After a long sabbattical, I am writing this post. Rather, I must confess that I am forced to write this post as my mind is still reckoning with thoughts of George Mallory, a man who dared to dream and at least tried to execute the dream with strong grit and determination. I happened to read "Paths of Glory" by Jeffrey Archer which is inspired from the true story of a man named George Leigh Mallory.
I was quite amazed by Archer's flow of words and though I could not finish this book in one sitting, this turned out to be a page turner from the day I started reading it. Now after 2 weeks since I finished reading this book, I am still thinking whether George Mallory reached the summit of Mt. Everest or not and what could have possibly happened. This one book is something to treasure for anyone who dares to dream and one of the best works of Archer ever.
The life journey of Mallory from childhood to adulthood has been brilliantly portrayed and he is shown to be a man with abundant faith in himself. Be it the time when he tries to climb over the wall for his Cambridge interview, or his Eiffel Tower expedition, or his Mont Blanc episodes with George Finch and Geoffrey Young (to name a few), the excitement never ends and the book has many more of his escapades which are depicted wonderfully. The love relationship that he shared with Ruth has no words to describe. I especially loved the way he writes a letter to Ruth at every point of time, irrespective of being away serving in Military or in teeth-chatterring twenty thousand feet above sea level. His wife Ruth's support through every walk of his life has been written very passionately. Towards the stunning finale, all you could yearn for is the return of Mallory but all you get are the letters that he had written before making the final assault on the summit. Though it is important to be caring and affectionate in a relationship, being understandable and supportive to your partner's dream is what makes the relationship glitter. In that context, I think Mallory and Ruth had an special bonding and they indeed were made for each other.
George Finch as his climbing partner is shown to be a person with an annoying attitude. But when RGS attempts to knock him out of the climbing party list, Mallory defends him and brings him on aboard for the first assault even though he is shown as a potential threat to Mallory's dream of being the first man to be on the summit. However, towards the end, when Finch tells Ruth that Mallory would not have died if he was his partner brought a huge respect for this character whom I hated until then. Geoffrey Young as President of Alpine Club, who motivates Mallory everytime and also the main reason for the hero to be in RGS is shown more as a fatherly figure to Mallory. The other characters ably support the main characters.
It might have been possible that Mallory reached the summit as the photograph of Ruth was missing from his wallet when his body was discovered in 1999 by the rescue team and he had promised Ruth that he will place her photograph at the summit when he reaches there. It does not really matter if George Mallory reached the summit or not. But, in history, he is the first ever man to have dreamt to be on the top of Mt. Everest and he was the first one who tried to execute the same as early as 1921.
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