What is intrinsic to rock climbing that makes such excellent journalists of its enthusiasts? Is it the isolation that grants them time to think and muse on the human condition? Is it the investigation of ones soul, a prerequisite for extreme pursuits, that sharpens their minds for the re-tracing of complex stories? Whatever the cause, I'm grateful for it. It has given us authors the likes of Mr. Child and Mr. Krakauer, writers of both skill and distinction. Over The Edge is a tale almost as amazing as Into Thin Air. It is certainly a tale twice as bizarre. It is a tale that won't be forgotten.
In 2000, four rock-climbers from the United States traveled to the mountains of central Asia on a planned climbing trip. Fully supplied, they had no sooner set out on their adventure, across some of the most remote terrain on Earth, when Islamic rebels fighting an insurgency in Kyrgyzstan stumbled across them and, for six days, held them hostage. The rebels marched them through enemy terrain, forcing them to come under fire from the regulars in the Kyrgyz military who were targeting the rebels. Remarkably, the hostages managed to survive both the combat and their captivity, using English -- a foreign language to the rebels -- to plan their eventual breakout. Though this harrowing ordeal understandably takes center stage, Mr. Child is meticulous in his portrayal of each of the four Americans. And though his desire to give equal representation to the rebels is thwarted by both circumstance and the skittishness of Kyrgyz authorities, his efforts here have the thoroughness characteristic of dogged pursuit of the truth.
On their own, the ordeal and Mr. Child's coverage of said ordeal would combine to tell an exciting tale, but an unexpected twist catapults Over The Edge into even stranger territory. For there have since been allegations levelled by Kyrgyz authorities that the American climbers lied about their captivity. Having questioned the only rebel left from the band that captured the Americans, these authorities claimed that the prisoner, under Kyrgyz questioning, denied knowledge of the incident and that the Americans may have had ulterior motives in publicizing what was, for Kyrgyzstan, an embarrassing lapse in internal security. Mr. Child's book, then, necessarily becomes a piece of investigative journalism as much as a story about rock-climbing and it's the better for it. Mr. Child missed his calling as a detective. Good work covering a fascinating trial. (3/5 Stars)
No comments:
Post a Comment