Paths of Glory...

Here I am, Back after a very very long gap. Wondering where I have been for nearly 2 years?Have i been on a tour in the wilderness of Africa? Or was I on a trek to the south pole? Or maybe climbing Mt Everest? Or was I in a gadget boycott mode? Well, not at all. It was just that I have been plain lazy to open blogger and make a post. Although I spend a great part of the day online, somehow when it came to opening blogger, I turned into a frozen block....

Having said that, after continous application of heat by many people urging me to blog again, I finally melted and here I am.. Back to blogging my 'Random Musings'...

Wondering what the title of the blog has got to all this?Nothing at all till this point. Was just coming to that. Coming back after a long gap, I needed something to write about, and a review of a recent book I read seemed to be a good choice. The book was called 'Paths of Glory' by Jeffery Archer. This was his latest book and is a fictionalized adaptation of a true story.

'Paths of Glory' is the story of the life of George Mallory, a famous English Mountaineer and his attempt to scale the highest mountain on earth. Mount Everest. Today lot of people have climbed Everest, so what is special about George Mallory? Well, it is the fact that Mallory attempted to climb Everest in 1924. That was more than 30 years before Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay did it for the first time. Mallory was last seen 200 feet from the summit of Everest by his team mate in the 1924 expendition. He was not seen since and his body was recovered only in 1999. There have been many theories as to whether Mallory actually reached the summit and went missing and died on the way down. If that is the case can Mallory be considered the first man to scale Everest?

This is what Jeffery Archer attempts to explore in this book. The book traces the life of George Mallory and his family. The narrative flows along expected lines and there are no great surprises, as it would be expected from an true story. The main point that makes you continue to read to the end is to see Jeffery Archer's conclusion as to whether Mallory scaled Everest and how he justifies the conclusion. That is one of the major plus points of the book. Also, in true Archer style, he involves you deeply with the lead characters. You feel Mallory's emotions as your own.

On the negative side, there are no major twists or surprises in the narrative. And as a person who has read all of Jeffery Archer books multiple times, this was not as fast moving and filled with surprises as his earlier books. Maybe you can expect only that much from a true story.

All things said, if you enjoy reading and like the Jeffery Archer style, you will still find this a good read. Yes, it is quite different from his earlier works, but maybe thats what would make you like it....