Review by jeminah28 -- The Altitude Journals

Jeremie Mondejar · Post by **Jeremie Mondejar** » 16 Sep 2019, 21:32

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

4 out of 4 stars

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David J. Mauro is a financial planner, an actor and a mountain climber that faces the most embarrassing journey of life. THE ALTITUDE JOURNALS , a memoir of Mr. David J. Mauro in a seven-year journey of reaching the tallest mountain on each continent. During this time, he was struggling with emotional battles in life. He suffered an emotional dilemma on the aftermath of divorce, childhood poverty and on his father's abandonment. Ty, his brother-in-law tried to convince him to climb Mt. Denali as a rookie. David accepted the offer and engaged in climbing one of the seven summits of the world. Preparations have begun. Exercise. Research. Budget. Provisions. He thought that Mt. Denali might be the first and the last of his climbing career, but he felt a new call to climb another summit.

David meets someone before his next climb; this person plays an important role in his life. Who is this person that makes David's life full of enthusiasm? Fast forward on the top of each summit, he called his loved ones to share his expedition's success. He even made an excellent habit during the summit day as a grieving process of a valuable person who had recently passed away. Family matters also never cease on his mind, every time he would climb each mountain. He affirmed, "wounds don't heal up high." Despite the hardship on reaching into thinner air, there was a moment of joy that only the ozone brotherhood can fully understand.

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars, David's commitment to climb each summit with only one attempt deserves the best applause. Besides that, he made his memoir more understandable to someone who does not have any experienced in mountaineering. The author was humorous in his memoir as he narrates his story, I found it enjoyable to read. I pay attention to his climbing moments and do some research for each summit; I salute for each climber. He even balanced every summit by discussing his family life and cultures of each summit location. There are pros and cons of each summit location which are David's techniques. If you are fond of climbing activity, this book is suited for you. Grab this book and learn the climbing ideas of David. Climbers will easily understand this book, but the book is quite long, so, I recommend this book to a person who has patience in reading someone's life story.

In the aspect of family matters, David showed his constant love, forgiveness, and understanding. Some main events of his life as well serve as a mirror to young couples. Thus far, this book is a sort of encouragement to someone suffering from depression and emotional crisis. David's positive outlook in life is enough to encourage a person who suffers from painful family struggles. Moreover, his climbing career was not so easy the way we think of it because it was more than he described in this book. I thought the air at sea level, or the low land was the same amount of oxygen in the high altitude. I was wrong and made me more hook on this book up to the end. I was intrigued every time the expedition begun even if it is a long read; I am happy that someone has written a life experience like this. I felt I was present on the summit day just by reading this book.

I appreciate David's style of writing using important events in his life which indicates a chapter than labeling it with the common word "chapter." He even made this book with grammatical coherence and no misspelled words which reveal it is professionally edited. Images on each summit are a plus on his memoir documentary. However, I'm a bit don't like the moment David teased the innocent girls of his red crimson.

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The Altitude Journals
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Post by **Ngozi Onyibor** » 01 Oct 2019, 03:46

David's mountain-climbing expeditions sounds really challenging and fun. I like that he was able to relate each summit he reached with his life situation. Thanks for your review.

gen_g · Post by **gen_g** » 01 Oct 2019, 05:39

This sounds like a great book for those interested in mountain climbing. I hope that the author takes your suggestions into consideration. Thank you for the insightful review.

Wyland · Post by **Wyland** » 02 Oct 2019, 07:04

I like the perseverance that David has put in spite of the hardships he has faced in life including childhood poverty, being abandoned by a parent and divorce. Thanks for your wonderful review.

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 02 Oct 2019, 12:39

I read self-help books, but not a lot. But it did not hinder me from reading your nice review. Thank you

Jeremie Mondejar · Post by **Jeremie Mondejar** » 04 Oct 2019, 00:17

Michelle Fred wrote: ↑01 Oct 2019, 03:46 David's mountain-climbing expeditions sounds really challenging and fun. I like that he was able to relate each summit he reached with his life situation. Thanks for your review.

Exactly! Thanks for stopping by. Indeed, every summit has a relevant meaning to his life.

Jeremie Mondejar · Post by **Jeremie Mondejar** » 09 Oct 2019, 05:51

gen_g wrote: ↑01 Oct 2019, 05:39 This sounds like a great book for those interested in mountain climbing. I hope that the author takes your suggestions into consideration. Thank you for the insightful review.

Thank you, you noticed it.

Jeremie Mondejar · Post by **Jeremie Mondejar** » 09 Oct 2019, 05:55

Wyland wrote: ↑02 Oct 2019, 07:04 I like the perseverance that David has put in spite of the hardships he has faced in life including childhood poverty, being abandoned by a parent and divorce. Thanks for your wonderful review.

Reading his story encourages me to persevere despite being a product of the broken family.