ひとりの夜もそばにいようぜ　君と僕の歌を歌う

i was reading this book today Into Thin Air.... that book about the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. Didn't know that it was actually written by a "fellow" journalist.

It's a great book actually. I enjoyed it immensely except for the ever-great "American Flaw" which is the characteristic of being ethnocentrically crtical and judgemental of non-Anglo people. I totally hate that. Like how he's very critical of the mistakes made by the non-whites Sherpas, the Russian guide, the Japanese expedition and client-- i just didn't like how he generalized the actions/words of these non-whites as being the culture and nature of all Russians, Sherpas, Japanese. I just didn't like his generalization and making it seems as if all Sherpas, Russians and Japanese are irresponsible and selfish. While on the other hand, for the white people, the mistakes and actions/words of these people were attributed to personal and individual qualities. Also, when he does mention the heroism of the Sherpas it is often attributed also as a cultural quality instead of individual effort as he did with the white people. I don't know why alot, and i do mean alot of even the most well meaning white people are like that, seriously... You know, just cause you're white, doesn't mean you're great. I mean, I may be a little dim-headed, shitty reporter, has less of a flair for words and much smaller vocabulary than this dude, but really, i am not totally dumb and what i know i do have is the ability to be critical when the enthocentric flag is raised.

ANYWAYS... those glitches aside, what i did enjoy about his book is his humor... damn great man... Lemme quote from his book.

"When it came time for each of us to assess our own abilities and weigh them against the formidable challenges of the world's highest mountain, it sometimes seemed as though half the population at Base Camp was clinically delusional"

"But perhaps this shouldn't have come as a surprise. Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics, and others whith a shaky hold on reality."

Mannnnnnnnn classsic!

I also liked how, i guess.... it wasn't so noticable until the end in the afterwords when he was arguing the validity of his accounts in the book, he brings out/cites a wealth of information that he had double checked with other survivors/people who were there whom he had interviewed... And there was another dude who published another book The Climb who challenged this dude's account of the disaster........ And u know what, when this dude backed up all his facts with his interview transcripts, etc....... all i can say is, you know what, sometimes it's almost impossible to challenge a truly experienced reporter who is concretely backed up by solid notes. That was when the true journalistic qualities of this book shines through.

Anyways....... His book made me realize, or realize even more, the great use of journalism u know...... I mean, i guess i seriously just really need to learn to love reporting... But the skills u aquire as a reporter is really cool. It really really teaches you alot on how to contact the right people, how to come up with an angle, who to contact, how to try to get people who don't want to talk to talk and how to get people who talk to talk to you abt the things you want to know, how to ask the right questions to get the information you need, to know what questions to ask to begin with..... it's great u know, what reporting can teach you......

And u know....... I love music, and in many parts of me, i love cross cultural studies..... i just wish i could find a way to intergrate those two with reporting and do something in my life that amounts to something significant in the end, you know what i mean? I don't think i can do it, but i sure as hell want to.