Disappointingly flat, and resolutely not-scary ghost story, which is a great shame as Paver has done an excellent job of capturing the "Boy's Own" tone of the classic age of Himalayan mountaineering. I was genuinely impressed with her knowledge of the mountains, and the history of Europeans risking life and limb (and, often forgotten and unregarded, the lives and limbs of uncounted and Gurkas and "coolies"). About a year ago, I read "Into the silence: the Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest" by Wade Davis, and Paver's fictional 1935 British expedition to conquer Kangchenjunga was convincing enough that it could have been a "lost chapter" of that history.
But the subtitle says "A Ghost Story," and it's as a ghost story that this disappoints. The very best ghost stories don't need us to believe in the "the ghost." But they do persuade us to believe that the characters are haunted, in the deepest, most visceral sense of that word. (Think, the Governess in "The Turn of the Screw.") The ghost in this story seems, sadly, tagged on ... an afterthought. And an unnecessary one, given that Paver brings to life the true horrors of climbing to the top of the world.
But the subtitle says "A Ghost Story," and it's as a ghost story that this disappoints. The very best ghost stories don't need us to believe in the "the ghost." But they do persuade us to believe that the characters are haunted, in the deepest, most visceral sense of that word. (Think, the Governess in "The Turn of the Screw.") The ghost in this story seems, sadly, tagged on ... an afterthought. And an unnecessary one, given that Paver brings to life the true horrors of climbing to the top of the world.
