I'm still without a functioning computer, so just a quick note. I've read Major H. P. S. Ahluwalia's Higher than Everest and have started in on Norton's Fight for Everest 1924. Ahluwalia's is an interesting account from a unlikely source. After summitting Everest in 1965 with eight of his Indian countrymen, Ahluwalia returns to his job in Kashmir and is thrown to the front lines in the Kashmiri war, only to be shot in the neck. In addition to his account of Everest, the story includes details of his recovery and life after an injury that brings him to the brink of death. His tale of his rehabilitation puts the struggle of Everest in perspective. While a lofty goal and a major undertaking, summitting Everest is a voluntary goal and a relatively short effort compared to the gradual and painful recovery of Ahluwalia's spinal injury.
I'm not sure why I've put off all Mallory books for so long. I think perhaps because there are so many, and they all seem so similar. I figure that before I get started on the recent literature, I should get some perspective from his comrades and read the original account of his disappearance. Then, perhaps, the 1921 reconnaissance expedition, and then I'll get in to the mess of things!
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