Review by Iviss -- The Altitude Journals by David J Mauro

[Iviss]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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What happens when you reach the extreme in order to pick up the pieces of your shattered life? How far are you ready to go to bring your life back to normal? If you read the book The Altitude Journals by David J. Mauro, you will get the answers to these questions. The book portrays an epic adventure of a middle-aged man, and his spiritual journey on the road to recovery.

After experiencing the devastating divorce, Dave Mauro's life turns upside down. The relationship with his sons changes, the job goes badly,his brother dies, and he ends up living in his sister's home. However, everything changes when his brother-in-law, Ty, offers him to climb one of the seven highest mountains in the world, Denali. This is how Dave begins a seven-year journey "from the lowest point of his life to the highest point on Earth." In the years to come, Dave survived wastelands, glaciers, avalanches and dense forests, spoke with the dead, witnessed the death of a climber, had contact with cannibals and gunrunners, and saw amazing animals, like penguins and elephants. The self-proclaimed "armchair climber" has become "the super-climber".

The book is a great insight into midlife crisis, the period when you are too old to start all over again, but too young to give up on your life. Based on a personal experience, the book teaches us to follow the calling, to be courageous to start something new, and that everything is possible. This man succeeded in doing something absolutely amazing. Not only had he climbed the seven highest mountains in the world, but also found a true love, his soulmate, Lin Lehn. He discovered his inner strength and realized that he can live and love again.

I like this amazing book for many reasons, and mainly because of the great message it conveys. We all have our mountains standing in front us, the barriers that we are unable to conquer. But this book made me realize that there is no mountain that is unsurmountable and that we need to follow the calling or have a goal in life. Each of the chapters is essential for in each of them there is a moral lesson, and Dave gets stronger and wiser after each of the experience. Secondly, there are historical facts about each of the seven summits which are very interesting and educative, and since I will never climb them it was very amusing to read and learn about them.

Based on all the facts mentioned above, as well as the fact that I myself felt like a climber, trying to reach the top of "my Everest" while reading it, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.

Being the story about a journey, both physical and spiritual, love, power, inner strength, and the ability to believe in oneself again, this book is not just an account on mountain climbing. It is a story about ups and downs, unfulfilled dreams and the power to reach the top. Therefore, I recommend everyone to read this book and become trapped in this wonderful world of adventure, imagination and climbing.

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The Altitude Journals
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