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May 31, 2011

Jyoti rated it:

Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer is based on a true story. It is the story of George Mallory who dreamed of conquering the Everest and perished on his third attempt. On searching about it in Google, I found that his body was found in 1999, and it still remains a mystery whether he ever reached the summit. He was last seen six hundred feet from the top.

Story Summary from the book:

Some people have dreams that are so magnificent that if they were to achieve them, their plac More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 06, 2011

Debby rated it:

This is a novel based on a historical event whose outcome is unknown.
George Mallory loved climbing mountains and he had a lifelong dream of climbing to the summit of Mt. Everest - 29,002 ft. He also wanted to be the first man to do so. He promised his wife he would only attempt the climb once and if it wasn't successful, he'd be content to let that "lover" go.
Funded by the Royal Geographic Society of Great Britain, the first expedition led by Mallory in 1921 wasn't succe More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 09, 2009

Julie rated it:

Although I enjoyed this book, as I do all Jeffrey Archer books, I was not compelled to read it every day. It was almost a chore to sit down to read this so it could get back to the library on time. Not my favourite of his.

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 01, 2010

Steven rated it:

Paths to Glory is a stylized history of the legendary mountain climber George Mallory, told in novel form and taking incredible liberties.

Let's begin by discussing George Mallory and why readers might care about him. Mallory was the British mountaineer who, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, stated, "Because it's there." He failed in his first attempt to climb the mountain and vanished on his second--a mystery which was not solved for 75 years.

Ma More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 13, 2010

Charmaine rated it:

This is not a book I would normally read but someone in my book club wanted to review it and I was lent a copy so I decided to give it a go. I must say it surprised me. I liked it a great deal. I have never read Jeffery Archer before. His writing is not flowery but crisp, fast paced and human. I wasn’t familiar with the story of George Mallroy, who made the first attempts to climb Everest. Archer painted a picture of Mallroy as a man that was driven, honorable, loving, a climbers cli More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 01, 2010

Monica rated it:

I really liked this book! It kept me anxious for whatever came next, and the book was like a magnet, keeping me glued onto its pages especially towards the thrilling end; I remmeber staying up till three o'clock in the morning (this morning) finishing the last page! It was hard to understand because it seemed like there were many characters at once entering the page and the writing was sophisticated for me; but I got used to it as I continued reading.
This book is a true story about an eng More...

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Mar 04, 2010

Anjali rated it:

Paths of Glory is a fictionalized account of George Mallory, a mountaineer who tried to conquer the Mount Everest in 1924, but nobody knows whether he succeeded because he died during that attempt. It is not confirmed whether Mallory died on the way down (which makes him the first man to have scaled Mount Everest) or on the way up. Many people believe that Mallory died before he climbed the highest point. Jeffrey Archer thinks otherwise. A newspaper in New Zealand called Archer’s book an insult More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2010

Joanna rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 27, 2009

Mom rated it:

Here's another great book I listened to in the car as I do errands, etc. It was very hard to leave it in the car after not very long. This is not your usual Jeffery Archer with a twist, but more of a historical novel. I now want to see the movie that the guy who climbed with them made.

Some people have dreams that are so magnificent that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. People like Christopher Columbus, Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 15, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Jeffrey Archer is a terrific writer! At his hands, even the stuff you have the least interest in become interesting. (e.g. the newspaper industry, politics, mountaineering) He just has a way of dramatizing everything, of taking all the little details and telling you what could quite plausibly have occured, and you'd believe his story, fictional or non-fictional. He has a way of showing you what happens, leading you along and you don't question anything (much), because you're afraid that if you d More...

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Jan 10, 2010

Linda rated it:

Bought this book at LHR for an easy read during my flight to Minneapolis (to be there when Laura bought her wedding dress!) It served its purpose very well as Jeffrey Archer usually spins a good yarn but I was pleasantly surprised in that this novel wasn't like his others. For one thing, it's based upon fact (mountaineer George Mallory and the enigma as to whether it was in fact he who was the very first to reach the summit of Everest) and for another, it was a 'gentle' book rather than the pa More...

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Jan 01, 2012

CekMoNSter rated it:

So this is my first Jeffrey Archer`s book..It was said somewhere on the cover that he was one of the best writer, and I couldn`t agree more..

This is an inspirational story about George Mallory, an English climber who attempt to climb the Mt. EVerest on 1920-s, long before Sir Edmund Hillary succeed in doing so in 1954. His last attempt on 1924 however caused his life, with his climbing partner, Irvine. No one really knows if he succeed or not to reach the peak, until 1999 later, they More...

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Aug 29, 2010

John rated it:

I really liked this book. Having been a fan of Jeffrey Archer's books for a long time, I just picked this one up and started reading it because I didn't really have a plan in mind for anything else at the moment. Boy was I surprised!

This book is a fictional biography of George Mallory, arguably the first human being to climb Mount Everest. And that's sort of what this story is about. But it really turns out to be oh so much more than a simple recanting of history.

Told in More...

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Jul 01, 2010

Betsy rated it:

This easy summertime read will feel comfortable for any Jeffrey Archer fan; his writing style is intact, and the story is epic (his favorite kind). Unlike other recent Archer novels, this one breaks with his formula and feels fresher, thanks to the premise of exploring the life of James Mallory, whom many believe to be the first man to climb Mount Everest. Mallory disappeared during his last attempt to climb the mountain in the 1920's, and his body was later recovered in 1999 about 600 feet fr More...

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Dec 13, 2009

Roger rated it:

I have been fascinated by Mt. Everest since I came back from a conference that had as its motivation speaker who was a survivor of the 1996 Mt. Everest disasters that were chronicled by Jon Kraukauer in his classic book-"Into Thin Air." This is when I was first introduced to George Leigh Mallory. Did he make it to the top of Mt. Everest in 1924? Jeffery Archer did a great job in telling Mallory's life story in this fictionalize historical novel and of Mallory's life long dream of co More...

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Jul 29, 2011

Manu rated it:

Every time I start an Archer book, I expect to be entertained and to be made to think, and it always happens so. This one is no different. I simply loved the humour that Archer retains throughout the book.

But it is a bit different in on another front. It is based on a true story, but one as nail biting as the works of fiction that Archer has written in the past.

Set in an age of adventure and explorations, when men had not yet reached the South Pole and the Himalayas, it is the story of George More...

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May 03, 2011

Pawan rated it:

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I have been fan of Jeffrey Archer’s writings from college days when I first read “Kane and Abel”. I must have read all his books and some of them multiple times. Even his short stories are amazing with great twists and turns. When I picked up “Paths of Glory”, I was expecting a similar experience. But this book literally and figuratively took me to the greatest heights of Mount Everest. The book is a fictionalized account of mountaineer George Mallory who made More...

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Apr 17, 2009

Lilyrose rated it:

The first thought that crossed my mind as I finished the book was that though this was a good book, it wasn't really anywhere near Archer's best. The book is based on the real life story of George Mallory who made a great expedition to conquer Mt. Everest. I'm not really interested about mountaineering, so the book wasn't too interesting, especially when parts of the story got repetitive.

The narrative is fun, you have trademark Archer witticisms, some memorable scenes, but there's More...

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Feb 01, 2011

Amy rated it:

Jeffrey Archer is a great story teller. He has a good sense of timing and pace, of setting up the story, and his characters are always real. I've enjoyed many of his books, and this one was no different.
It wasn't until I was about halfway through the book that I started to wonder.. is this based on real life? Of course I've heard of Edmund Hillary, the first climber to reach the top of Everest. But this story was taking place back in the 1920s! Could there really have been expeditions More...

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Jun 24, 2009

Betsy rated it:

I listened to this book and was absolutely hooked on the story of George Mallory and his attempts to climb Everest in the 1920s. The story also covers George's early years in school, his courtship and lifelong love affair with his wife, Ruth, World War I, and Mallory's speaking tour in the U.S. I never really understood the people who paid others to help them up to the top of Everest. But Mallory and his crew were so pure in their desire and naked in their ambition, that you can almost forgive h More...

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Jul 24, 2011

Sarah rated it:

This book was pretty atrocious. To be fair, the author does state at the beginning that it is a work of fiction, so perhaps it isn't fair to take issue with the extremely wide latitude Archer takes with the historical facts. Some is clearly for the purpose of embellishing the story - while ridiculous, stories such as having George Mallory climb up the outside of the Eiffel Tower or climbing the bell tower in the Piazza San Marco to impress a girl might have been good stories if there was any tru More...

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Mar 29, 2011

Phil rated it:

An enjoyable dramatization on the life of George Mallory. Definitely based on fact with some embellishment to make for a good story. I would love to know just how close to his personality Archer comes in this novel. Mallory is made out to be an adventurer torn between his love for his wife and family and an inexhaustible ambition to achieve his ultimate goal, to finally tame his other mistress, Everest. Although I had heard of Mallory I really knew none of the details behind his exploits. It's o More...

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Oct 11, 2011

David rated it:

By the early 1920's no-one had climbed above 22,000 feet. Mt. Everest, at 29,002 feet, was regarded as the 'top of the world' and the next grandest expedition after men's efforts to reach the North and South Poles. Weather and conditions on Everest could only be imagined.

In Jeffrey Archer's novel, 'Paths of Glory', the author relates an (extremely amusing) account between the National Geographic Society's appointed Everest Expedition Climb Leader, George Leigh Mallory, and “Mr. Pink,” More...

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Nov 05, 2010

Judy rated it:

This is a fictionalized biography of George Mallory, who many think was the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In 1924, in his second attempt to conquer Mt. Everest, Mallory, the climbing leader, was last seen 600 feet from the summit by one of the members of his climbing team. Mallory had told everyone that when he reached the top of Everest, he was going to leave a picture of his wife, Ruth, that he always carried in his wallet. Mallory disappeared after this last sighting and More...

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Oct 11, 2010

Adam rated it:

Post listen review.

Well this was pretty much what I expected. This dude named George Mallory wanted to climb Mount Everest and tried three times to do it. The first two times the weather stopped him and the third time he got dead. Did he make it to the top? I have no idea. And the author doesn't know any more than I do. So are you an optimist and like the guy? He made it. A pessimist? He died feet away from his lifelong goal and never attained it.

It was decentl More...

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Feb 10, 2010

Troy rated it:

Good story, great subject - reality makes the best fiction. Just a couple issues - one, it's really difficult to tell how much this has been fictionalized, and how much really happened. I know it's "based" on a true story, but wonder how much I got suckered in by the attempts to make it a page-turner.

In many ways, this was similar to "Into Thin Air" - except of course that Krakauer was doing a serious evaluation of his catastrophic experience while telling the t More...

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Jul 04, 2009

Toni rated it:

This tale supports the theory that mountain climber George Leigh Mallory may have been the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest during his second expedition in 1924.

Written with vivid imagination, Mr Archer relates the life and some of the events surrounding this historical man. From Mallory’s infancy, up to his dark experiences in the trenches of the First World War and on to those two famous expeditions which ultimately brought him to the Himalayas.

The story i More...

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Jan 26, 2010

Forrest rated it:

My wife bought me this book for Christmas and I enjoyed it immensely! As one can tell from my reading profile, I enjoy mountain climbing stories. Although the book is considered fiction, Jeffery Archer sure did a good job in making it feel like a non-fiction biography of George Leigh Mallory. I really enjoyed Archer's writing style. I was impressed with the way he vividly captures individual moments / scenes and makes them come to life. For me, his writing style deals very well with time-sp More...

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Jun 05, 2011

David rated it:

Most British schoolchildren will have heard of Hillary and Tenzing. But relatively few will know of George Mallory. And how he and Sandy Irvine attempted Everest some 30 years earlier, in the true British explorer tradition. Paths of Glory is a wonderful story and Jeffrey Archer has done a great job in its telling. He has clearly researched it well, and delivers it with panache and sensitivity. OK there’s poetic license in there – but it’s credible. It's a story from another era. And if he More...

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Apr 27, 2009

Kat rated it:

I am giving it 4 stars since I really learned a lot about George Mallory and the whole controversy whether he reached the summit before he died or not. I also learned a lot about the utter snobishness and exclusiveness of the English class structure as embodied by the Royal Geographic Society (Australians, non-Oxbrigde educated people, divorced people, etc. need not apply)and the insane notions of what it meant to be an amateur sportsman at the time(e.g. not use oxygen while climbing). All I can More...

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