Customer Reviews
couldn't put this down!! - By: L. Ringrose, 29 Apr 2008 
like the others i saw Bear on tv & thought heres someone with a good sense of humour & would make a brilliant uncle with his adventure stories, this book relates to much more than climbing Everest it could be parallleled to lifes struggles & your own personal Everest, what i took from it is that if you have the tenacity,determination & the burning desire to conquer something thats seems insurmountable it can be done, i liked Bears references to his faith (i am of no religion) but it struck me that if you have a belief it certainly will help get you through, good luck to him, this book left me wanting more Uncle Bears tales!!
Decent Adventure yarn - By: R. Howe, 31 Aug 2007 
Mr Otter - perhaps you should do some research yourself. The Unit to which `shotoff' refers is 21 SAS, which is the territorial equivalent of the regular Army's 22 SAS. There's also a Northern-based Unit designated as 23 SAS, & they're TA also. And yes, I agree with `shotoff' that Grylls military background has always been a bit mysterious, & in the book (or on any TV show I've seen him on), it's never reallly clear exactly what he's done. And I don't believe that's a function of secrecy surrounding the SAS, I just think that maybe his military background is not as credible as a publisher would like to project....
Anyway, I found this book to be thoroughly well-written story of a breathtaking adventure. Grylls clearly has a great deal of knowledge & credibility in his field & this knowledge reallly shines through his writing. However, having said that, I agree that it won't join the classics of mountain literature. It's a cracking read, but it just lacks that little bit of insight for me, that slight lack of context between man & his surroundings that defines a classic. If you want a great adventure from your armchair, read this book; if you want a book to take traveling with you on a climbing exped, you'll take Krakauer or Simpson.
Response to Shotoff - By: Mr. David N. Otter, 18 Jul 2007 Shotoff - thankyou so much for your insightful review of this book. Unfortunately the only thing I learnt was that you should probably consider getting out more. Critisising the book as you did is ludicrous - this is not Pulitzer prize winning novel & nor does it make any pretence to be. It is simply a story of someone who has challlenged himself to the extreme to achieve his dream. Pulling the book apart for grammar & criticising the climbing techniques of someone who climbed everest at 23 seems rather peculiar. Add to the the reference to him having been in the TA, when actuallly he spent 3 years in the SAS where he broke his back - only to then later take part in this climb - & your misguided comments become laughable. Take the book as it is intended & enjoy it - if you want a literary masterpiece then there's plenty of Chaucer around to keep you quiet for a good few years.
Well Worth A Read - By: B. Harte, 24 Apr 2007 I decided to buy this book after watching Bear Grylls in his Born Survivor/Man vs. Wild role as I found him to be quite a likeable guy. I was also impressed when I heard of his attempt to scale Everest after breaking his back in two places.
I had never reallly been alll that interested in mountain climbing but after reading this book I have a huge amount of respect for the men & women who attempt to climb this beast of a mountain.
The book is written in a very 'easy to pick up' way, you need no prior knowledge of moutain climbing to enjoy it & my suspicions about Bears likeability were confirmed.
It is a great read & a great introduction to both Everest & the world of extreme mountaineering & I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
An amazing story - By: Mr. G. Wellsted, 30 Jan 2007 I notice that a few of the reviewers have criticised the author / book for bad grammar. [...]
This is a truly inspiring story & is a fantastic example of how anything can be acheived if you've the will & determination to see it through.
