Ebook Limits of the Known David Roberts Books

Product details Paperback 336 pages Publisher W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (February 26, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 0393356590

Limits of the Known David Roberts Books Reviews

• Decent read. Covers disparate adventures of hardy explorers, some of them unusual, in each case dissembling into reminiscences of the authors own adventures. The last chapter rambled a bit. I learned a lot about the authors illness and a few adventures he had with his wife, but am still unsure what he thinks about "the future of adventure".
  As a cancer survivor myself I wish him the best of luck with his illness.
• Even though diagnosed with cancer, David Roberts still tells a gripping story. I was only disappointed in that he never mentioned the Andes or Tierra del Fuego, all extremely rugged, challenging country. Does he not know they exist??
• If you like Roberts, you'll like this one. It's similar to his "Old Ones" in inclusion and philosophy, but covers a lifetime of worldwide travel. Enjoyed it a lot...
• Roberts describes the irresistible force that drives all adventurers seeking the unknown.
  He also eloquently describes his ordeal with cancer. Either worth reading. Both baffling.
• Roberts books are good....not great but it is a good "summing up" of a life on the mountains.
• Read this through on the first sitting. A wonderful read by one of my very favorite of authors of the outside and mountaineering experience.
• Preachy, conceited. If love this category, it's readable.
• David Roberts, outstanding climber in his younger years and universally acknowledged as the "dean of American climbing literature", has written dozens of books over the years. Now in his early 70s, Roberts has been facing a different challenge altogether a serious health scare in the form of cancer. Now comes this book, a mix of travalogue and memoir.
  
  In the Prologue of "Limits Of the Known" (2018 publication; 336 pages), the author asks "Why have I spent my life trying to find the lost and unknown places of this world? And what have the passions of explorers across human history delivered to our understanding of life? The purpose of this book is to grope towards an answer." In the books next 6 chapters, the author looks at some of the more amazing exploring feats ever recorded, even if they aren't always well known to the public at large. My favorite if these tales is written up in the very first chapter, "Farthest North", where Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen and his 12 cohorts try reaching the North Pole in the mid-1890s. The 50 page chapter makes a lot of detours along the way, including the author's lamenting on how exploration has been fundamentally changed by both the available tools (including air travel) and connections (GPS and cell phone). The next chapter, "Blank On the Map", about Eric Shipton's exploration of the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan in 1936, is just about as riveting. Other chapters look at exploring river descents, first encounters with isolated tribes and peoples, spelunking, and caving, perhaps the last great art of exploration. "If I could start life over as an explorer, in 2017 rather than in 1960, I think I might become a caver rather than a climber", the author muses. The book's last chapter is a concerned yet hopeful look at "The Future of Adventure".
  
  Bottom line this latest book from David Roberts shows once again what a master story teller he really is. Here's hoping that it is not his last book. I wish the author and his family all the best as he continues to hopefully recover from, and/or deal with, these health issues (the book doesn't tell us whether the cancer is in remission). Meanwhile, "Limits of the Known" is, as is the author, a WINNER.