Review by sheeps44 -- The Altitude Journals
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sheeps44
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Review by sheeps44 -- The Altitude Journals
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Altitude Journals" by David J Mauro.]
4 out of 4 stars
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[The Following is a Onlinebookclub review of “The Altitude Journals” by David J. Mauro]
There exists a mountain-climbing challenge simply known as ‘The Seven Summits’ You essentially have to climb up seven of the highest mountains throughout the world. The Altitude Journals Is a memoir of the David J. Mauro’s own experience of the challenge, and how it changed his outlook on life after years of strife and failures.
The book begins with a prologue chapter, it summarises our Author: David J. Mauro’s life before he started the Seven Summit challenge, briefly talking about his tragedies and failures that led him agreeing to climb after an offer from a friend.
This chapter gives us a nice and compact overview of the Author’s life and how it eventually led to him accepting the climb. As the Author believed at the time that his life was in such disarray, failing on the first mountain climb was considered to be an achievement rather than a failure. It gives us a nice glimpse of the Author’s personality during this time. As the many problems in his life hardened him considerably.
The book’s greatest strength is that lacks the purple prose that some other memoirs are riddled with, the book gives me a vibe that David J. Mauro is a very intelligent but ultimately straight-to-the-point kind of guy. He doesn’t spend two whole pages describing the sky, he uses short but solid wordplay to get his themes across.
It’s very refreshing as memoirs tend to do this as an attempt to make things seem more impactful, David knew that you don’t always have to detail concepts and subject to make it important to the narrative.
I would say though, one of the flaws that this book has is that they’re some filler sections within the chapters, they’re just some paragraphs that are dedicated to making the journey more authentic due to the Author writing down everything that he experienced. While it does give it a more organic feel, it does slow down the pace of the book. Thankfully, these little tangents do not hamper the quality of the story.
The themes of loss, perseverance, and determination are relatable and applicable as each chapter focuses on an aspect of these themes through the Author’s experiences and struggles.
These themes are another positive about the book as they are good themes but they are told in a more appealing instead of just stating these terms and concepts without rhyme or reason. It is instead shown through the Author’s retelling of his challenges of climbing the Seven Summits. Instead of being talked down to explain these elements and why they’re important, David J. Mauro instead shows us these messages through actions and experiences rather than descriptions and lectures. Giving us a very relatable and understandable way of writing.
Another thing that I liked was that they’re some genuinely funny moments within the book, allowing the readers to feel comfortable and at ease during the dramatic experiences.
After reading The Altitude Journals my rating for this book is a 4 out of 4 Stars The reason for this rating is that its themes are relatable and well-written throughout the story, the writing itself is straight, to-the-point and not needlessly prosed or complicated which benefits the overall simple but fascinating story. All coupled with simple but effective wordplay.
******
The Altitude Journals
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like sheeps44's review? Post a comment saying so!
4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
[The Following is a Onlinebookclub review of “The Altitude Journals” by David J. Mauro]
There exists a mountain-climbing challenge simply known as ‘The Seven Summits’ You essentially have to climb up seven of the highest mountains throughout the world. The Altitude Journals Is a memoir of the David J. Mauro’s own experience of the challenge, and how it changed his outlook on life after years of strife and failures.
The book begins with a prologue chapter, it summarises our Author: David J. Mauro’s life before he started the Seven Summit challenge, briefly talking about his tragedies and failures that led him agreeing to climb after an offer from a friend.
This chapter gives us a nice and compact overview of the Author’s life and how it eventually led to him accepting the climb. As the Author believed at the time that his life was in such disarray, failing on the first mountain climb was considered to be an achievement rather than a failure. It gives us a nice glimpse of the Author’s personality during this time. As the many problems in his life hardened him considerably.
The book’s greatest strength is that lacks the purple prose that some other memoirs are riddled with, the book gives me a vibe that David J. Mauro is a very intelligent but ultimately straight-to-the-point kind of guy. He doesn’t spend two whole pages describing the sky, he uses short but solid wordplay to get his themes across.
It’s very refreshing as memoirs tend to do this as an attempt to make things seem more impactful, David knew that you don’t always have to detail concepts and subject to make it important to the narrative.
I would say though, one of the flaws that this book has is that they’re some filler sections within the chapters, they’re just some paragraphs that are dedicated to making the journey more authentic due to the Author writing down everything that he experienced. While it does give it a more organic feel, it does slow down the pace of the book. Thankfully, these little tangents do not hamper the quality of the story.
The themes of loss, perseverance, and determination are relatable and applicable as each chapter focuses on an aspect of these themes through the Author’s experiences and struggles.
These themes are another positive about the book as they are good themes but they are told in a more appealing instead of just stating these terms and concepts without rhyme or reason. It is instead shown through the Author’s retelling of his challenges of climbing the Seven Summits. Instead of being talked down to explain these elements and why they’re important, David J. Mauro instead shows us these messages through actions and experiences rather than descriptions and lectures. Giving us a very relatable and understandable way of writing.
Another thing that I liked was that they’re some genuinely funny moments within the book, allowing the readers to feel comfortable and at ease during the dramatic experiences.
After reading The Altitude Journals my rating for this book is a 4 out of 4 Stars The reason for this rating is that its themes are relatable and well-written throughout the story, the writing itself is straight, to-the-point and not needlessly prosed or complicated which benefits the overall simple but fascinating story. All coupled with simple but effective wordplay.
******
The Altitude Journals
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like sheeps44's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Our pastor has gone mad again by Elijah Oladimeji
