MOUNTAIN TRIO

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25739, 26 February 1949, Page 3

MOUNTAIN TRIO

Mountains of Memory. . By Arnold Lunn. Hollis arid Carter. 248 pp. Fell Days. By Graham Sutton. Museum Press Ltd. 221 pp. Alpine Tragedy. By Charles Gos. Allen and Unwin. 282 pp. [Reviewed by JOHN PASCOE] These three books deal each with its own angles of ski-ing, rockclimbing, and .mountaineering. They include history and involve practice. They instruct, amuse, horrify, and entertain. They have much to interest the layman and the specialist. Famous as a veteran ski-er and author, Arnold Lunn is an egocentric who is never dull. His influences on ski-ing have been profund, his arguments stimulating, and his trails spretd over many countries. “Mountains of Memory” is the best book of ski-ing reminiscences I have ever read, for the author can translate his feeling for mountain sport into lively narrative based on a wide understanding of the human philosophies. His opinions are those of a man whose 50 years of activity give him a right to be dogmatic. This book began in the war years when nostalgia for the mountains sharpened his memories and helped him to bear danger and monotony. When in 1945 he returned to Switzerland it was with an awareness that inspired him to reflections that will- have a permanent place in ski-ing literature. Great names and great mountains mingle with personal anecdotes, and with scholarship that gives a satisfying historical background. His sense of humour is as attractive as his style, and as the philosopher who can laugh at himself he excels. Climbing, ski-ing and travelling with Arnold Lunn in the pages of his book are experiences to be cherished. By contrast Graham Sutton’s enthusiasm for his lakeland fells must fall ihto a limited if attractive regionalism. “Fell Days” is a series of sketches, some factual, others fictionary. that weave varied patterns of description and history; but the antiquarian and the rambler do not make up the mature energy of Arnold Lunn. “Fell Days” is saved from mediocrity by the sincerity of its author. The references to sheep, dogs, smugglers, and other associations of the lake mountains widen its interest. Charles Gos was the son of a Swiss artist. He, knew personally many of the great climbers and their guides, and his knowledge of the European Alps is considerable. In “Alpine Tragedies” he combines the diligence of a scholar, the verve of a journalist, and the patience of a detective to produce one of the most moving mountain books yet written. He takes his stories from past generations and spares no detail, however macabre, to present vivid pen-pictures that compel the reader to shivers of misery or horror. Charles Gos dramatises death in the present tense. He exploits mysteries and sensation, he is guilty of the mdst purple passages, he uses unusual sources as a cook flings in spices, he tightens suspense as he narrates the events and aftermath of fatalities till he wrings sweat and sorrow, sympathy and fear from those who share his adventures. His imagery is almost cruel in its effectiveness. I know of no alpine writer whose work is more evocative. I read one chapter aloud and when it was done was surprised to find myself in a chair with my feet on a carpet. All his fie 'c over-writing and his sustained mastery of emphasis and metaphor combined to sweep me to the grandeur eff steep ice and savage rock, just as surely as avalanches or fatal falls swept victims into oblivion. The translator has done his work well.

All these books are exceptionally well produced and illustrated. In particular Charles Gos parallels his writing with a spectacular series of photographs that bring to the reader an alnine presence of precipices and icefalls.