FEEDING THE RAT IS THAT RARE OCCASION WHERE YOU CAN JUDGE A BOOK BY IT’S COVER
BOOK LISTS ARE A PILLAR OF THE CLIMBING WORLD. PRE-INTERNET, BOOKS WERE WHERE THE INFORMATION WAS, THE PHOTOS WERE REVEALED AND THE TALES WERE TOLD, AND AS FAR AS WE’VE COME COME INTO THE CYBER ERA THERE’S BEEN NO DECLINE IN LISTS WITH THOSE FROM THE PRINT-ONLY ERA SIMPLY BECOMING CLASSICS. IT’S THE CLICHE OF CLICHES TO SAY ‘NO LIST IS COMPLETE WITHOUT ….’ BUT IN THE CASE OF FEEDING THE RAT IT’S SIMPLY TRUE, WITH THAT OTHER GREAT CLICHE – QUINTESSENTIAL – ALSO APPLYING.
FEEDING THE RAT HOLDS IT’S PLACE IN THESE LISTS FOR MANY REASONS. DESPITE BEING A SMALL VOLUME, THE CHOICE OF SUBJECT, THE CRAFT OF THE AUTHOR AND THE ERA IT DESCRIBES CONDENSE MORE OF THE DEPTH, DIMENSION AND NARRATIVE OF CLIMBING BETWEEN IT’S COVERS THAN WORKS TRIPLE IT’S LENGTH. PART BIOGRAPHY, PART TIME CAPSULE, PART EXPLANATION, PART REVELATION, PART COMPENDIUM OF CLIMBING LORE, FEEDING THE RAT HAS IT’S OWN PLACE IN CLIMBING LITERATURE.
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THE SUBJECT
AS IT’S PROTAGONIST, FEEDING THE RAT IS THE STORY OF MO ANTHOINE. MO WAS A CLIMBER OF EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY, KNOWN FOR HIS STRENGTH, WHO PLAYED CENTRAL ROLES IN MANY OF THE GREAT ASCENTS OF THE DAY BUT DISREGARDED ANY SPOTLIGHT. WHERE OTHERS LIKE BONNINGTON TOOK ON THE ROLE, OR LIKE SCOTT HAD IT PUSHED UPON THEM, ANTHOINE APPEARS TO HAVE DISMISSED IT DESPITE CLEARLY HAVING A SOPHISTICATED PHILOSOPHY AND DEDICATION TOWARDS CLIMBING.
ANTHOINE’S POSITION AT THE CENTER OF THE GREAT BRITISH AND INTERNATIONAL CLIMBING GENERATION MAKES FOR GOOD STORY-TELLING AS IT DISPOSES OF ANY NAME DROPPING (IT DOESN’T NEED TO) AND NEVER GETS CAUGHT UP IN A ONE PERSON DRAMA. ANTHOINE FIRMLY EXISTS AS AN INDIVIDUAL WITHIN A GROUP IN A WAY PERHAPS NO OTHER CLIMBING WRITING PORTRAYS SOMEONE.
AS A TIME CAPSULE, FEEDING THE RAT, SIMILAR TO MARK TWIGHT’S EXTREME ALPINISM A GENERATION LATER, IS A REMINDER OF WHAT WAS, WHAT CAME TO BE, AND WHAT DIDN’T. FROM THE VANTAGE OF TODAY, FEEDING THE RAT SHOWS THE TIME WHEN CLIMBING WENT MAINSTREAM. WHAT BEGINS WITH CLIMBING FOR KING AND COUNTRY, WHERE EXPEDITIONS WERE LARGE NATIONAL AFFAIRS WITH GOVERNMENT BODIES AND ROYAL SOCIETIES BEHIND THEM, ENDS WITH THE ERA OF CLIMBERS CLIMBING FOR THE SAKE OF ALPINISM AT A TIME WHEN WORLD CHANGES HAD MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY TO JUST HEAD OFF TO THE HIMALAYAS WITH YOUR MATES.
FEEDING THE RAT IS WELL KNOWN AS A TREATISE ON MATESHIP. NOT ‘BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROPE’ TYPE STUFF CONFINED TO THE SHARP END OF MORTALITY – THOUGH THERE CERTAINLY IS THAT, INCLUDING POSSIBLY THE DEFINING TELLING OF THE OGRE DESCENT, SHORT OF THE WORDS DIRECTLY FROM DOUG SCOTT’S MOUTH – BUT THE MATESHIP THAT SPANS A COMUNITY AT A TIME WHEN THAT MEANT SOMETHING BECAUSE THIS SORT OF CLIMBING WAS AS FRINGE AS THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS OR SMOKING DMT. ALVAREZ TELLS THE TALES THAT WOVE ANTHOINE’S SCENE TOGETHER AND THAT INCLUDES BUSINESSES, WORK, DRINKING, TRAVEL AND DEATH. THE STORY OF BUILDING THE FAMILY HOME FROM STONE IN WALES STANDS OUT AS INTIMATE DETAIL INTO THE VALUES OF THESE PEOPLE IN CONTRAST WITH THE VAN LIFE HEROES OF TODAY.
FOR THE EXTRAORDINARY CLIMBERS THEY WERE, THEY WERE REAL PEOPLE WITH REAL LIVES THAT EXTENDED BEYOND CLIMBING, AND THOUGH ALVAREZ COULDN’T HAVE FORSEEN IT HE WAS DOCUMENTING THE TURNING POINT THAT WOULD SEPARATE CLIMBERS FROM ADVENTURERS, WHERE THE LATTER WOULD NOT NECESSARILY IMPLY THE FORMER ANYMORE. WITH THIS SHIFT CAME A CHANGE IN CHARACTERS THAT EVOLVED INTO THE CLIMBER-ATHLETES OF TODAY, WHERE THE DISTINCTIONS OF TEAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS HAVE CHANGED DUE TO LIFESTYLES AND COMMERCIALISM. THE MATESHIP THAT FORMED A COLLECTIVE ‘GENERATION’ OF CLIMBERS IS SHOWN IN GREAT DETAIL THOUGH WONDERFULLY EXCISED OF ANY SOAP OPERA, AND IS AN INTERESTING INSIGHT INTO THE TIMES.
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THE WRITING
FEEDING THE RAT WAS WRITTEN BY A WRITER. WHILST THERE ARE CLIMBERS WHO WRITE WELL, FEW HOLD THEIR OWN JUST ON THEIR WRITING AND AL ALVAREZ IS ONE OF THEM. ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED CLIMBER, ALVAREZ’S TELLING OF CLIMBING TALES IS LITERATURE, NOT CLIMBING PORN AIMED AT A CLIMBING MARKET OF WHICH THERE BARELY WAS ONE IN THE DAY. ALVAREZ TELLS THAT WHICH MATTERS, THAT WHICH IS COMPELLING, THAT WHICH IS NECESSARY AND THAT WHICH INFORMS – HE MAKES THE MUNDANE INSIGHTFUL YET LOSES NOTHING TO DRAMA IN THE HARROWING SEQUENCES IN THE BOOK. ALVAREZ NEVER LOSES SIGHT OF THE PEOPLE INVOLVED FOR ALL THE ADVENTURE AND DERRING DO THAT COULD EASILY ECLIPSE THEM.
WHAT COULD EASILY READ AS A BOYS ADVENTURE COMPENDIUM, AND THIS BOOK IS A PRODUCT OF THE END OF THAT ERA, ALVAREZ SAVES FROM SENTIMENTALITY AND COMIC BOOK MELODRAMA WHILST ALSO STEERING WELL AWAY FROM THE DEATH PORN ELEMENT SO MUCH CLIMBING WRITING BECOMES. THIS IS WHERE THE CRAFT AND THE VISION OF THE WRITER SETS FEEDING THE RAT APART. WHERE MUCH CLIMBING WRITING NOW FOLLOWS A BORING FORMAT OF ‘WE TRIED, THINGS WENT BAD, WE THOUGHT WE’D DIE, BUT WE JUST MADE IT. REPEAT FOR 300 PAGES’, ALVAREZ EITHER PREDATES OR SKILFULLY AVOIDS IT EVEN WITH PLENTY OF MATERIAL HE COULD HAVE EASILY HAVE NARRATED THAT WAY.
FEEDING THE RAT IS WRITTEN IN THE LANGUAGE OF CLIMBING FROM BEFORE THE TRIBAL LINGOISM IT HAS NOW, SOMETHING THE BETTER CLIMBING WRITING DOES AS IT DATES AS QUICKLY THE HAIRSTYLES AND FOOTWEAR. IT’S WRITTEN FOR NON-CLIMBERS BUT NOT TO CONVERT OR EVEN IMPRESS THEM, BUT TO EXPLAIN TO A DEGREE AND MOSTLY TO SAVOUR.
IF THERE’S ONE THING ALVAREZ MIGHT BE GUILTY OF IT’S IN LETTING THIS ERA BE SEEN AS A MORE INNOCENT TIME, NOT CONCERNING THE BOOK WITH THE GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES OF THE TIME THAT SET THE LANDSCAPE, LITERALLY, OF WHERE ALL THIS TAKES PLACE. THE WELSH AND SCOTTISH RANGES MAY WELL HAVE BEEN HOBBITVILLE (THOUGH THEY WEREN’T OF COURSE, WITH ONLY PASSING MENTION OF THE INDUSTRIAL ISSUES OF THE TIME), BUT PLACES LIKE PAKISTAN AND NEPAL IN THE 60’s, 70’s & 80’s WERE NOT THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL OR JIMMY CHIN FILM LOCATIONS THEY ARE NOW, SOMETHING THAT SHAPED THE CLIMBING THAT HAPPENED THERE. INDEED FEEDING THE RAT IS VERY BRITISH WITHOUT BEING BRITISH, IT TELLS THE TALE OF A SCENE OF PERHAPS THE GREATEST ERA IN BRITISH, MAYBE WORLD, CLIMBING WITHOUT SOUNDING LIKE P G WODEHOUSE, YET GIVES SCANT MENTION OF THE EUROPEANS, RUSSIANS, JAPANESE AND POLISH WHO WERE DOING THE SAME. MENTION OF ANYONE ELSE EXISTS IN ANECDOTE – IT’S NOT IGNORED – BUT CONCISENESS OF TELLING AND AN AVOIDENCE OF POLITICKING IN GENERAL EVEN OF A CLIMBING NATURE MEANS THERE ARE SIDES TO THESE STORIES THE READER MAY NOT BE AWARE OF AND IS WELL WORTH LOOKING INTO.
ALVAREZ LIKEWISE AVOIDS THE OTHER CLIMBING PORN TRAP OF MAKING THIS A TREATISE ON GEAR. IT’S REFRESHING TO NOT HEAR ABOUT ROPES STRAINING, TENTS SHREDDING, CRAMPONS BREAKING, KARABINERS FAILING, STOVES RUNNING OUT OF GAS AND CLOTHING BEING GOOD OR WRONG. IT’S ASSUMED THE READERSHIP OF THE DAY – 10 CLIMBERS AND A NATION YEARNING FOR AN EXCITING READ – DON’T KNOW OR CARE WHAT PITONS ARE. WHAT YOU GET IN IT’S PLACE ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF CLIMBING IN A WAY WE DON’T SEE ANY MORE. CONSIDERING THE GEAR OF THE DAY, WE HEAR ABOUT WEEKS SPENT ON HIMALAYAN FACES CLIMBING IN A NEAR COAL-MINER FASHION (NO SURPRISE CONSIDERING THE BACKGROUNDS OF SOME OF THE TEAMS) KNOWING NIGHTS ARE SPENT TIED TO LEDGES UNDER CANVAS FLYS, BELAYS ARE WITH FELTED WOOLLEN GLOVES AND HAMMERS WERE HAMMERS NOT THE THINGS WE HAVE NOW ON THE BACK OF ICE TOOLS. IF THERE’S A BOOK WHERE YOU CAN SMELL THE LEATHER AND SPARKS OF STEEL ON GRANITE, FEEL A HAWSER ROPE RUN THROUGH A KNITTED GLOVE AND HEAR THE FLAP OF CORDURA IN THE WIND IT’S THIS.
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THE CLIMBING
THOSE WANTING TO READ CLIMBING STORIES WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. THE MOUNTAINS AND ROUTES ANTHOINE GETS ON, FROM WALES TO THEALPS AND THE KARAKORAM, ARE SOME OF THE FINEST EXPLOITS OF CLIMBING THERE HAVE BEEN. CENTRAL TO A GROUP THAT CLIMBED ALL OVER THE GLOBE, THE ARRAY OF ROUTES ANTHOINE DID, THE STYLE HE DID THEM IN AND THE CHARACTERS HE CLIMBED WITH MAKE HIS ONE OF THE GREAT CLIMBING LIVES OF HISTORY.
OF COURSE THERE’S THE BIG TICKET STUFF IN THE KARAKORAM AND HIMALAYAS, AND THE HARROWING STUFF FROM THERE AND THE ALPS, BUT ANTHOINE’S CHOICE OF OBJECTIVES AND EXPEDITIONS FOR REASONS OTHER THAN A SAFARI-LIKE NEED TO ‘CONQUER’ SUMMITS – THE NEED TO CLIMB WITH HIS PEERS ON STUFF THAT EXPRESSED TEAMWORK AND CREATIVITY – IS A REFRESHING PERSPECTIVE WELL PORTRAYED BY ALVAREZ. IN THIS BOOK THE CLIMBING IS AS MUCH THE STORY OF HOW THINGS WERE CLIMBED AS IT IS OF WHAT WAS CLIMBED.
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THE PHILOSOPHY
ALVAREZ GOES TO LENGTHS TO COVER ANTOINE’S PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE AS A CLIMBER. CLIMBING IN THIS BOOK IS NOT A CASUAL AFFAIR, CERTAINLY NOT A HOBBY, AND THOUGH WE ARE SPARED ANY OF THE PSEUDO-EASTERN SOUNDING STUFF THAT CAME WHEN THE NEW AGE – AND HALLUCINOGENS – ENTERED THE MIX, WE GET A SOLID DESCRIPTION OF AN ORIGINAL THINKER MAKING SENSE OF WHAT THEY DO. TODAY THIS DOESN’T SEEM PROFOUND, BUT FOR IT’S TIME ANTHOINE’S IDEA OF FEEDING THE RAT WAS A RADICAL SHIFT FROM THE MYSTICISM OF YOUNGHUSBAND, THE POETRY OF MALLORY AND THE NATIONISM OF HILLARY AND HINTS AT THE PUNK ANIMALISM OF THE ERA IN A WAY THAT HASN’T DATED.
ALVAREZ’S QUOTING OF ANTHOINE DESCRIBING THE ROUTES THEY WOULD CHOOSE AND THE REASONS WHY FROM THE POSITION OF FEEDING HIS INNER RAT GETS AS CLOSE TO THE SOUL OF SERIOUS CLIMBING AS HAS BEEN PUT IN WORDS. ANTHOINE OBVIOUSLY SAW NONE OF THIS THROUGH THE LENS OF THE REASONS GIVEN FOR CLIMBING IN THE GENERATIONS BEFORE; THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY WHEN THESE THINGS WERE BEING DONE FOR SELF-EXPRESSION, IN A STYLE THAT WAS EVERY BIT AS REVOLUTIONARY AS WERE THE SEX PISTOLS BACK IN LONDON.
HOW THIS PHILOSOPHY STILL STANDS IS UP FOR CONTENTION – EVERYTHING ABOUT CLIMBING HAS ROLLED ON OF COURSE. WHETHER THIS IS NAIVE 70’s NAVEL GAZING ON PAR WITH THE YOSEMITE MESCALINE-EATING STONE MASTERS OR WHETHER IT’S THE PEAK OF EXPEDITION THINKING BEFORE CLIMBINGS DESCENT INTO COMMERCIALISM IS A DEBATE TO HAVE; OBVIOUSLY AT FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS WE THINK IT’S STILL RELEVANT, IF NOT INTEGRAL, TO THE PROCESS OF GOING TO PLACES OFF THE RADAR TO CLIMB BIG STUFF.
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SO…
FEEDING THE RAT IS WORTH READING FOR THE WRITING ALONE, TO SHINE A LIGHT ON ‘CLIMBING LITERATURE’ IN GENERAL. IT GIVES A PROPORTIONATE DEGREE OF ATTENTION TO CLIMBING WITHIN THE LIFE OF ONE OF CLIMBINGS TRUE APOSTLES, AND GIVES THE CLIMBING ITSELF FAIR TREATMENT WITHIN THE EQUATION OF WHAT AN ASCENT IS MADE UP OF. THERE’S ENOUGH PHILOSOPHIZING, ADVENTURISM AND DERRING DO TO COVER OFF AS A BOOK OF THAT CATEGORY, AND ENOUGH BIOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL COMMENT TO GIVE A CONTEXT THAT SHOWS WHY IT MATTERS AND REFLECT ON THE TIMES THAT HAVE PASSED SINCE. BETWEEN THE ERAS OF NATIONAL CLIMBING AND THE COMMERCIAL EXPLOSION OF THE 90’s SURPRISINGLY LITTLE WAS WRITTEN, WITH THIS BEING AMONGST THE BEST OF IT.
IF CLIMBING HAS A SOUL, FEEDING THE RAT SHOWS IT. WITHOUT BEING CORNY, MACHO, SENSATIONALIST OR ESOTERIC THIS IS A BOOK THAT DESCRIBES CLIMBING AS IT CAN BE WITHOUT HAVING TO PUSH AGAINST OVER-COMMERCIALISM THAT WASN’T REALLY PRESENT AT THE TIME – THOUGH WASN’T FAR OFF. IT CAN BE SEEN AS A RELIC OF AN ERA OR A PROTOTYPE OF WHAT IS STILL VERY POSSIBLE, JUST BACK-BURNERED IN THESE TIMES OF COMMERCIAL CLIMBING IGNORING WHAT EXISTS FOR THOSE STILL WANTING WHAT MO ANTHOINE SAW AS SIMPLY ‘CLIMBING’.
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