Alone on the Wall

Really didn't like this one. Tbh, I skimmed it after the first ~third because it was so insufferable. Don't get me wrong: Alex Honnold's climbing achievements are truly incredible. But I'm not into climbing, nor have any desire to be, so all of the technical language and narratives around specific climbs were boring to me. And then Alex himself presents as a misogynistic megalomaniac, though that's not at all how he or the journalist writing the other half of this book present him. He's unlikeable, untelatable, and one-dimensional. Also words I would use to describe this book.

You know that pit-of-your-stomach feeling you get when you watch Alex free solo? It comes across in print, too, only it's harder to avert your eyes.

Not much point in writing a review: if you're a climber you're probably going to read this; if you're not, you're not. At least right now in December 2015. But I'm writing this anyway, for a later audience: someone in the (I hope!) far distant future, hearing of Alex's death, and wanting to understand. No, dear reader, I don't think this book will help you understand. What it might do, though, is offer a sense of satisfaction. Not in the “he died doing what he loved” sense—I find that an empty sentiment—but in the “he led a worthwhile life” one.

He does, I think, lead a fulfilling and worthwhile life. He's definitely an asset to the world: kind, smart, talented, humble, generous. He has accomplished more than most of us, and inspired millions in the process. I admire him; I just don't understand him, in the sense that I'll never understand Feynman or Einstein: genius is just too far a country.

What I find most bittersweet is that Alex hasn't yet met Murphy (“If anything can go wrong, it will”), at least in the sense that most of us have. So not only has Alex been incredibly lucky, this good luck has led him to pursue—and succeed at—riskier and riskier ventures. The end result so far has been beauty and joy. Murphy comes to everybody, though, and I fervently hope that Alex has a SRENE anchor when they meet.

The book is organised as intertwining parts by Alex himself and the editor. I find the pieces by Alex to be the most interesting, giving more of a personal feedback of his deeds. The parts by the editor are giving us more of a context and commentary, but to me, as a climber, they mostly seem unnecessary. Maybe besides those where he actually gives us backstoriea and inputs from other climbers and Alex's partners. Really the last part of the last chapter made me go for 4. Otherwise I would probably lean more towards 3 stars. However, the last pages revealed more of the personality, dreams, fears and thoughts of this outstanding climber. It's probably the second best book on individual climber I have read so far (best, by far, being The Art of Freedom by Bernadette McDonald). A definitive must read for a climbing aficionado!