Friday, January 11, 2008

God Toppler Edmund

Of course, to all right thinking people, the 'conquest' of Everest was the most appalling impiety. A mountain that is impossible to climb is much more edifying than one that is merely difficult. I could worship an impossible mountain.  Sir Edmund Hillary demoted Everest to difficult. 'Well, George, we've knocked the bastard off,' he said when he returned to base camp. Exactly. But, I suppose, he was a hero of a time when the 'conquest' of the planet seemed like a good thing and when the old colonial idea of toppling 'false' gods was still alive and well. Mountains made good gods. William Empson wrote a great poem about the emptiness left after the toppling of the gods - 'Let us stand here and admit that we have no road.' Hillary was an alpha male, but it's betas like Empson who have the last word.

4 comments:

  1. How far down the Greek alphabet can a man get?

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  2. omega. see shaun ellis, the devonshire wolf-man.

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  3. I was amazed - and pleasantly so - by the generous coverage given to his death by the BBC. Big item at the head of every bulletin. Never mind the mountain stuff, this guy really was a hero - especially to the people of Nepal, to whom he devoted most of his post-Everest life. And modest with it, in a way quite unknown to today's mini-celebs. And a beekeeper...

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  4. And modest with it, in a way quite unknown to today's mini-celebs. Yes, how refreshing. May he RIP.

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