Ultimate High

出版者:Discovery Books

作者:Goran Kropp

页数:240

出版时间:2000-10-1

价格:GBP 13.95

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9781563319365

具体描述

Why just climb Everest when you can climb it without supplemental oxygen? Why just climb it without oxygen when you can climb it alone? And why fly to Nepal to climb Everest when you can bicycle all the way there? Apparently, questions such as these occurred to Göran Kropp, a Swede with a taste for adventure and a desire for the Ultimate High. In October 1995, Kropp set out from Sweden with a bicycle, a trailer, and over 200 pounds of equipment. Over the next four months, he cycled some 7,000 miles across Eastern Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. By the time he arrived in Kathmandu, Kropp had been shot at, pelted with rocks, and offered the madam's daughter--free of charge--in a Hungarian brothel.

After carrying his own equipment up to Everest Base Camp, Kropp found himself surrounded by other climbers, all waiting for a break in the weather so they could attempt the summit. Many books have been written about that disastrous season on Everest, notably Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air and Anatoli Boukreev's The Climb. Kroop adds little of substance to the story, engaging mainly in camp gossip about who was sleeping with whom and "outing" climbers who lied about reaching summits. Even Kropp's account of his own climb is somewhat suspenseless--though some readers will be relieved that he doesn't go into too much detail about his physical breakdown. More tiresome is Kropp's clear disdain for climbers who use supplemental oxygen. ("Mount Everest is not 29,028 feet tall if the mountain is scaled by a climber wearing an oxygen mask.") He also despises climbers who "see Everest and other high peaks reduced to trophies kept in a china cabinet"--though his "Ultimate Mountain List" (he's already climbed 16 of the 22) seems a bit like a trophy room itself.

After he finally reached the summit--on his third attempt in under a month--Kropp spent a few weeks recuperating in Kathmandu and then hopped on his bike for the long and rugged ride home. Not satisfied, Kropp is already planning and training for his next adventure, to take place in 2004: sailing from Sweden to Antarctica, skiing to the South Pole, and returning--all solo. That he is only just learning to sail doesn't dissuade him--"I like to jump headfirst into new projects." Ultimate High is proof that he's determined--and crazy--enough to complete them. --Sunny Delaney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

作者简介

Göran Kropp (December 11, 1966 – September 30, 2002) was a Swedish adventurer and mountaineer, born in Eskilstuna in south Sweden. He is most famous for his May 23, 1996 solo ascent of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen or Sherpa support.

用户评价

这是一本需要用“耐心”去品味的厚重之作，但回报是巨大的。它绝非那种追求刺激的爆米花小说，它的节奏是深沉而富有韵律的，更像是一部交响乐，开场缓慢，蓄力良久，然后在高潮部分将所有旋律和主题完美地融合在一起。我必须承认，在中间部分，故事的推进速度一度放缓，一些历史背景的陈述占据了较大的篇幅，如果不是被作者精妙的文字功底所吸引，可能很多人会选择搁置。但正是这些看似“拖沓”的部分，铸就了最后史诗般结局的震撼力。当最终的真相被揭示，所有的牺牲、所有的等待，都找到了它们存在的意义。最后的收尾，处理得极其克制而有力，没有过度渲染悲壮，而是留下了一个充满希望，却又留有余韵的开放式结尾。合上书本的那一刻，我感受到了一种精神上的充实感，仿佛经历了一场漫长而深刻的朝圣之旅，对人生的某些基本问题有了全新的、更深一层的理解。

这本书中的对话场景设计堪称教科书级别，每一个人物的口吻都带着强烈的辨识度，完全没有那种“千人一面”的刻板印象。反派角色的塑造尤其成功，他们不是扁平化的邪恶符号，而是有着自己完整逻辑和合理化路径的个体，他们的动机复杂且难以捉摸，使得主角的每一次对抗都充满了智力上的博弈。我甚至有那么一瞬间，会站在反派的角度去理解他们的行为，这才是真正优秀文学作品的体现——它迫使你跳出既定的道德框架去审视世界。而主角与导师之间的互动，则充满了古典主义的张力和传承的重量感。他们的每一次交锋，与其说是言语上的争论，不如说是两种世界观的碰撞，每一次看似轻描淡写的指点，都蕴含着对整个世界观的深刻解读。我将那些精彩的对白单独摘抄了一页，反复品味，那种文字的张力，是经得起反复推敲的，绝对不是那种读完就忘的快餐文学。

如果从纯粹的“世界构建”角度来看，这本书无疑达到了一个令人咋舌的高度。作者似乎构建了一个与我们现实世界并行，却又遵循着自己独特物理法则的宇宙。那种关于能量循环、历史分期和物种演化的设定，严谨得让人信服。我特意去查阅了一些相关的神话学和古代哲学概念，发现作者的知识储备是如此深厚，他将这些复杂的理论巧妙地编织进了故事的骨架之中，使得奇幻的元素也带上了一种坚实的理性基础。例如，书中对于“记忆如何影响现实”的阐述，我就觉得非常新颖且具有哲学深度，它颠覆了我对时间线和个人历史的传统认知。这种细节的打磨，使得读者在阅读时，可以清晰地“看见”那个世界的运作方式，而不是仅仅停留在表面的描述上。我甚至希望作者能出版一本配套的“世界设定集”，因为光靠小说本身的信息量，已经足够让人沉迷其中，进行长期的考据和推演了。

这本书的封面设计简直是视觉的盛宴，那种深邃的蓝色调搭配着烫金的字体，立刻就给人一种高贵、神秘的感觉。我拿到手的时候，光是摩挲着封面纹理，就能想象出作者在构思这个世界时投入的心血。故事伊始，作者并未急于抛出惊天动地的事件，而是花了大量的篇幅去描绘主角所处的那个边缘小镇的日常。那种慢节奏的生活，被刻画得入木三分，每一个街角的咖啡馆，每一扇老旧的木窗，都仿佛能触摸到历史的尘埃。我特别喜欢他对环境细致入微的描写，比如清晨薄雾中，空气里弥漫的泥土和松针混合的味道，这种感官上的沉浸感，让我几乎忘记了自己正坐在家里的沙发上。主角的性格塑造也极其细腻，他内心的挣扎、对自我身份的迷茫，都被作者用一种近乎诗意的语言娓娓道来，让人对他产生强烈的共鸣，仿佛在读的不是别人的故事，而是自己未曾说出口的内心独白。这种铺垫，为后续剧情的爆发积蓄了足够的情感张力，让人忍不住一页接一页地翻下去，渴望知道这个看似平静的表象下，究竟隐藏着怎样的暗流涌动。

老实说，这本书的叙事结构比起我最近看过的几本热门小说要复杂得多，它像是一张编织精密的网，每一个角色、每一条支线似乎都承载着某种特殊的象征意义。我尤其欣赏作者在处理时间线上的高明手法，时不时地插入一些闪回或者预示性的片段，这些碎片化的信息像散落的宝石，需要读者自己去拼凑，才能窥见全貌。初读时，我承认有些地方感到困惑，有些术语和背景设定需要反复琢磨，但这恰恰是这本书的魅力所在——它不喂养你，而是挑战你。这种需要主动参与解码的过程，极大地提升了阅读的智力上的乐趣。当那些看似毫不相关的线索，在某个关键章节突然交汇，那种豁然开朗的“顿悟”感，是阅读体验中无与伦比的奖赏。书中对权力结构和道德困境的探讨，也远远超越了一般的奇幻设定，它触及了人性深处关于选择与代价的永恒命题，读完后，脑海中久久萦绕的不是宏大的战争场面，而是那些个体在巨大洪流面前的无力与坚韧。