“Everest” and “Into Thin Air” and armchair mountaineering

On March 28, 2016 By Sherrie CroninIn women3 Comments

everest I am fascinated by mountain climbing, even though I have never done more than hike to the top of a mountain with a good trail. You can’t pack everything that intrigues you into one life, and this is something that didn’t make it into mine. So when I had the chance to climb a major peak in the Himalayas, in my imagination, along side my character Haley, I welcomed it and relished the research that went with it.

It’s not surprising that I’m also attracted to movies and books on the subject, and I finally got around to seeing the movie “Everest” which came out last September. I knew it was based on the 1996 climbing season when several climbers died in a sudden storm on the world largest peak.

So. Did I like the movie?

Not nearly as much as I had hoped. For one thing, I saw it on our nice big television screen, but think that the beautiful cinematography would have been more impressive in a theater. More importantly, I wanted to get emotionally involved with the climbers, but too many of them were introduced too fast for me to sort them out, much less develop empathy with any of them. Combine the gear each climber wore with the quick introductions and sheer number of them, and I was challenged just figuring out who was who.

I later read that Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 3.6/5 rating and said “Everest boasts all the dizzying cinematography a person could hope to get out a movie about mountain climbers, even if it’s content to tread less challenging narrative terrain.” Yeah, that too. There wasn’t so much a story (or stories) as there were a lot of snippets of many people getting ready to climb, many people climbing, and then some people dying. It had more of the feel of a documentary that was very well filmed and used good actors.

Part of the problem was that I had read Jon Krakauer ‘s book “Into Thin Air” several years ago and loved it. Krakauer tells the same tale of the same climbers in 1996, but tells it from the raw emotion of having survived that year’s climb himself. The book is hard to put down and carries an emotional punch that stuck with me for a long time. The movie simply lacks that punch.

I saw that Jon Krakauer did not have good things to say about the movie either, although his criticism centered around how the movie portrayed him, and in fact how the writers created a scene involving him that never really happened. Whatever the writers intent, I can understand how that would irk someone.

The Guardian reviewed the movie and thought that Emily Watson stole the show as the “base camp controller trying to manage the unfolding chaos” and I would have to agree. As one of the few women and one of the few characters not actually climbing, she is easily identifiable and manages to add continuity and tension to the otherwise choppy story.

My husband has no interest in mountain climbing at all. He very much prefers to chase any kind of ball around any sort of field or court. As we watched “Everest” he seemed most taken with the Texan amateur climber who is in over his head and survives, but loses a lot of his body to frostbite. As the movie ended, he looked at me oddly and told me how really glad he was that in spite of my fascination with high mountains, this wasn’t something I felt I had to go do. Yeah, I guess the movie gave me that as well.

Mountains

On February 25, 2014April 30, 2014 By Sherrie CroninIn women1 Comment

I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to climb Mt. Everest , although when I was young I never expected that it was something a girl from Kansas like me could ever grow up to do. Over the years I’ve learned that the world’s highest peak, known as Sagarmatha to those who live near it, has been climbed by the blind, the young (13 years old) and the elderly (an 80 year old holds the current record) and it was always a goal that was attainable by me if I had wanted it badly enough.

I’ve also learned that along with the risk of losing life and limb, such an undertaking involves a huge commitment of time, money and focus that a person might want to spend elsewhere. Guided tours have now commercialized the ascent somewhat, allowing those who can and will to spend more money in exchange for less planning and expertise. I was probably in my early 30’s when I acknowledged that I didn’t want to climb this mountain badly enough to do it by any of the ways available to me.

Why is an author compelled to tell stories? One reason is to experience alternate lives, in which different choices are made and enjoyed. Once it became apparent to me that c3 would take place in the foothills of the Himalayas, I knew that the story had to involve a girl from somewhere near Kansas, who did have the drive and expertise to be that mountain climber.

It serves the story better for my climber, Haley, to ascend Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak. I enjoyed intertwining her training and preparation with the more somber travails of her friends, and near the end of the book when Haley finally stands at the top of the world, I got to stand there with her. As I wrote the scene, I actually cried because what I saw in my head was so beautiful. (It’s okay. I cry a fair amount when I write.)

I hope any reader who has ever wanted to climb to the top of the world like me will enjoy reading this part of the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

(Please send a Facebook like to the pages of Simply Spiritual and the Dalai Lama Daily Quotes as a thank you for these great images.)

Free on Kindle

On February 14, 2014 By Sherrie CroninIn writing1 Comment

c3 will be available for FREE download on Saturday Feb 15 and Sunday Feb 16 here.

Enjoy this tale of a young woman learning to trust and use the strange powers with which she was born. You’ll get to climb one of the world’s most dangerous peaks, take on a crime lord with no scruples and hide from his all-seeing super hacker. Marvel at sunrises in the Himalayas and beaches in Thailand as you flee those who would harm you with no second thought. Revel in developing the ability to outwit people who give you no respect, and learn to be stronger each day as you take them on.

Enter the world of c3, and enjoy the victory.

c3 is published!

On February 1, 2014 By Sherrie CroninIn writing2 Comments

This is the fourth time I’ve done it, and each time has been more fun than the last. Something about hitting that button to put your heart, soul and creative effort out where the world can see it is more exciting than I ever would have expected.

C3 is my longest novel so far, and it was the most difficult to write. Some of the plot concerns the sex industry, and human trafficking. I learned more than I wanted to know about those topics while researching this book, but the seriousness of my subject matter seemed to warrant my going the extra mile to get my facts right. Other parts of the story, like climbing the world’s highest peaks, have always fascinated me. As to all the tidbits about animal sex in the book — what can I say? It was kind of fun to research.

Now I start the necessary but far less fun task of marketing the book. It’s not my strength, but I believe in this story so firmly that I will do it anyway. Thanks to the Dalai Lama’s FB page for reminding me that there is magic and power in each new beginning.