From the beginning of Macfarlane’s novel I knew it was going to be a fast read because of the way he was able to describe the thrill and obsession of mountaineering in a seemingly colloquial yet elegant way. The beginning of the first chapter was enough to do it. The title “Possession” already rang in my head- thinking this is a much stronger word than obsession. You have a choice with obsession, often times you choose it it yourself. But you do not choose to be possessed, instead something powerful enough to take a hold of you- like it or not, forces you to listen to it.

In describing Herzog’s adventure in Annapurna, I felt the same dramatic sense I get when thinking about the places I’ve never gone, or really have never even been close to (Montana isn’t quite the Himalayas). Then when he moved on to his first adventures with his friend Toby, I started to laugh at the similarities I felt with this author. “One axe only- why did I bring only one?” (Macfarlane pg13) Crossing a similar vertical ledge myself on top of Granite Peak this Fall, I had asked myself the exact same question.

I liked the multi-faceted nature of the book. Sometimes describing perilous adventures, his or others, which for me is pleasure reading at its finest- and also cultural and evolutionary aspect of the book. The account of Burnet, and The Sacred Theory of the Earth made me chuckle at the way mountains used to be perceived. I feel attached to someone who finds such majesty and truth in mountains, that he was brave enough to write contrary to the Churches “doctrinal ideals.” I had no idea there were ever Uniformitarians or Catastrophists theorizing about the creation of the Earth, and I found it informing and interesting.

“For years now I have gone to the mountains and been astonished by deep time.” This was another resonating quote within me, as I have often thought the same after gazing at deserts in Utah, so obviously shaped by water over time, or from vistas on high mountains.

Mountains of the Mind combined a perfect balance of anecdote, stories, and history. Macfarlane takes after my own heart in more ways than 100, I know this for certain, and admire his accomplishments. I found myself eating/skimming the sections of history, such as the British mapping the whole world, so I could get more quickly to his emotional accounts of alpinism. He incapsulated many thoughts I have myself, reworded much more nicely for me as coherent sentences- “The unknown is so inflammatory to the imagination because it is an imaginatively malleable  space: a projection screen onto which a culture or an individual can throw their fears and their aspirations. (Macfalane pg175)

Mountain Gloom and Mountain Glory offered a thought I had never given much attention- the evolution of mountains pertaining to art. It makes a lot of sense for different peoples to have different attitudes of mountains based upon cultural, religious, and even evolutionary reasons. The fact that the Greek venerated the mountains, while the Romans looked upon them with doubt and uncertainty, I found amusing but sensible. It makes sense for the Romans to fear the mountains and the barbarians. This sparked my thinking about spirituality and mountains. For the societies evolving on or near large mountains for thousands of years (say Tibet), one must look at what mountains offer in terms of positives and negatives. The fact that the Himalayas are hardly a hospitable region, makes one think on the vast, ineffable spiritual strength and power of mountains.