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The Turquoise Mountain: Brian Blessed on Everest
, 217 pages plus 24 pages of colour photographs, SIGNED and DEDICATED by Brian Blessed on the front free endpaper
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 16, 2021
Brian Blessed is well-known to U.K. denizens, perhaps not so much in the States. He is an actor who also happens to be a delightful storyteller. For him, life seems to be an adventure, and he makes the most of it. There are many books written about Mount Everest, but this one is unique, because the reader keeps pulling for Brian to make it to the top. His travails in trying to set up the documentary about his expedition is well-chronicled here, but so is his actual climbing.
His writing is refreshing, a kind of 'just follow me on our little adventure' composition that feels intimate to the reader. The cloud cover, the danger, the bone-chilling cold of Everest comes across with clear communications.
I just wish he had reprised his Octavius Augustus role and shouted, "Quintilius Varus, where are my eagles!", at some point along the climb.
Book Season = Winter (snow and more snow)
His writing is refreshing, a kind of 'just follow me on our little adventure' composition that feels intimate to the reader. The cloud cover, the danger, the bone-chilling cold of Everest comes across with clear communications.
I just wish he had reprised his Octavius Augustus role and shouted, "Quintilius Varus, where are my eagles!", at some point along the climb.
Book Season = Winter (snow and more snow)
January 2, 2023
I’m working my way through Brian Blessed’s books as I find him such an interesting and entertaining man and his books are like listening to him speak.
This one started off slowly and the part about trying to find backing for his Everest expedition was a bit disappointing apart from when he meets Captain Noel, now aged 97, who was on the ill fated 1924 expedition with Mallory and Irvine (who may have been the first men to reach the peak except that it cannot be proved whether they died on the way up or the way down).
Later on once they reach Everest, it is totally captivating though with some great descriptions of the mountain and the tribulations of climbing it at such an altitude.
This one started off slowly and the part about trying to find backing for his Everest expedition was a bit disappointing apart from when he meets Captain Noel, now aged 97, who was on the ill fated 1924 expedition with Mallory and Irvine (who may have been the first men to reach the peak except that it cannot be proved whether they died on the way up or the way down).
Later on once they reach Everest, it is totally captivating though with some great descriptions of the mountain and the tribulations of climbing it at such an altitude.
May 5, 2025
Brian Blessed was a larger than life feature of my childhood - I remember him on so many films and TV programmes - so I couldn't resist picking this up, even though the whole 'celebrity-does-a-challenge' genre isn't really my cup of tea.
And to start with, I was a bit bored - a lot of the book is about coming up with this crazy idea of climbing Everest to honour two climbers who mysteriously disappeared near the summit back in the 1920s. Lobbying for sponsors and backers might be an interesting topic to some people, but I found it a bit tedious.
However, once the actual climbing begins, it became a much more interesting read. Blessed's enthusiasm shines through as he waxes lyrical about the sights and the people on the holy mountain, And you do have to admire him for giving it a go, while wearing vintage gear. Of course, as with all these 'celebrity' things, more of my admiration goes to the people who went with him, or cart cameras and film equipment, do the admin and organisation, and generally go through exactly the same hardships as the big name.
I'd love to track down the actual programme they actually ended up making, to see moving pictures of everything they went through.
And to start with, I was a bit bored - a lot of the book is about coming up with this crazy idea of climbing Everest to honour two climbers who mysteriously disappeared near the summit back in the 1920s. Lobbying for sponsors and backers might be an interesting topic to some people, but I found it a bit tedious.
However, once the actual climbing begins, it became a much more interesting read. Blessed's enthusiasm shines through as he waxes lyrical about the sights and the people on the holy mountain, And you do have to admire him for giving it a go, while wearing vintage gear. Of course, as with all these 'celebrity' things, more of my admiration goes to the people who went with him, or cart cameras and film equipment, do the admin and organisation, and generally go through exactly the same hardships as the big name.
I'd love to track down the actual programme they actually ended up making, to see moving pictures of everything they went through.
February 19, 2015
Brian Blessed is not just the shouty bloke that gets on TV every now and then. He is also the shouty bloke that goes up mountains every now and then.
Thankfully there is more to him than meets the ear and this book gives a fascinating glimpse of the man behind the voice. Obviously a passionate fellow he dances to his own tune and isn't afraid to do so. More power to his elbow for that.
The book details his obsession with Mallory (Irvine comes in a very distant second, as per usual) and the failure/fate of their effort to be the first to climb Mount Everest.
So in the late 1980's Brian wants to produce a TV programme recreating the climb and most of the book is about the effort to get that project off the ground and how it was achieved. Essentially it is a book about a film about climbing Mount Everest.
Thankfully he is just in time to interview the last survivor of the 1920's Everest expeditions and that is very moving. You really get drawn into Brain's world and how his interest has shaped and twisted his very life.
Brian has a gift for story-telling and there are some great passages.
Fulsome in his praise (fulsome is pretty much what Brian is about anything) of his fellow climbers Brian is under no illusion about his role or abilities within the group. This modesty runs through the book and is endearing.
Those wondering what it is like to get an attack of volcanic shits at 17,000 feet will have little need to wonder any longer if they read this book. This has not been written to make the author look like some sort of superhero, Brian does not shy away from the reality of the trip or the fact others knew better and were well prepared to tell him when he was fouling up.
The book is not quite as eccentric as the film it is about but you can be left in no doubt you are reading the words of a singular individual.
A great general read, not so great if you want to read about belays and pitons and what rope to be using.
Thankfully there is more to him than meets the ear and this book gives a fascinating glimpse of the man behind the voice. Obviously a passionate fellow he dances to his own tune and isn't afraid to do so. More power to his elbow for that.
The book details his obsession with Mallory (Irvine comes in a very distant second, as per usual) and the failure/fate of their effort to be the first to climb Mount Everest.
So in the late 1980's Brian wants to produce a TV programme recreating the climb and most of the book is about the effort to get that project off the ground and how it was achieved. Essentially it is a book about a film about climbing Mount Everest.
Thankfully he is just in time to interview the last survivor of the 1920's Everest expeditions and that is very moving. You really get drawn into Brain's world and how his interest has shaped and twisted his very life.
Brian has a gift for story-telling and there are some great passages.
Fulsome in his praise (fulsome is pretty much what Brian is about anything) of his fellow climbers Brian is under no illusion about his role or abilities within the group. This modesty runs through the book and is endearing.
Those wondering what it is like to get an attack of volcanic shits at 17,000 feet will have little need to wonder any longer if they read this book. This has not been written to make the author look like some sort of superhero, Brian does not shy away from the reality of the trip or the fact others knew better and were well prepared to tell him when he was fouling up.
The book is not quite as eccentric as the film it is about but you can be left in no doubt you are reading the words of a singular individual.
A great general read, not so great if you want to read about belays and pitons and what rope to be using.
February 17, 2012
Blessed's enthusiasm comes off the page and you can hear his booming voice telling the story. It took time to get into the narrative as he does get stuck telling of the failure in getting things off the ground but it is integral to the story. The best bit apart from his reaching of 24,750 ft has to be his description of getting the 'shits' on Everest, very funny.
May 13, 2013
The Great Blessed's first visit to the world's highest mountain. Despite a revolution in Nepal, bureaucratic wrangles and violent stomach cramps, he made it to 25,400 feet, aged 53, without oxygen. A thrilling and life-affirming read.
July 24, 2017
An interesting story of Brian Blessed's expedition in the footsteps of Mallory and Irvine's ill fated attempt on the North face of Everest in 1924. Blessed is everything you would expect; whether you like him or not, the fact he did this trip as far as he did speaks volumes about his mental and physical determination. The preparation for the trip is interesting, particularly as he had the privilege of interview Capt John Noel, the last survivor of the original ill-fated expedition. As the trip progresses, there are various setbacks before the actual ascent begins. Having climbed Kilimanjaro myself (where my copy of this book has also been, though outside of walking and sleeping I had little time to read it while I was there), I am well aware of the physical and psychological effects of climbing at altitude and this book did a good job at relating those as well as highlighting just how much more of an effort it is to climb even higher above 20000 ft. I was a little disappointed towards the end when the entire team descended from 26000 ft and returned to Heathrow in the space of a couple of paragraphs. I couldn't help feel also that as stupendous an effort as this was, there were major corners being cut due to financial constraints at the BBC. Thankfully the only casualty was the trip itself, as they had to turn back before summiting. The geopolitics also seem a tad dated, but this is almost 30 years old now.
I definitely would like to read more about his follow up attempts on Everest.
I definitely would like to read more about his follow up attempts on Everest.
April 10, 2022
The amount of work that goes into such an expedition is frightening, and the conditions of climbing equally so.
March 8, 2016
Blessed's gift as a storyteller is tremendous and as an added bonus, when you read his books you cannot help but hear him crooning, whispering and bellowing his prose in to your face.
The weird thing is that I found an archived copy of Galahad of Everest to watch after reading the book and because of the editorial style of the piece, I felt that they did not sit together well this way round.
Note to future-self - watch the documentary first!
The weird thing is that I found an archived copy of Galahad of Everest to watch after reading the book and because of the editorial style of the piece, I felt that they did not sit together well this way round.
Note to future-self - watch the documentary first!
October 25, 2014
This seemed to be a lot more about planning the expedition itself and getting there, and not enough about the climb. I was a bit disappointed by this one. Not the best mountain book I've read.
June 20, 2021
Pictorial Delight. A great read from Brian Blessed - backed up with wonderful photography throughout. Takes you on the journey!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews