Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas

By Greg Child

“Child's book is unlike any other book on mountaineering that I have read recently— a creative undertaking of the highest order, full of wit,  laughter,  triumph and tragic death amongst the world's highest mountains. The writing is almost liquid, an elixir aged in the wisdom gained from travels in distant Third World lands and the misery, suffering and splendor of high-altitude mountaineering.
Thin Air reads a bit like a Chris Bonington book (that's a compliment), covering not only the history of the peaks and the actual climbing, but the religious and cultural history of the local people. In this, Child's talent is perhaps unsurpassed; tangents covering the Balti people and the Siachen border conflict between Moslem Pakistan and Hindu India add considerably to the tale. The color pictures are excellent, and the black-and-white topographic photos at the end of the book are a fantastic reference source for climbers interested in visiting the area. However, what really sets Thin Air apart from other mountaineering books is the high-quality of the writing and the detail which Child invests in it. Either the author has a photographic memory, or he's an inveterate diary writer. He is able to communicate the inner truths of climbing in a beautiful way.”
Ed Webster, „Rock & Ice” 1990, September/October, No. 39, p. 84