Review by calciumm -- The Altitude Journals
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calciumm
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Review by calciumm -- 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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A journey of struggle, finding purpose, and love across the seven summits over the span of seven years, The Altitude Journals by David J Mauro is a non-fiction adventure memoir based on his personal struggles and how the calling of the different mountains from different continents helped him overcome his own personal mountains.
The author's journey started on the lowest point of his life, his divorce with his wife. At first, everything seems to be going fine with his life, he had a great job as a financial planner, he had his two kids and his wife. However, their marriage is falling apart slowly over the years. After their separation, David, the author and also the main character of the book, moved in with her sister's house where he contemplated on what his life had become after the divorce. Alone on his 44th birthday in his sister's guest room, with nothing but his thoughts of his failures and disappointments in his life, David received a mail from his other sister's husband, Ty Hardt. This mail, which contained an invitation to climb a mountain with Ty, would eventually lead him to a seven-year journey of physical, mental and emotional hardship where he would learn a great deal about his personal struggles and overcoming it while trying to reach different summits of different mountains and life.
There are a lot of really good points that I like in this book. I'm not really a fan of nonfiction works as I rarely read them for fun because most of the nonfiction works I've read before just doesn't seem to interest me, but The Altitude Journals is really different from the other nonfiction works I've read before. The book keeps its readers interested in the story through the thrilling recount of the author's journey of each climb that he has taken, making it feel as if the reader was actually a part of the adventure, as well as injecting humor to the story every now and then (esp. his hilarious commentary about how a leech bites a person). I also liked how the author kept the rawness of his adventure through not leaving out parts that may seem gross to other readers, making it very realistic and true to what the author really experienced. The author also explains the technicalities or jargons used by mountain climbers so that the ordinary readers would get what they mean and not feel lost while reading the story. Most of all, I really like the cohesiveness of the story, even connecting points mentioned earlier in the story to the latter parts.
However, there is one part that I felt unnecessary to be included in the book, which is his dream about a celebrity. It doesn't really have any relevance to the story, so I feel like that part shouldn't have been included.There are also pictures of his journey in the book that some readers may like, but I personally didn't like it because I think the pictures are kind of lacking in terms of emotions compared to what I just read regarding that certain picture. There are also some words that are too deep for a person who has an average vocabulary might have trouble understanding, but personally I did not mind it. There are only a few grammatical errors and spelling errors, and really, the points that I didn't liked were so few compared to the adventure that I experienced while reading the book, so I give it a 4 out of 4 stars.
I highly recommend this book to those who love to read an adventure nonfiction story, and to young adults and adults alike who may be struggling with some of their own personal mountains. The Altitude Journals is a really inspiring and entertaining book, and has a very mature take on personal problems aside from its promised, thrilling journey in climbing mountains.
******
The Altitude Journals
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4 out of 4 stars
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A journey of struggle, finding purpose, and love across the seven summits over the span of seven years, The Altitude Journals by David J Mauro is a non-fiction adventure memoir based on his personal struggles and how the calling of the different mountains from different continents helped him overcome his own personal mountains.
The author's journey started on the lowest point of his life, his divorce with his wife. At first, everything seems to be going fine with his life, he had a great job as a financial planner, he had his two kids and his wife. However, their marriage is falling apart slowly over the years. After their separation, David, the author and also the main character of the book, moved in with her sister's house where he contemplated on what his life had become after the divorce. Alone on his 44th birthday in his sister's guest room, with nothing but his thoughts of his failures and disappointments in his life, David received a mail from his other sister's husband, Ty Hardt. This mail, which contained an invitation to climb a mountain with Ty, would eventually lead him to a seven-year journey of physical, mental and emotional hardship where he would learn a great deal about his personal struggles and overcoming it while trying to reach different summits of different mountains and life.
There are a lot of really good points that I like in this book. I'm not really a fan of nonfiction works as I rarely read them for fun because most of the nonfiction works I've read before just doesn't seem to interest me, but The Altitude Journals is really different from the other nonfiction works I've read before. The book keeps its readers interested in the story through the thrilling recount of the author's journey of each climb that he has taken, making it feel as if the reader was actually a part of the adventure, as well as injecting humor to the story every now and then (esp. his hilarious commentary about how a leech bites a person). I also liked how the author kept the rawness of his adventure through not leaving out parts that may seem gross to other readers, making it very realistic and true to what the author really experienced. The author also explains the technicalities or jargons used by mountain climbers so that the ordinary readers would get what they mean and not feel lost while reading the story. Most of all, I really like the cohesiveness of the story, even connecting points mentioned earlier in the story to the latter parts.
However, there is one part that I felt unnecessary to be included in the book, which is his dream about a celebrity. It doesn't really have any relevance to the story, so I feel like that part shouldn't have been included.There are also pictures of his journey in the book that some readers may like, but I personally didn't like it because I think the pictures are kind of lacking in terms of emotions compared to what I just read regarding that certain picture. There are also some words that are too deep for a person who has an average vocabulary might have trouble understanding, but personally I did not mind it. There are only a few grammatical errors and spelling errors, and really, the points that I didn't liked were so few compared to the adventure that I experienced while reading the book, so I give it a 4 out of 4 stars.
I highly recommend this book to those who love to read an adventure nonfiction story, and to young adults and adults alike who may be struggling with some of their own personal mountains. The Altitude Journals is a really inspiring and entertaining book, and has a very mature take on personal problems aside from its promised, thrilling journey in climbing mountains.
******
The Altitude Journals
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like calciumm's review? Post a comment saying so!
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joycechitwa
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This book sounds like more of a personal journal of the author's expeditions of mountain climbing. Though it seems that his story has a sad beginning of his whole life crumbling when he encountered a divorce, the author seems to find some sort of solace in his mountaineering experiences. This read particularly intrigued me because I have entertained the thought of climbing a few mountains at some point in life. Thanks for the review.
Latest Review: Chrome Mountain by Ben Schneider
