Peak

If there weren't children named Dwezil, Moon Unit, River, Rainbow, Peak would seem far-fetched. I've had a subscription to Backpacker and some knowledge of rock climbing but Rock Rat is new to me.

Asked why a man would climb a mountain littered with the bodies of those who did not make it the answer given was, "Because it's there." Mountaineers are a strange confraternity. That a father would take his fourteen-year-old son to such a place.... You'll also rail at self-important officious functionaries everywhere.

Rarely does a book so capture my attention and I read it in one sitting but this is such a book. It's also eminently readable, action-packed, and well-edited.

Virus-free. www.avast.com

Born To Darkness

Born to Darkness is a genre bending book. Part horror, romance, sci-fi. A couple take tantric sex to the point that it blows electrical circuits for an entire block. People possess psychic powers that enable them to probe other's minds, project pain and mental distress, even move objects. Children are tortured.

As the story progresses we are treated with three romances.

At over 500 pages the storyline too often gets lost in too much detail. As with too many other books I've read since the age of computers began this book could have benefited greatly from the loss of about 200 pages.

Virus-free. www.avast.com

13 Reasons Why

The book takes the form of a 6-hour suicide note left on cassette tapes with commentary from one of the people who listen to them, or if you like a sod off from beyond the grave. Which begs the question as to why someone with that level of rationality and self-awareness went ahead with the act in the first place. This cry for help was pointless if the act succeeded. Did the individual intend to succeed or was her death an accident. Suspense builds as each side is completed and the listener still hasn't learned his part in the story.

For me school was a trial that had to be endured. For the most part I was an outside observer. My only activities were library and glee club where I excelled, and the occasional drama. I'm sure all the social interactions described here went on, one of my classmates showed up with a tooth broken in a fight, but I took no part in it. Hour-long bus rides on dusty, muddy, or ice-slicked roads added to the tedium coming and going. School dances were boring affairs I suffered. Graduation an exercise we marched through in advance of receiving our provincially marked grades. I stood first in my class, so I was an egghead.That teenagers have their own cars is still a revelation to me, that they get a new one for their 16th birthday....!

Reading the book has led to me to look up a classmate I haven't interacted with in 50 years. It has also made me think of all the people I have known who took their own lives whose acts I felt powerless to prevent.

---

This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com