Review by Jaime Lync -- The Altitude Journals

Jaime Lync · Post by **Jaime Lync** » 23 May 2019, 17:01

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Altitude Journals" by David J Mauro.]

4 out of 4 stars

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The Altitude Journals: A Seven-Year Journey from the Lowest Point in My Life to the Highest Point on Earth is an aptly titled memoir by David J. Mauro. At the age of forty-four, Mauro was battling depression. A recent divorcee, he had walked out of his lackluster marriage feeling like a failure. His dad had walked out on his family when he was young, so his conscience condemned him for doing the same to his sons. He was also still struggling with feelings of guilt because he could not prevent his brother from dying of alcoholism eight years prior. Ty, his brother-in-law, invited him to climb Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, for a documentary that he was filming. There, on that mountain, Mauro was forced to face his inner demons. He beautifully articulated, “Where mountains are so often metaphors of life, my life became a metaphor of this mountain.”

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The author is the 65th American to have successfully summited the highest mountains on each continent – the Seven Summits. Despite having accomplished such a great feat, Mauro’s humility shines through: the conversational tone of his writing, the openness about his struggles and his acknowledgement of the help he got along the way. Since the author began blogging about mountain climbing during the seven-year period that he covers in this memoir, we are able to get very detailed descriptions of the events leading up to, during and after every climb.

Mauro climbed both physical and emotional mountains and while his story almost inspired me to climb physical mountains, it definitely motivated me to conquer the problems that seem like mountains in my life. Some of the themes that are addressed in this memoir include marriage, parenting, sexuality, death, forgiveness, teamwork and time-management. I did not agree with some of the author’s opinions, so I was glad that he presented them as his views and not as if they were facts. I also appreciated that he touched on some of these topics because it gave me an incentive to contemplate on my own views.

The book seems to have been professionally edited, as there were no distracting grammatical errors. This a great accomplishment considering that the book is approximately four hundred and fifty pages long. The chapters are named after the mountains in the chronological order in which he climbed them. Each chapter can be thought of as a compilation of journal entries or blogs. There were some entries that threw off the pacing of the story, but in general, the story was well paced.

In conclusion, I rate The Altitude Journals 4 out of 4 stars. I highly recommend it to mountain climbers and avid readers who enjoy motivational memoirs.

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The Altitude Journals
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kdstrack · Post by **kdstrack** » 01 Jun 2019, 16:13

With all we have been hearing about the perils of mountain climbing, this book interests me as to what goes into reaching these peaks. I appreciate your mention of the different themes the author reflects on the various chapters. Thanks for this thoughtful recommendation!

Jaime Lync · Post by **Jaime Lync** » 01 Jun 2019, 16:44

kdstrack wrote: ↑01 Jun 2019, 16:13 With all we have been hearing about the perils of mountain climbing, this book interests me as to what goes into reaching these peaks. I appreciate your mention of the different themes the author reflects on the various chapters. Thanks for this thoughtful recommendation!

Appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. This book will definitely shed some light into what it takes to make it to the top in mountain climbing.

Fazzier · Post by **Fazzier** » 02 Jun 2019, 00:00

It seems the author went through a lot; his dad walking out of their lives, himself having to walk out of his marriage, and being unable to prevent his brother from dying of alcoholism. I'm glad he found an alternative of climbing the mountain a remedy to his depression. This seems like a read full of adventures. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

Jaime Lync · Post by **Jaime Lync** » 02 Jun 2019, 12:29

Fazzier wrote: ↑02 Jun 2019, 00:00 It seems the author went through a lot; his dad walking out of their lives, himself having to walk out of his marriage, and being unable to prevent his brother from dying of alcoholism. I'm glad he found an alternative of climbing the mountain a remedy to his depression. This seems like a read full of adventures. Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

Appreciate you reading and commenting on this review. Yes, the author definitely went through a lot and he was able to overcome and this memoir is a real source of inspiration.

Hiruni Bhagya 81 · Post by **Hiruni Bhagya 81** » 02 Jun 2019, 15:18

The title of this book is something very suitable with the storyline. I'm sure this book will teach readers to not give up and it'll inspire them. So, thanks for your great review.

danielleamy · Post by **danielleamy** » 11 Jun 2019, 17:40

I don't tend to read memoirs and I can't say I've ever read a story about mountain climbing either. However, this book sounds very inspirational. I've seen some really positive reviews for this lately. It's also great to see you were able to reflect on your own life and values while reading. Thanks for the recommendation!