Potterfests

March was such a long month, divided in two by a trip to the UK, that when I went to type up this post from my book journal I’d actually forgotten the first thing I finished this month. It was a decent month for reading, despite being busy! And I’ve somehow read three whole non-fiction titles in the same month. A return to fiction is on the agenda for April, I think.

The Will to Climb, by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts

After the Viesturs/Roberts book about K2, I jumped straight into their book on Annapurna. This takes a similar format, retelling stories of various notable ascents of the mountain and grounded by Viesturs’ own attempts. I would call this much weaker than K2, and between the two books, I would strongly recommend against this one and for the other. Find a different Annapurna book.

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Flannelled Fool: A Slice of Life in the Thirties, by T. C. Worsley

This memoir covers, per its subtitle, only a few years of Worsley’s life, centering on his time as a schoolmaster at Wellington College, where he fought Victorian schooling traditions and never quite made a home. It’s a memoir of growing up—mentally, and emotionally, as Worsley identifies his schoolmastering as an extension of his time as a student, and his maturity came with leaving school behind. It’s also a great portrait of the British Public School in the 1930s, with the stress of that institution facing radical left-wing politics of the era. And it is, of course, also a window into the intimate side of school life, including sex and sexuality, at a time when the outside world was beginning to become somewhat more open. Worsley tells this all well, in an engaging style and with unsparing detail.

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The White Spider, by Heinrich Harrer

Heinrich Harrer was a member of the first party to summit the Eiger via its sheer, steep north face, in 1938. This was the last unclimbed face of the mountain, located in the Swiss Alps, and Harrer’s book (written with the help of Kurt Maix) explores the challenges of this route through stories of successful and unsuccessful attempts on the face.

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A Room in Chelsea Square, by Michael Nelson

This 1958 novella satirizes the queer arts and literature scene of its era, focusing on three middle-aged men and their younger partners. First is Patrick, wealthy patron and layabout, whose recent interest in Nicholas, a young journalist, kicks off the story. Next is Christopher, a successful and gifted painter who nonetheless lives in a squalied studio with Michale, the reckless ex-pilot who is the subject of Christopher’s current painting. Finally is Ronnie, a fashion designer and former fling of Patrick’s, who now keeps a young woman, Lily, as his partner and personal secretary. Their abortive attempts to both use Patrick’s money and avoid his manipulations form the meat of the conflict.

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