No comments about Transcaucasia: Sketches of the Nations and Races between the Black Sea and the Caspian.

No comments about Wonder that is Sanskrit.

1 comments about In Quest of God.

1. this is a fantastic read if youre interested in mount kailash and mansarovar or even simply interested in ancient legends. The book covers some of the beliefs associated the mountain and the lake, the history of the pilgrimage carried out around Kailash, the hindu deities relevant to the region and also details the journey undertaken by the authors with their spiritual gurus. It also contains awe inspiring photos of places along the journey and provides insight into the significance of the pilgrimage.
   
   In my opinion it is a worthy read.

No comments about India in Luxury.

5 comments about A Slender Thread.

1. I am not sorry I read ths book. Venables is a fine writer--one of the best in his genre working today. Having read one too many accounts of the Everest region (and a number of books on the west, K2, region), I appreciate Venables's description of the less-written-about middle Himalaya. The writer's account of the Panch Chuli climb itself is also fine.

   Unfortunately, after Venables's accident, there is little left to sustain the narrative. He simply sits around in his tent with his two partners, discussing food and British lit., waiting for the helicopter to come rescue him. In reality, I'm glad his rescue was easier than, say, Joe Simpson's was in Peru, but it makes for some rather boring reading.

   To sum, the book is well worth reading, but expect a let down around two-thirds of the way through.




2. This is one of the most cliche-ridden, naval-gazing climbing stories I've read in a long, long time. I didn't even know an audience still existed for this kind of well-worn mountaineering pablum. The story is right out of a computer format: Stephen Venables goes on a climb, gets hurt, misses his wife and kids, and needs to be rescued so he can get back and see them. [...]I think I've read this story about a hundred times before, usually by more honest observers.



3. This book is well written, but much of it is decidedly dull. The author writes with all the passion of a dead fish. There are, however, some interesting passages about the history of a remote section of the Himalayas known as the Pancha Chuli massif which are actually five peaks close to India's border with western Nepal.

   It is to this region that the author went in 1992 as part of an expedition led by world reknowned British climber, Chris Bonnington. Quite frankly, the author makes himself out to be a less than ideal climbing partner. He apparently had choice words for everyone, including Chris Bonnington. He is lucky that they are apparently better men than he, or he would never have survived his accident, a three hundred foot fall 19,000 feet up the mountain. But for his fellow expeditioners, the author would still be up there, a silent, frozen reminder to other climbers of the peril that may sometimes await one while climbing.

   His account of what happens both before and after his accident, and upon his return home, as well as what occurs on his next expedition, gives the reader a measure of the author as a person. There are certainly those who may find him wanting. Yet, notwithstanding his readily apparent, personal shortcomings, his dispassionate account of his travail high up on a remote Himalayan peak is still a worthwhile read, if you are a devotee of mountaineering literature. If you are not, deduct one star from my rating.




4. On one level 'A Slender Thread: Escaping Disaster in the Himalayas' is a standard mountain expedition book, with the focus on Steven Venables' own experience. But throughout there is a dark undercurrent of premonition and doubt. Venables has a bad feeling about the expedition from the start : "there was a sense of unease, even doom when I set off for India". There is also a sense of futility, that the golden age of mountain exploration is long past, as he implicitly compares past expeditions to the area (the Panch Chuli group near the border of India and Nepal) with the one he is on. Gone is the conviction of purpose and the "gentlemanly camaraderie" of earlier times. In fact Venables shows himself to be anything but gentlemanly on this trip. Often out of sorts, half-wishing he were back home with his wife and child, Venables indulges in tantrums and verbally attacks Chris Bonington, the team leader, when Bonington suggests retreat..

   As for the accident, it is the breaking of the Slender Thread that all mountaineers depend on at many time during a climb. A well-tested anchor pulls out below the top of Panch Chuli V, sending Venables on a steep fall that breaks both his legs and which he is lucky just to survive. This combination of bad and good luck, and his utter dependence on his companions for making it down the mountain, is the real story of this expedition for Venables as he recognizes that in climbing he is gambling with more than just his own life.

   This is my least favorite of the three book by Venables I've read, though I did enjoy it. There is little of the excitement and freshness of 'Painted Mountains' or the combination of great accomplishment and fascinating route finding in 'Everest: Alone at the Summit'. However, it raises troubling questions about mountain climbing and faces them directly, and these questions, along with the detailed description of a remote and rarely climbed range, make this a book worth reading.




5. This book is well-written, but much of it is decidedly dull. The author writes with all the passion of a dead fish. There are, however, some interesting passages about the history of a remote section of the Himalayas known as the Pancha Chuli massif, which are actually five peaks close to India's border with western Nepal.

   It is to this region that the author went in 1992 as part of an expedition led by world-renowned British climber, Chris Bonnington. Quite frankly, the author makes himself out to be a less than ideal climbing partner. He apparently had choice words for everyone, including Chris Bonnington. He is lucky that they are apparently better men than he, or he would never have survived his accident, a three hundred foot fall while 19,000 feet up the mountain. But for his fellow expeditioners, the author would still be up there, a silent, frozen reminder to other climbers of the peril that may sometimes await one while climbing.

   His account of what happens both before and after his accident, and upon his return home, as well as what occurs on his next expedition, gives the reader a measure of the author as a person. There are certainly those who may find him wanting. Yet, notwithstanding his readily apparent, personal shortcomings, his dispassionate account of his travail high up on a remote Himalayan peak is still a worthwhile read, if you are a devotee of mountaineering literature. If you are not, deduct one star from my rating.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Greece (3rd ed).

1. I love Lonely Planet books, but I wish there was a little more for each destination regarding hotels and restaurants.



2. i used to only use Lonely Planet for my travels and loved it. this guide was very dissappointing. the athens info was ok, but with the islands we ended up going to it had very little info on them. even on santorini we saw tons of stuff there that was not in the book, and there were no tips on how to get resonably priced villas, which we did on our own anyways. the places we ended up staying were not in the book. the only thing we ended up using it for was fact-checking.
   i would recommend 770 greek islands, the other book we had with much more info on everything.



3. This seems to be a very thorough and complete guidebook to all of Greece and the Greek Islands, all in one volume. Kudos to Lonely Planet for not dividing the country into two volumes, requiring you to buy two books at twice the price, and then lug two books around to cover your trip. The only downside is the lack of photographic illustration, except for two small insert sections of color photos, which almost look like stock shots from the tourist office. More illustrations located near the subjects being described would be a definite help.



4. My husband and I have been to Greece 3 times using our 4th edition LP Greece. The maps are excellent; we've gotten exactly where we need to go. We read about the different islands, appear at the port w/our luggage, and take whatever boat is going next to a particular group, i.e. Cyclades, and read about the various other stops on the way. The book is not designed to be a travel agent by doing all the work for you. It is a guidebook, and some specific info should be found elsewhere (such as the internet) in trip planning. We use the internet sites listed in LP, esp. the hotel sites, so we have an idea of the author's grading scale. We found plenty of great suggestions regarding places to stay and eat, and if other reviewers felt that info was lacking, the LP would have to be 6 inches thick! While some towns have a 100 places to stay, it is not necessary to list every place in LP. We use the LP reviews as a guideline; we compare the author's opinion by what we actually found. After all, one person's dungeon is another's castle (& vice versa). The hints, tips,& warnings (esp. about taxis!) were a great help. We're buying the newest editon for our 4th trip as our poor old book is so worn and unreadable.



5. I read this from cover to cover but used a competitors guide while in Greece instead because I thought it might be better based on my past experiences using both brands. Also, LP guides tend to be a bit more roughing it in recommendations (I am too old for that) but, that was not an issue.
   I kind of wish I had brought this one or the National Geographic Greece guide which would have been fine and a bit thiner.

No comments about Amritsar to Lahore: A Journey Across the India-Pakistan Border.

5 comments about Lonely Planet Dubai.

1. Of all the LP books I've read (probably 30 or 40), this is my least favorite. The authors seem to be working way too hard to sound hip and cool and impress their readers to produce an interesting book for travel addicts. Perhaps they've just been into Dubai a bit too long and have bought into the hype...



2. My '5 stars' are for Dubai. I'm one of the authors and lived in the UAE for almost 8 years. I guess we do believe the hype, because we've lived it. Dubai is an extraordinary city, the country offers one of the best lifestyles in the world, and the Emirati people - Dubai locals in particular - are incredibly dynamic, funny, laidback, hospitable and tolerant. Having travelled all over the world (to over 50 countries) and recently moved to Europe, Dubai remains one of my favorite cities.
   I'd rather not risk repeating what's in our books, but it's true that Dubai has glorious year-round weather (if you like it hot), access to some truly spectactular desert and mountain scenery, some of the world's best shopping (souqs, malls and a growing number of independent stores), restaurants, bars and hotels (and I'm not referring to Burj Al Arab), and a culture that is comprised of both the local and traditional, contemporary and multicultural, that is hybrid and mobile, fresh and alive. Unfortunately, however, we've been just as guilty as the next writers in focussing too much on the city's sun, sand and shopping. Fed up with people criticising the city as being souless (which we know it isn't) and without culture (which we know it has - many complex layers of local, regional and world cultures, in addition to a growing and buzzy arts scene) - in our update of this guide, we try to introduce people to the 'real Dubai' and 'backstreet Dubai' via boxed texts and walking tours that will take visitors off the beaten track. We're hoping these will guide travellers to get beyond the hype and experience more than the beach, desert safaris and malls, and taste a little of the real Dubai - the Dubai that keeps many expatriates in the city so long, and lures vistors back to the city time and time again.



3. LP hits another grand slam. I have not bought one LP that wasn't great. I own about 12.
   
   Keep up the good work.
   
   This one has alot of great information on this amazing city. The maps are a little dated, but what can you expect when youa re mapping the fastest growing city in the world.



4. Not know much about Dubai when I was first asked to go, I learned a great deal from this book. I learn about different areas, where to go and what the culture was like. Specificly I found the section on "women traveling to Dubai" very helpful. It pointed out how to expect to be treated when going out to eat, what to wear, and where to stay.
   I highly recommand this book and even more so if you're a woman.



5. We used this guide extensively during our recent trip to Dubai. We found the information to be accurate and comprehensive. We tried a few or the reviewed restaurants, shops, and excursions and were very pleased.

No comments about The Mountain Kingdom: Portraits of Nepal and the Gurkhas.

No comments about Lonely Planet India (Lonely Planet. (Spanish Guides)).