Fragile Edge: A Personal Portrait of Loss on Everest
A deeply personal love story & a penetrating look into the world of professional climbers

Format	Book	Category	Narratives
Title	Fragile Edge: A Personal Portrait of Loss on Everest	Pages	231
Author	Maria Coffey, (Foreword by Sir Christopher Bonington)	RRP	$12.00 AUD
Publisher	Arrow Books (Paperback).	Reviews	1
Edition	2003 (book was 1st published in 1989).	Ave Rating	(3.50 of 5)

User

Comments

IdratherbeclimbingM9 6/30/2008

Just finished this and have now started her next book (Where the Mtn Casts its Shadow). It is an interesting insight to the world of High Mountaineering and confirms what I have read in other books about the pace of life that these folk live when they climb hard / party hard... For me it came across as a bit voyeuristic in that we were given a bird’s eye view of the grief process she went through; though I did not buy the book for that reason. I knew that would be its focus, but was more interested in the things that made the difference/s in her life. It must have been hard not knowing what specifically happened to Joe, especially after Pete was found many years later, but I am glad she came to accept ‘not knowing’ as a part of the healing process after her pilgrimage to Chomolungma. It is interesting how that process took shape and the outcome depended on all the little things along the way, rather than some epiphany experience. Also interesting that her subsequent introduction to climbing made a difference to her perceptions. In hindsight it is also a testimony to how Tibet has changed / continues to do so, under Chinese occupation. The book stands alone as a snapshot in time in that respect. The little I have read of her next book so far, leads me to think that it is a much more revealing read, though I am glad to have the context provided by the first one.

Further Reading:
Amazon - Details, purchasing, etc.