Davids Heart: Short Stories of Struggle and Triumph

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Want David to visit your book club or other organization via Skype? Click here to contact him. Home of the Brave: Somewhere in the Sand. Selected Works Fiction Fobbit: It can also be funny as hell. David Abrams has written a flat-out brilliant book of the Iraq War, one that reads like a compact version of the Odyssey or Going After Cacciato. This is military fiction at its truest. But by the end of the book I was silent: I was really undone by it. David Abrams has done something very powerful, drawing together the different layers of this story so beautifully, and drawing us down below the surface to a place of darkness and sadness.

Spanning eight hours, the novel follows a squad of six AWOL soldiers as they attempt to cross war-torn Baghdad on foot to attend the funeral of their leader, Staff Sergeant Rafe Morgan. As the men make their way to the funeral, they recall the most ancient of warriors yet are a microcosm of twenty-first-century America, and subject to the same human flaws as all of us. Emotionally resonant, true-to-life, and thoughtfully written, Brave Deeds is a gripping story of combat and of perserverance, and an important addition to the oeuvre of contemporary war fiction.

It is everything that terrible conflict was not: David Abrams has taken up Joe Heller's mantle--or not mantle; more like his Groucho nose and his whoopee cushion--and so his debut marks the arrival of a massive talent. His M is collecting dust, he reads Dickens and Cervantes instead of playing Xbox with the grunts, and the only piece of Army intelligence he really shows an interest in is the mess hall menu.

Abe trembles at any encounter with the enemy and hoards hundreds of care packages, brimming over with baby wipes, foot powder, and erotic letters from bored housewives. These are twenty-first century authors writing timeless sagas of choice, crime, and consequences You'll meet students and strippers, cops and cons, druggies and dreamers, cold-eyed killers and caught-in-their-gunsights screwed-up souls.

But mostly, through all our fiction here, you'll meet quiet heroes and see the noir side of life that makes our Montana as real as it is mythic.

Regions of the Heart: The Triumph and Tragedy of Alison Hargreaves

No doubt the state's beauty will still make the very idea of Montana Noir seem incongruous to some. Flashing neon lighting a rain-streaked window. But while noir was definitely an urban invention, it knows no boundaries. It's doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. It's being defeated yet going on.

Sometimes it's being defeated and not going on. This is our Montana. What does it mean to be watched? Walker, and Todd Wilkinson. Along with A Fact and Fiction Reader: How dare the mother of two young children risk her life and her family's future on so deadly an undertaking? Was her lifelong passion for climbing a badge of courage or the mark of supreme irresponsibility?

Should she be remembered as a superlative mountaineer or as an immature and selfish woman? It was a bitter end to an extraordinary and misunderstood career. In "Regions of the Heart," David Rose and Ed Douglas set the record straight, presenting a thoughtful, compelling portrait of Hargreaves that restores her reputation while acknowledging her shortcomings and lapses of judgement. They show us a woman who found freedom and fulfillment on the steep faces of some of the world's most forbidding mountains, a wife trapped in an increasingly troubled marriage, and a mother who sought literally to climb her way to financial security -- a desperate gamble for which she would ultimately pay with her life.

Short-listed for the prestigious Banff Mountain Literature grand prize, "Regions of the Heart" is a story of unparalleled adventure and a vividglimpse of the intensely competitive, always perilous world of men and women who are never more than a single step away from death. Readers will finish this book both saddened and inspired, with a new understanding of Alison Hargreaves and the true challenges she struggled bravely to overcome.

David Abrams

Hardcover , pages. Published June 1st by National Geographic first published August 26th To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Regions of the Heart , please sign up. Lists with This Book. Scrittura lenta, pesante e ripetitiva. May 23, Nigel rated it really liked it Shelves: I've read a good few climbing books over the years however reading one that was solely about female climbers a little while back I realised that I had read less about Alison Hargreaves than a number of other climbers so I bought this one to address the balance.

Books about climbers often have some degree of bias in them but this one seems to strike a reasonable balance.

The authors, both successful climbers, have written well here. The story is well laid out with not too much jargon. Alison l I've read a good few climbing books over the years however reading one that was solely about female climbers a little while back I realised that I had read less about Alison Hargreaves than a number of other climbers so I bought this one to address the balance. Alison life is covered from here earliest years up to her death on K2. The story of her early years is not only evocative of a time gone by but also shows the benefit of chance, location and human interest - the school she went to actually encouraged her climbing as a normal curriculum activity.

There is a reasonable degree of emphasis on her personal life and marriage and this is an important part of her character.

Flawed though she probably was in her personal life she was a highly talented and driven climber. If you need proof of driven she asked an experienced climbing doctor if she could go to the Himalaya in her 2nd trimester and on being told that it might not be wise headed for the north face of the Eiger instead!

Excellent book for those with an interest.

View all 3 comments. Dec 18, Mazola1 rated it really liked it. Regions of the Heart tells the poignant life story of British climber, Alison Hargreaves. Hargreaves, who was killed descending K2 after successfully climbing it in , was probably the best female British climber of her day. Unmotivated at school, and desiring only to climb, she left home at 18 to live with an older man who she later married who became both her mentor and her abuser.

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Hargreaves was unable to break the bond which tied her to husband, despite the fact that she was fiercely in Regions of the Heart tells the poignant life story of British climber, Alison Hargreaves. Hargreaves was unable to break the bond which tied her to husband, despite the fact that she was fiercely independent and strong in the mountains. Her husband ran a store which sold climbing equipment, and Hargreaves contributed significantly to its success, designing and making supplies such as tents and climbers' chalk bags.

For a while, the business and the marriage were successful, and Hargreaves had two children she adored. But eventually the business fell on hard times, and Hargreaves' husband became increasingly abusive. As times became tough, Hargreaves saw other climbers, some of whom were clearly not as talented as she was, become more famous. A particularly hard blow came when Rebecca Stephens became the first British female to climb Mount Everest, something Hargreaves had previously attempted to do, and failed due to bad weather.

Regions of the Heart: The Triumph and Tragedy of Alison Hargreaves by David Rose

Stephens was basically guided up the mountain, and two years later, Hargreaves climbed Mount Everest solo, without using supplemental oxygen, an achievement which would have been significant if accomplished by a man, but which did not receive the attention that Stephens' much easier ascent had garnered. Pressed by financial difficulties, and hoping that a successful ascent of K2 would bring improve her financial condition and bring her the kind of recognition she craved and thought she deserved, she left within a few months to attempt to climb K2.

Some criticized her for taking such risks when she had two small children, as they had when she climbed the Eiger when pregnant, but it is worth noting that such comments were rarely made about male climbers. For instance, little such commentary was made in when Scott Fischer, with a wife and two small children at home, and Rob Hall, with a pregnant wife, died on Mount Everest. The authors had access to Hargreaves diaries, which gave them unique insight into her thoughts about her life and climbing. They were able to write an insightful and sensitive biography of this complex and driven woman.

In some senses, Hargreaves' story is a sad one, full of bad choices and adversity almost overcome. But in another sense, it is an uplifting story, full of goals met, and difficulties overcome.

As the book notes, "Behind the cliche and moral censure that surrounded her death was an ordinary woman with an extraordinary talent and determination, with hopes, fears, loves, virtues and faults, who did great things and made some terrible mistakes. It is not too much to hope that in the moments before the hurricane closed around her, as she started home from the summit of K2 with the world beneath her feet, Alison was happy.

In the end, I was unable to decide whether Hargreaves' life was one lived triumphantly on her own terms, or one frustrated by insurmountable obstacles and tragically cut short. Jul 22, Megan Kelosiwang rated it it was amazing. A fantastic read about an extraordinary mountaineer. In the end I could feel the pull to the summit at the same time understanding the gradual, complex factors that led to her death. This book has given me a whole new perspective on how we all all pursue our dreams and the price we pay to feed our soul. Feb 10, SnufkinReads rated it it was amazing Shelves: A brilliant account of one of the best female climbers.

Highly acclaimed by the male dominated and often petty community of Himalayan climbers, which just proves how skilled she was. You'd need to wonder, reading the book, how would Alison's life look like if she didn't get into an abusive relationship. She achieved so much despite the personal issues, with the right support system she could have been the greatest climber ever. The book is detailed, but also descriptive in ways t A brilliant account of one of the best female climbers.

”Seek Jesus First"

The book is detailed, but also descriptive in ways that paint the harsh landscapes of climbing with ease and love. Aug 25, Pat Jorgenson Waterchilde rated it really liked it. I am not much for adventure books but I found this one very intriguing and interesting.

"Looking in All the Wrong Places"

The reader view of the life, thoughts, dreams and fears of Alison Hargreaves. Through her diaries we are able to attempt to understand what drove this woman to be a mountaineers in spite of her desires to take care of her children. As you finish the book, you will not doubt form you own opinions.

None the less, this was Alison's life and we are not in a position to criticize. A very good read.

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