"Paths of Glory" By Jeffery Archer is the story about a man who set out to follow his larger than life dream and whether he succeeds or not forms the rest of the novel.
The book begins with the story of George Mallory's eventful childhood. There are some parts which are truly memorable especially the parts where George feels women should have equal rights as men and argues with his dad to send his sisters to a decent college , his way of getting admission to Winchester, his mountaineering ability, his adventures with Finch,trying to climb eiffel tower etc. Some of the instances has Archer written all over them! George then tries to woo this woman (Ruth) whom he falls in love with at first sight. He even climbs a clock tower in venice to prove his love for her! George finally settles down by marrying her and starts his own family and thats when the reader begins to get disconnected as the book starts getting into a slow pace. The book takes an upturn when the Everest mission sets in. Mallory is the leader of the climbing party which is selected to conquer Mount Everest. His dream- to be the first man to set his foot on the summit of the tallest mountain in the whole world! It was so important to him that inspite of a drastic first attempt, inspite of being a father to 4 kids,inspite of a loving wife, he sets out to try it one last time. You really dont feel much when he actually dies on the mountain while returning back..i dont know if it was because i felt slightly disconnected or because i was not able to imagine the whole scene vividly... Archer, in my opinion, didnt put his best effort in describing the scene up there (i dont quite blame him since he himself has not been there!!) The only heartwrenching moment is when Ruth receives George's letter after his death..truly remarkable..thats the only time when i actually got emotional. I would definitely not rate this book among Archer's best books..not even in the breath of Kane and Abel :-)
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