Being on a mountain forces us to confront the vast, unsentient reality that’s always present behind our own busy little human world, which we tuck around ourselves like a counterpane, to keep out the cold. No wonder that when we trespass into the mountains, we create phantoms. They’re easier to bear than all this lifelessness. [loc. 1325]
Reread, after reading Into Thin Air: my review of Paver's novel from 2017 is here. Paver's 1930s team are climbing Kangchenjunga, rather than Everest, and the novel is as much about the rivalry between two brothers as it is about the technical and emotional demands of the climb. But there's a lot of resonance. The topography of the mountain, with icefalls and buttresses and peaks, feels familiar after Everest. And the ghost story at the heart of Thin Air is rooted in the experience of a man left to die.
This is still one of my favourite ghost stories. Yes, period-typical racism; yes, classism; yes, an overwhelmingly masculine cast. But I love it, and it is terrifying.
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