coming from small-town Nebraska.
   
   Forever Red is an excellent Husker fan book and would make a great present for any college football fan.



4. This book is great key to understanding the mind of a true Husker fan. If you grew up in Nebraska, you share an unspoken bond with the football program. One sport, and one sport only, dominates the airwaves, broadcasts, and conversation all across the state. Steve does a phenomenal job in describing his feelings, thoughts and emotions of growing up in Nebraska with football evrywhere you look.
   When reading this book, you get an understanding of what it is like to be a Nebraskan, and why we have such a passion for football. The book helps make you understand why it much more than just a game, it is a way of life. Nowhere in the nation, does one team serve as the lifeforce for an entire people. Growing up in Nebraska, I have experienced and shared the same feelings and emotions. Husker football has been an emotional rollercoaster from the disappointing close calls of missed 2 point conversions and field goals that cost national championships, to the nail biter games with Oklahoma on Thansgiving, to a 60-3 record over 5 years with 3 national titles. Nebraska football means so much more than can be imagined to its fans and the residents of the great state of Nebraska. Steve lets you into the life of a Nebraskan growing up and becoming a Husker fan more and more along the way.



5. I read this book early in the mornings before the newspaper arrived. I found myself getting up earlier and earlier each day so I could read more. I saw myself many times. I thought I was unique; however, after reading this book, I realized that I was just like other Husker fans. I started following the Huskers in the mid 50's. I have had season tickets since the 70's sometime. Thank you for such an entertaining book.

No comments about Head Tide.

5 comments about Lincoln At Home : Two Glimpses of Abraham Lincoln's Family Life.

1. Lincoln idoloters will inevitably try to manufacture something to idolize in this tragic, dark, tormented figure whose desperation was so great that Alfted Taylor Bledsoe, who resided at Globe Tavern simultaneously with the Lincolns, whose law office was next to Lincoln, who joined with Lincoln in Whig politican, and who taught Lincoln the use of the broadsword when Lincoln's indiscretion caught him in the Shield's affair, could only bring forth the deepest empathy for his suffering. It was Mrs. Bledsoe who carried for Mrs. Lincoln and Robert Lincoln post-partum. And, it was Dr. Bledsoe whose monumental Was Davis a Traitor (1968) reveals as well an any the shaky and erronous philosophical base of Mr. Lincoln's perversion of the constitutional compact. Lincoln, a despairing infidel, a spiritualist, a rabid story steller and ranconteur, a white supremist and segregationist, but masterful in argument before a jury and, in fact, honest in personal dealings, the type of person who, according to Dr. Bledsoe, did not so much as plant a tree at his dwelling.



2. Lincoln idoloters will inevitably try to manufacture something to idolize in this tragic, dark, tormented figure whose desperation was so great that Alfted Taylor Bledsoe, who resided at Globe Tavern simultaneously with the Lincolns, whose law office was next to Lincoln, who joined with Lincoln in Whig politican, and who taught Lincoln the use of the broadsword when Lincoln's indiscretion caught him in the Shield's affair, could only bring forth the deepest empathy for his suffering. It was Mrs. Bledsoe who carried for Mrs. Lincoln and Robert Lincoln post-partum. And, it was Dr. Bledsoe whose monumental Was Davis a Traitor (1968) reveals as well an any the shaky and erronous philosophical base of Mr. Lincoln's perversion of the constitutional compact. Lincoln, a despairing infidel, a spiritualist, a rabid story steller and ranconteur, a white supremist and segregationist, but masterful in argument before a jury and, in fact, honest in personal dealings, the type of person who, according to Dr. Bledsoe, did not so much as plant a tree at his dwelling.



3. Lincoln idoloters will inevitably try to manufacture something to idolize in this tragic, dark, tormented figure whose desperation was so great that Alfted Taylor Bledsoe, who resided at Globe Tavern simultaneously with the Lincolns, whose law office was next to Lincoln, who joined with Lincoln in Whig politican, and who taught Lincoln the use of the broadsword when Lincoln's indiscretion caught him in the Shield's affair, could only bring forth the deepest empathy for his suffering. It was Mrs. Bledsoe who cared for Mrs. Lincoln and Robert Lincoln post-partum. And, it was Dr. Bledsoe whose monumental work Was Davis a Traitor (1968) reveals as well an any the shaky and erronous philosophical base of Mr. Lincoln's perversion of the constitutional compact. Lincoln, a despairing infidel, a spiritualist, a rabid story steller and ranconteur, a white supremist and segregationist, but masterful in argument before a jury and, in fact, honest in personal dealings, the type of person who, according to Dr. Bledsoe, did not so much as plant a tree at his dwelling.



4. Noted Historian Donald, the author of the classic "Lincoln" biography, has adequately captured the kindness and inner beauty of our 16th President and his love of family in this slim, but well-written volume.

   The book is divided into two parts, an essay written originally as a speech before former President Bush on Lincoln's domestic life in the White House - how he and the First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln coped with the agony of war and the tragic loss of their son Willie.

   The second part of the book comprises all of the known letter correspondence between President Lincoln, and his wife and sons - and vice versa. Here we find that Robert Lincoln clearly was not too thrilled about his father becoming the Republican Presidential nominee in 1860, how Abraham Lincoln clearly fussed and agonized over son's Tad's missing (but eventually found) goat, all the more poignant because of Willie's death, and the tragic fire that claimed Willie's pony (not mentioned in this book). Or how Lincoln seemingly dispassionately mentioned in his correspondence to his wife the loss of Mary Todd Lincoln's Brother-In-Law, the Confederate General Ben Hardin Helm at the battle of Chickamauga.

   Donald has given us a beautifully presented and written book, a worthy gift to the Lincoln and Civil War reader - the only reason why I gave it four stars instead of five was that it is too pricey for a non fleshed-out biography, but would definitely be worth the fifth star at a bargain-based price.




5. I'm not sure what T. Rogers who gave two reviews is talking about. Is he even reviewing THIS book? Anyway, I'll have to agree with one reviewer. No matter how you look at it, this book had $$$$$$ on it. David Donald wrote probably the greatest biography of LINCOLN in the last 40 years. Why something so shallow and pricey as this? As ABBA would say "money, money, money" - David Donald has not only sold the reader short, he has sold his own ability short. Anyone that can produce some of the prior works he has on Lincoln, and then this. Hey, this book isn't that bad as a gift (which it was for me), or something in the $1.00 bargain bin, not a bad deal at all. However, don't spend your hard earned money paying $30 (insane), $10 or even $5 on this book. Its ok, but not over $1 ok. Listen, for five dollars, I'd rather be looking over my five Dollar Lincoln instead of the five dollar Lincoln book. If your ever at a $1 book sale, I recommend! If you get it as a gift read it.

No comments about Abraham Lincoln -- Lincoln Laughing - The Stories, Jokes and Anecdotes of Abraham Lincoln.

1 comments about The Physical Lincoln.

1. A very thoughtful and thorough book on Lincoln from the perspective of his physiology, well-written and surprisingly easy to absorb given the extensive detail, evidence and data. If you're a fan of presidents or specifically of one of our best, I suspect you'll probably enjoy how the author uncovers (through exhaustive research) Lincoln's physical frailties. It's not a light literary romp(I definitely looked up a few words and had to read sections over to make sure I grasped them), but it was totally worth the investment!

No comments about Visioning And Visualization: People, Pixels, and Plans.