REVIEWS
REVIEWS BY PROFESSIONAL REVIEWERS
BookLife Reviews
This fifth edition of Goldman’s adventurous collection inspired by 30 years of mountaineering adds ten new poems that join the others in exploring the lore, terror, technique, and emotional journey of what he calls the “useless and dangerous sheer joy of climbing.” His poems detail his experiences on peaks ranging from the Eiger to Kilimanjaro and include fascinating glimpses into the nuts-and-bolts of mountaineering, from crampons and carabiners to unstable scree and avalanches. But while these aspects of Reflections on Mountaineering may resonate most readily with other “Seekers” (his term for mountaineers like himself), Goldman’s verses offer much even for those who have never seen a summit.
In clear language that blends a coaching tone with the elemental directness of cliff faces, Goldman showcases mountains and mountaineering can reveal about universal experiences, such as being afraid, growing old, and confronting a challenge. Occasionally readers will hear echoes of the author’s years as a Harvard-trained lawyer, not just in his sophisticated vocabulary and cultural references or occasional burst of Latin, but also in his precision and clarity, such as his consideration of the limits of a rope partner’s responsibilities in “Rope Partner of Mine.” Similarly, he pursues a kaleidoscopic inquiry into what mountains mean to climbers throughout the book, embracing the question’s nuances and possibilities.
The poems take on varied forms, from more traditional poetic couplets and stanzas to blank verse and robust prose poems. The new entries showcase the stylistic diversity: “Hidden Peak” begins with a familiar AABB rhyme scheme, whereas “Guarded Revelation” plunges readers into a ragged, unpredictable rhythm that that mimics the speaker’s racing pulse and culminates in a wild surge of words representing his epiphany. Though summiting a mountain may appear a straightforward (though not simple) act, Goldman’s work reveals its beauty and its complexity, showing how its rippling implications reach even those far below its peak.
Takeaway: Impassioned, incisive poems of climbers, mountains, and life.
Comparable Titles: Nan Shepherd, Gary Snyder.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
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Reflections on Mountaineering: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains: Fifth Edition, Revised and Expanded
Alan V. Goldman
Reviewed by: David Allen
Here is one poem among 138 others from Alan Goldman’s Reflections on Mountaineering: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains.
What Is A Mountain’s Meaning for Mankind? What is a mountain but a feature of the grimy profane? What is humanity but a spark of the purest sacred divine? As Blake said, “Great things are done when men and mountains meet.” A merging of our forms until the world is more complete? Do we humanize the mountain by investing it in ourselves? Or does the mountain subsume us into its mundane shell?
Yearning, longing, finding meaning in the quest: these are the peculiarly poignant, peculiarly human elements celebrated in these poems. Mountain as Magic Mountain: mountain climbing as unrequited process, journey, as ultimate deliverance. Mountains pose the same crazy obstacles as life itself: frustration, remorse, doubt, despair.
Goldman’s flair for the word — he is a retired attorney, and this is the fifth edition of his Reflections — arrives, quanta of many surprises and dynamite, in both blank and metered verse. Sections of the book are variously devoted to Flow, Reality & Dream, Awe & Wonder, Hazards of A Climb. According to Goldman, “…a mountaineer experiences the secret facets of his obscure desire both in poetic terms and in verse”—all offering a fleeting glimpse into the hidden aspects of a mountaineer’s experiences.”
This introduction, written by the poet, is entirely consistent with everything that comes after. The language is alternately allusive, elusive, sylvan, of the tramontane. The mountain has long stood for ascension, for progress toward dream. Thomas Mann did this in The Magic Mountain. Jon Krakuer’s Into Thin Air reminds us that one of Mother Nature’s facets is avalanche.
Goldman makes nature speak the language of man — the only language we can ever really know, our true home. Thank you, Alan Goldman, for limning the gorgeous metaphysics of the Heights. Readers will gasp, moan, smile in happy recognition of their personal peaks and summits in these poems.
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Book Review by Theresa Kadair, Portland Book Review
Reflections on Mountaineering: A Second Revised and Expanded Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains By Alan Goldman
Outskirts Press, $9.41, 166 pages, Format: eBook Star Rating:
4 / 5
Alan Goldman’s Reflections on Mountaineering: A Second Revised and Expanded Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains both inspires and enlightens its readers on the adversities and thrills of mountain climbing. This collection of poems perfectly encapsulates Goldman’s obvious deep awe and reverence of the mountains, describing them as, “stolid, indifferent, uncaring” and “unfeeling”, but still very worthy of notice and exploration. Throughout the collection, Goldman frequently wonders at what the mountain has seen and experienced through its timeless formation, as well as its power to both destroy and inspire whoever dares to climb it.
The poems begin at the start of his journey, where he reflects on the allure, but danger of the task in front of him. As the collection continues, each section engages the reader to a different stage of the perilous climb. Through this format, one truly feels present with Goldman, as he climbs both the physical and emotional mountains in front of him. He faces the concrete dangers of impending avalanches, faulty pendulums, hazardous grounds, and the confrontation of fear that comes with these situations.
As Goldman challenges his own tenacity, one is almost on the mountain with him, hearing his thoughts, and seeing his actions. He touches on topics such as “flow”, similarly known as the state of mind that comes with focused work, as well as ponders the human condition. With a major focus of mental anguish and turmoil in making the trek, I was moved with empathy for Goldman as I truly felt I was experiencing his trials with him through these pages.
A particularly touching part of this collection was when Goldman found the “enemy” – his inner self. Upon this revelation, the narrative given perfectly emulates the overcoming of self for a greater purpose. As he makes it to the next part of the climb, he quotes Mallory saying, “I conquered only what was in myself, no less, no more”, reinforcing his discovery that the true “mountain” to climb is within the mind. Similarly, I was moved by both his insight and vulnerability as he expressed spiritual vacillation in his journey.
As he gazes upon the grandeur of the mountain, he questions, “if the force that created you also created me: Were we made for each other Though fashioned out of such different clay?”. The moral questions and dilemmas Goldman grapples with within his journey are applicable to both climbers and non-climbers alike, making this collection a worthwhile read to all.
OUR STAR RATING SYSTEM 1 star: Reviewer wouldn’t recommend this book at all. 2 stars: Reviewer wouldn’t read it again. Needs work. 3 stars: Reviewer enjoyed the book. 4 stars: Reviewer liked and would recommend the book to friends/family. 5 stars: Reviewer considers the book to be something that everyone should read. Reviewer would definitely read it again.
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Book review by Anthony Avina, Pacific Book Review
Something which not everyone has been fortunate enough to learn for themselves is that while scholastic achievements and learning at a college level can be great for some people, there are many lessons which can be learned from nature and the world itself; lessons not even textbooks and highly educated teachers can teach. As John Lubbock once said, “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” In author and poet Alan V. Goldman’s Reflections on Mountaineering: A Second Revised and Expanded Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains,
The author explores the adventure and the true nature of mountaineering and exploration in the mountains through narrative poetry. Hoping to convey a sense of history and respect for the environment, as well as a healthy comparison between regular life and the life of a mountaineer, the author uses a blend of rhyming and blank verse poetry to bring the mountaineer life to readers everywhere.
A truly thoughtful and beautifully written collection of poetry which captures both the author’s vivid imagery and the beauty of nature all at once, the narrative aspect of the poems really bring readers into the mountaineer experience. From the face-value approach of the poetry that showcases the journey to and into the mountains which mountaineers often face, to the layered way the author equates this journey with life’s greatest venture, the author applies human meaning on nature’s blank canvas. The artistry and creativity these poems infuse into that very narrative makes this a memorable experience.
This is the perfect read for those who enjoy narrative poetry, especially poems which also infuse philosophy and belief into the story – and blend this with a very real-world look at nature and ecology as a whole where it pertains to mountains. As a fan of poetry, I was moved and engaged in this author’s narrative into such an often overlooked or missed aspect of nature, and as someone interested in the mystery and visuals of mountains, this was a truly one of a kind read. Artful, impactful and stunningly written, author Alan V. Goldman’s Reflections on Mountaineering is a must-read book of poetry. A perfect blend of imagery and engaging poetry, the author’s book does a remarkable job of capturing the reader’s attention and crafting a narrative that is thought-provoking and memorable.
I’ve really enjoyed the journey these poems took me on to new heights without setting foot out of my apartment. I might as well have been on the Matterhorn. The experiences of beinI’ve really enjoyed the journey these poems took me on to new heights without setting foot out of my apartment. I might as well have been on the Matterhorn. The experiences of being one with nature were quite vivid. The pieces pack powerful images and I was glad I was along for the ride.g one with nature were quite vivid. The pieces pack powerful images and I was glad I was along for the ride.
Alan V. Goldman’s poetry collection takes readers on a journey that explores new ways to perceive reality as the poems unmask life's beauty and pain..
The poetry book “Reflections on Mountaineering: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains (4th Edition)” by Alan V. Goldman was displayed by ReadersMagnet at the 2022 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C. last June 24-27, 2022.
Goldman’s poetry collection consists of one hundred fifteen poems that, inter alia, examine human frailties when confronted by the duress experienced during climbing. Included in the group are poems set in playful rhymes, blank verse, and structured prose -- but all in a narrative format that makes the poems readily accessible to the general public.
Drawing insights from his avid avocation as a mountaineer, Goldman’s poems offer a new way of coping with earthly impediments that might inhibit curiosity because of fear. The poems explore pragmatic anxieties experienced by mountaineers and people from all walks of life. With the magnificence of a mountain as his muse, Goldman masterfully ruminates about how duress and anxiety affect the human perception of time and reality.
Readers can take away what Goldman has learned about the psychological phenomenon of "Flow" -- athletes would recognize this as "being in the Zone" -- which is thought to exist when people experience the sensation of competent mastery over their environment because their capabilities are adequate to meet their responsibilities. In this situation, people experience a feeling of personal transcendence and serene exaltation while engaging in the discipline required to execute the adventures to come.
The very purpose of achieving such a state of "Flow" is to facilitate the ability to create human meaning out of nothingness -- where nature has left nothing but "a blank on the map". In this manner, the poems illustrate how climbers impart human meaning to the blank slate of the mountains by the very act of climbing them -- the ultimate "existentialist" act.
“Reflections on Mountaineering” further dares its readers to recognize that the complex moral dilemmas which confront us in everyday life also exist in the mountains, only to a sharper degree.
Of course, the poems deal with the feelings evoked by striving for success in the mountains, but also with the feelings evoked by the trauma of defeat. Above all, there is human meaning to be found in the very preparation required for the trial of mountaineering, where people can experience the elation of conquest -- of both the mountains and, more importantly, of themselves.
A recipient of the 2022 Pacific Book Award in the category of Sport, the book is a celebration of the limit of human achievement. Truly, Goldman’s poetry is a testament to his insight into the nature of human aspiration. It is no wonder why it is well-received and favorably reviewed. Anyone who struggles through life can draw inspiration from Goldman's poignant words.
Ultimately, the poems recognize that the perpetual quest for the "freedom of the hills" that drives climbers strongly relates to the concept expressed in the Declaration of Independence about the "unalienable right" of persons to "the pursuit of happiness" -- a right for which government itself is instituted among persons to protect.
Readers may easily obtain a copy of “Reflections on Mountaineering" on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as other distinguished outlets.
Quote | “ 'Reflections on Mountaineering' is a poetic love letter to the indomitable spirits of Earth's peaks." Jeana Jorgensen, FORWARD CLARION REVIEWS (2022); "The whole work edifies in its celebration of a timeless meeting between nature's awesome power and the brave souls willing to face their limits." -- Mari Carlson, US REVIEW OF BOOKS (2021).
Title | Reflections on Mountaineering: Fourth Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains
Author | Alan V. Goldman
Genre | Psychology of Adventure; Risk Sports in the Natural World; ; Human Behavior under Duress.
Publisher | Outskirts Press, Inc.
Published date | January 28, 2022
Book Retail Price| $11.73
Author Alan V. Goldman is a graduate of Horace Mann School (1975); Harvard College (1979); and Harvard Law School (1982). In addition to his avocation as an avid mountaineer, he practiced corporate litigation for many years and is now retired.
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Book Review by Alex Telander, San Francisco Book Review
Reflections on Mountaineering: A Second Revised and Expanded EDITION: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains By Alan Goldman Outskirts Press, $9.41, 166 pages, Format: eBook Star Rating: 4.5 / 5
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that climbing a tall and treacherous mountain and making it all the way to the top works very well as a metaphor, concept, and entire paradigm that can be applied to things like performance in work or sports or just life, achieving goals, and wanting to push oneself. In Reflection on Mountaineering, author and mountaineer Alan Goldman takes it one step further using the beautiful language of poetry to tell stories, paint beautiful scenes with words, and inspire the reader in a number of ways.
Glancing upward I behold
A perfect realm of apex and stronghold —
But this world knows of no such perfect place
So you must claim some kindred space
Some of the poems rhyme, some do not, some are just passages of free verse. Or there’s this one, entitled “Pentimento,” that presents a mountain in a whole new way, as a challenge, both for the mountaineer and for the person wishing to achieve their goal.
How happy I am to be free of abstract worries;
Your mass focuses my attention onto palpable realities
Where the only thing that counts is the next step I take,
Because I’m bound up in your micro-reality of reactive causality.
Goldman does a truly wonderful job of presenting these eye-opening, awe-inspiring peaks and mountains in a completely new way with wonderful use of vocabulary, which also helps the reader to attack certain problems in life with a new and original approach.
What is a Mountain but an eruption of earth
Devoid of significance except what we impart to it
By our efforts to achieve feats of great wonder:
We invest in the mountain the lore of the climbers’ travails.
The mountaineer knows he is not the first to surmount this physical challenge and make it to the peak; these ways have been traveled before, and they have been surmounted. Providing a lesson that it is important to not just dive in blindly but to prepare oneself the best one can so as not to be surprised.
With the passages that are just wonderful descriptions of scenery, Goldman goes into detail with the topology and biological nature of what he is experiencing. “. . . Studded with ancient volcanic ejecta of igneous boulders, both huge and small, both smooth and irregular. The peculiar flora of the lower regions, like the giant groundsels and lobelias, are long gone . . .” With such descriptive language, the reader is seemingly transported to these unique places. And with this second edition, there are thirty-four new poems to be enjoyed by readers.
OUR STAR RATING SYSTEM 1 star: Reviewer wouldn’t recommend this book at all. 2 stars: Reviewer wouldn’t read it again. Needs work. 3 stars: Reviewer enjoyed the book. 4 stars: Reviewer liked and would recommend the book to friends/family. 5 stars: Reviewer considers the book to be something that everyone should read. Reviewer would definitely read it again
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Reviewed by Maileen Hamto, Seattle Book Review
Reflections on Mountaineering: A Second Revised and Expanded EDITION: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains
By Alan Goldman
Outskirts Press, $9.41, 166 pages, Format: eBook
Star Rating: 4 / 5
Alan Goldman reaches new heights with the second, revised, and expanded edition of Reflections on Mountaineering: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains with new poems and old to deliver a powerful collection of verses to inspire the imagination of outdoor enthusiasts, climbers, adventurers, and seekers. Goldman, who complemented a successful law career with an equally impressive range of completed summits, has been climbing for more than thirty years. Readers are fortunate that poet Goldman is gifted with the physical prowess to plan and complete climbs as well the emotional and mental depth to write poems about the experience.
Goldman infuses a spiritual quality to his verses, although some may read like a straightforward account of a trip report. The collection represents meditations on the process of ascent, taking in the beauty, understanding the elements.
A number of poems are addressed to the mountain itself, as the poet engages in conversation with the peak, expressing respect and regard for the power and majesty of its eminence. One wonders which peaks pose a challenge, rendered sinister, while others inspire love.
Climbing, like any sport, comes with its own jargon. Goldman effortlessly weaves in the language of climbing: diretissima, couloir, scree, glissading. Technicalities notwithstanding, his writing reminds us that mountains make poets out of climbers, leaving them in awe and in complete and utter respect for the mountain gods, whom he invokes often. Speaking of gods, Goldman holds great deference for mountaineering legends and adventuresome figures, including British climber George Leigh Mallory, Italian mountaineer Reinhold Andreas Messner, Rudyard Kipling, and Alexander the Great.
The most enjoyable part of reading this anthology is the wisdom imparted about the life changing lessons of the climb. Beyond simply documenting the ascent, the poet contemplates the lessons learned and how the experience transforms one to develop keen instincts of self preservation and survival, in order to save oneself from disaster. It’s also an allegory to life and parallels of climbing lessons to professional pursuits.
“The mountain is passive, but inspires creative action,” Goldman writes, alluding to the creativity involved in finding routes, summiting, and planning for the descent, often requiring instantaneous calculations of risk and reward. In poems like “Aftermath of an Avalanche” and “Bailing Out on Twining Peak,” Goldman expresses the agony of coming to the decision of abandoning plans in order to survive. Another important lesson is accepting the reality of needing to turn around and live to climb another day.
This collection of poems summarizes a life well lived, as the poet meditates on how mountains create meaning out of nothingness. In the same vein, mountaineering inspires poetry, for what is poetry but the language of awe, mystery, and beauty. It’s the only sufficient medium for sharing the grandeur and expanse of breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
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Book review by Donna Ford, The US Review of Books
Reflections on Mountaineering: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains by Alan V. Goldman
Outskirts Press
"I revel in that special...uncertainty of the outcome,
Regardless of skill, that is experienced during the bond of indulging
Ourselves in...Dangerous sheer joy of climbing,"
This book of poems and musings delivers whiffs of the rarefied atmosphere that mountain climbers breathe. Hardy souls, like the author, thrive whether they ascend to the summit or wisely descend in safety. The lives of mountaineers depend on their roped partners, toe holds, and pegs pounded into rock walls as they climb beside ridges with mountain goat views. Avalanches, glacier crevasses, and frostbite are hazards of snow country. Miles of loose scree and less dense air challenge the last miles. This book describes climbing a volcano and crossing the Continental Divide. Ultimate views from a summit have made it worthwhile for both the author and famous climbers, such as Muir, Mallory, and Alexander. At the Vale of Kashmir, the latter wept [as they say] that there were "no more worlds to conquer."
With life often lived close to the line, Goldman acknowledges that mountaineers accept the vagaries of time mentioned in the Book of Ecclesiastes. He describes the climber's call as fulfilling the work of creation by traveling where nature left "a blank on the map" and then finding meaning in this hidden corner. As a talented practicing lawyer, now retired, Goldman skillfully stages his arguments, analyses the mountain's likely replies, and anticipates emotional responses that will assault his readers along the dangerous climb to the top.
Of his seventy-three offerings in this revised version, some poems rhyme, and others are written in rhythmic blank verse. Goldman's analytical mind tends to wrap the last stanza/sentence into a dramatic summation. For example, he ends one poem, despite the failings expressed within it, with the poignant line, "We have not lost our way on the trip to the top."
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
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Review by Joan Kirschner for IndieReader
REFLECTIONS ON MOUNTAINEERING is a unique dissertation in poetry by a devoted mountaineer who offers his philosophy on, and perceptions of, the immutability and majesty of Nature, comparing it to the relative vulnerability and temporal existence of Humanity.
Alan V. Goldman has been climbing mountains around the world for more than 30 years, and his observations and musings on humanity and the natural world are the basis of his book of poetry, REFLECTIONS ON MOUNTAINEERING (A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains). Goldman expresses himself through an extensive collection of poetry written in several formats – the traditional rhyme scheme of blank verse that readers know from the plays of Shakespeare, free verse, and short observations in prose.
He frequently alludes to the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is part of both the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and includes various phrases in both Latin and French. His language runs from a very sophisticated command of vocabulary to on-trend contemporary word choices, plus a mix of terms pertaining to the equipment used by mountaineers, along with terms that are specific to the physical characteristics of the mountains he climbs. Goldman takes the reader on a lengthy journey of poems describing mountain climbing, survival of the elements, philosophy and psychology.
The sections are arranged in titled groups that convey each general topic: “Reality and Dreams”, “Flow”, “Awe and Wonder”, “Hazards of a Climb”, “Confronting Fear”, “The Lure of the Big Mountains”, “Special Conditions”, “Challenge on Fair Terms”, “Rope Partner”, “Role of Luck, Fate & Chance”, “The Quest”, “Last Things”, and “Private Thoughts”. The collection concludes with what he refers to as “Bonus Materials”. Before perusing the poems, it’s advisable to read the preceding section about the author: “Read About What’s At The Top and What Comes Before”, and his own “Introduction”, for a full understanding of his aim in sharing his experiences and reflections on them.
It is often said that the best books reflect an author’s experience, and people are often advised to write about what they know.
Goldman, with his multiple decades of mountaineering and ample time to reflect on what he has seen and accomplished, is the perfect example of those principles. His poems draw deeply on his experiences, and he shows the depth of his respect for the danger he has faced in his climbs. He makes it clear that he learned when to proceed and when to descend – he tells us quite unambiguously that Nature, as expressed in the majesty of the mountains, and in the changeability of meteorological conditions, always maintains the upper hand over the climber, and reminds us that many who failed to heed that simple truth met a tragic fate.
He also explains that luck plays a part in the mountaineer’s ascent and that avalanches and other phenomena are not predictable, and while using the best equipment and drawing upon experience are positives, the mountains are fickle – a blizzard may arrive unexpectedly and wreak havoc. He portrays his experiences with wayward weather in vivid detail. With this poetic format, interested readers – whether they have some background with climbing or are merely curious – will find Goldman’s combination of knowledge and his reflections on his experience to be both informative and moving. No reader will look at mountainous scenery or photography of mountain subjects in quite the same way after reading these poems. REFLECTIONS ON MOUNTAINEERING (A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains) is enjoyable and thought-provoking for both devotees of mountaineering and casual readers who admire and respect the beauty and power of Nature.
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Reviews by Amazon Customers
Thoughts from the heights - immeasurably inspiring!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 15, 2022
Author/poet Alan V Goldman earned his degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and is now retired from his law career. This book is the fourth edition of his poetry, and in his introduction he shares, ‘These poems seek to convey the essence of my experiences in the high mountains, or those of my friends and fellow climbers. They also contain my insights into the inner meanings present in those climbs, as well as my musings on the “meaning” of life itself.’ The poems are rich in imagery, transporting us to the wonders of the light air above the earth’s surface, the beauty of nature, the challenges of the art of climbing, and the spectacular view of looking across the globe at the vastness of earth’s surface. Goldman transforms the imagery and perceptions into thoughts about life as we are living it and as we could be living it, and in doing so, he has created a collection of memorable responses to survival, overcoming, and distilling the meaning of life that transport us to a higher plane of being. Inspiring and beautifully scribed, this is a treasure book worth sharing with loved ones. Recommended.
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Poems are full of introspection and life's lessons learned atop the mountain
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 10, 2022
Alan V. Goldman's Reflections on Mountaineering, A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains, (FOURTH EDITION) is a collection of 115 narrative-style poems. Some of the poems rhyme, while others are written in prose or blank verse. The poems sum up much of what the author has learned in his more than 30 years of climbing, either from his own experiences or from his mountaineering peers. He realized that many of the moral problems we face every day are also present in the high mountains, but to a much greater degree.
If you like to experience life and appreciate its sacred, difficult, and authentic moments, you will find some of your own favorites in this book that you will return to for sustenance, pleasure, and insight. As poetry should, it hits you wherever you are in your own specific way. Each poem tells us something important about being in touch with our souls and our true selves. The poet uses the power of poetry and its capacity to pry open our hearts and minds in a gentle and welcoming way.
If you are looking for the poet's voice within the poem, try tracing the undercurrent he's left behind, the persistent sensation that permeates the entire piece. It's robust and sturdy, yet evocative and eloquent. There is beauty in the way he captures the nuances of human feeling. This is a beautiful collection of poems, written by a very talented poet. It’s a collection that deserves careful attention and repeated readings. Highly recommended to all poetry lovers and gets a well-deserved five stars from me.
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Poetry from the pen of a mountain climber - full of adventure
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 30, 2022
The book is a collection of 115 amazing poems based on the personal experiences of the mountain climbing journey of the author. The author tells us that it is very important to connect to your soul to live life to its true meaning. The writer has described multiple events which he went through during his adventures including his fear of failure, hardships, and risks while climbing mountains.
Each poem has its meaning and has a beautiful lesson. Some poems rhyme and others are written in the form of prose which makes this book interesting. I would recommend this book as it gives us valuable and life-changing lessons in a very casual way.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 18, 2022
An amazing collection of poems based on the experience of the author up in the mountains.
Each one is better than the other in the way he can explain the experience in a poetry way, the one I think I liked the most is New Plans, is a perfect example of someone that knows how to measure the warnings of nature and even going against all his desires he turns back to save his life, I think this is a very difficult experience to live and most of all it is written in a poem!! Love it.
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 19, 2022
The writer has encapsulated his 30 years of climbing experience in “Reflections on Mountaineering: Fourth Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains,” and he has done a wonderful job.
The book contains poems and rhyming proses and its an excellent combination of adventure and poetry to be honest. As for the content itself, the writer has talked about his wins, fears, hardships of climbing, dangers, injuries, hope, and many wild experiences.
The language of the books is simple, engaging, and flows very well. A nice read overall.
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Enlightening
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 16, 2022
Retired lawyer Alan V. Goldman has managed to craft a series of insightful poems where most all of them have a basis on the wiles of mountaineering. Within each of his thoughtful works are vast amounts of emotion, melded with personal triumphs and disasters, each enwrapped in the brutal beauty found only at the top of some of our worlds greatest peaks. "Mountain Ballad" happened to be one of my favorites; the particular poem coupling the dangers of mountain climbing with that of errant wildlife. The imagery, the emotion so vivid and intense. Together this collection of poems encompasses the vastness of personal struggles, of one's insights, and revelations while experiencing the sheer exhilaration of clinging to the side of a towering bluff where with a slightest miscalculation at any given moment could very well be your last.
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A Peculiar Book about Nature and Poetry
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 21, 2022
Reflections on Mountaineering: Fourth Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains by Alan V Goldman is a wonderfully delightful poetry book. The poems depict the beauty of nature, mountains, and the grand landscape. The author shows his peculiarity by writing in a different style. Some poems rhyme, while some are written in prose. Every poem is entertaining and special on its own.
I recommend this book to fans of poetry, nature, and mountains.
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Inspiring
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 27, 2022
If you love mountains and the feeling it inspires you, then this book is definitely. With 30 years of experience climbing, Alan V. Goldman delivers a nicely written book with many poems (traditional style and not) that contains some of the most important teachings life up there has taught him. Reflections on Mountaineering has a good flow and it will immerse you in its writing.
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Poetic Mountaineering Narrations
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2022
“Reflections on Mountaineering: Fourth Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains” is mountaineering master piece of writing. It’s a treat to for those who love to breath in the mountains. This fascinating book is basically a poetic narration of the author’s life experiences while climbing mountains for over three decades. The writer has discussed the hardships of surviving in the mountains. The book also presents the idea of meeting your destiny while pursuing your adventures. The author shares expert opinion how to deal with different sorts of difficult situations on the mountains. It beautifully depicts the feeling of personal success and failures when encountering such challenges.
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Thought-Provoking
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 17, 2022
Reflections on Mountaineering: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains by Alan Goldman is a poetry collection written throughout the author’s life and 30 years mountaineering. As an amateur climber, I found many of these poems thought-provoking and full of vibrant imagery. The first poem in the collection, Being and Nothingness, opens with, “Barren, yet brazen, bold and beautiful for you to behold”. I felt like this is the perfect summation of the feeling when you reach a summit—the air is crisp and clear, and it’s a private moment for you to reflect on the Earth below and stars above.
Reflections on Mountaineering: Fourth Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains by Alan V. Goldman is a tremendously unique book. I have never read anything like this and am impressed with the author's brilliant writing. The author presents his own experience in narrative-style poems.
The poems cover various topics related to the mountain environment and the author's feelings in these conditions. I liked the overall idea of the book.
I recommend this book to fans of nature, poetry and adventure.
Nature, Poetry and Adventure of Unique Combination
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2022
Reflections on Mountaineering: Fourth Edition: A Journey Through Life as Experienced in the Mountains by Alan V. Goldman is a tremendously unique book. I have never read anything like this and am impressed with the author's brilliant writing. The author presents his own experience in narrative-style poems.
The poems cover various topics related to the mountain environment and the author's feelings in these conditions. I liked the overall idea of the book.
I recommend this book to fans of nature, poetry and adventure.
A Book Full of Meaningful Poems
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 17, 2022
The poems are not just interesting and lovely to read, but give out a whole lot of insights for people wanting to be mountianeers. For example, when he sees a bear cub, then he realizes that the protective mother will be nearby. Hence, he starts talking loudly with his partner to frighten away the cub. Still, he says that if the mother bear finds him, then he couldn't fault her, because the territory belongs to the bears and not to humans. It shows commonsense and a respect for nature and wildlife which every mountaineer must have.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 19, 2022
Rarely do I find a book that’s so unique and creative as this one. It’s a collection of 115 poems that have a common thread, which is mountaineering. However, that doesn’t mean the poems aren’t diverse; the author uses mountaineering as a way to write about broader topics and universal themes and present his view of the world and life. The vivid imagery and the writing style exude the calmness and grandiosity of the world around us. It’s a perfect book to get lost in. Don’t miss it.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 18, 2022
'Reflections on Mountaineering' is a mixture of poems and reflections. It is not only an enjoyable read, but it also makes you think and wonder as well. It is a long book, and you can certainly read it in a few settings. I appreciated the thought and emotions gone into writing the poems.
Inspiring and Thought-Provoking
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 17, 2022
Reflections on Mountaineering is a compilation of thoughts and experiences in the form of poems and prose written by Alan V. Goldman. Reminiscing about his more than thirty years climbing, the author creates this interesting and inspiring book with poetic descriptions of personal experiences, feelings, and thoughts. This is a great book. Highly recommended.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2022
"The mountain is passive, but inspires creative action"
Alan Goldman shares once more his thoughts regarding mountaineering. There's so much more than just climbing, all the doubts and fears a person can have, and the way they solve them, definitely build character and personality. This book, written with poems, is the perfect illustration of a well-lived life, the life of a person who finds meaning in day-to-day adventure!
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FORWARD CLARION VIEWS POETRY
July 8, 2022
REFLECTIONS ON MOUNTAINEERING
A JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE AS EXPERIENCED IN THE MOUNTAINS: FOURTH EDITION
Alan V. Goldman
Outskirts Press
(232pp)
978-1-977249-57-9
Clarion Rating: 4 out of 5
Reflections on Mountaineering is a poetic love letter to the indomitable spirits of Earth’s peaks.
Alan V. Goldman’s Reflections on Mountaineering considers every aspect of mountain climbing in poetic form, from triumphs to moments of insignificance in the face of grandeur.
Here, mountains are often addressed as “you,” and they oscillate between filling the role of a lover and that of an enemy. Their peaks issue siren songs, drawing the narrator near, even as their existence proves to be a test, beckoning the narrator to overcome it. Some mountains occupy their territory “brazenly,” or provoke the narrator’s “ardor,” while other mountains are fortified in “castle-like” ways, with “trap doors or hidden crevasses.” From antagonists to objects of desire, they provoke almost obsessive contemplation and personification throughout the book.
These contemplative poems blur the boundaries between the self and nature to the extent that the line seems to evaporate at times. In “Fated Condition,” the narrator asks: “O Mountain edifice, are you actually part of me, / Or are you a self-contained entity that’s free / Of me–of the key to my understanding my place.” Other times, the mountains issue challenges to the “ego to surmount / Your heights and vainly claim them as my own,” revealing that the mountain and the man are not the same entity, but rivals.
Allusions abound: to Bible verses, to the writings of John Muir and William Blake, to works of art including the Mona Lisa, to proverbs like “might makes right,” and to common climbing brands like Petzl. The word choices are sophisticated, if they border on verbose, as with the line “Am I pusillanimous or prudent in my steps?”
Some verses utilize rhymes, while others do not; still others begin with rhyming couplets and transition to non-rhymed lines. Within single poems, such transitions risk having jarring effects, though they also serve to emphasize the unpredictable nature of mountain climbing. Other texts are prose poems, dictating, in precise language, what the experience of trekking to Kilimanjaro’s last water station is like.
Among the most compelling entries are those that document endurance: one is about surviving a sudden avalanche, and another is about building a snow hut in order to survive for three days in the wilderness. In the latter instance, the poem’s similes have an illuminating effect: the narrator documents what it’s like to hunker down in weather that’s fifteen degrees below Fahrenheit, even if one is wearing the most high tech, moisture-wicking underwear (“it was so cold as to make one feel that one’s / Bones would snap if the angle of pressure was just right.”).
Reflections on Mountaineering is a poetic love letter to the indomitable spirits of Earth’s peaks.
Reviewed by Jeana Jorgensen
July 8, 2022
5 Stars! This collection of poems strings together a series of thought-provoking vignettes. They address the relationship between humans and nature, and the mountains often symbolize what we seek to conquer or achieve. I enjoyed the clever language and the vivid imagery. Amazon Customer
A beautiful tribute to physical and spiritual mountain climbing
This collection of poems strings together a series of thought-provoking vignettes. They address the relationship between humans and nature, and the mountains often symbolize what we seek to conquer or achieve. I enjoyed the clever language and the vivid imagery.
Amazon Customer
I received this book as a gift-and what a wonderful gift it was.The poems are beautiful and tell an amazing story that could only be told by an avid mountaineer. They paint a clear and vivid picture and at some points so detailed you can feel the cold.I recommend this beautiful book to anyone who dares to dream.One of the poems in this book is titled “My Soul Lures Me Higher”Reading this book did just that.
The poet addresses his place at the intersection of the natural and spiritual realms. His rendering of mountainous landscapes stimulates the imagination to conjure the panorama of God’s majesty and handiwork. The poems challenge us to walk the world with our eyes open, to recognize human frailties, and to engage the inestimable glory of Creation. A Verified Amazon Purchaser
I really enjoyed the journey these poems took me on to new heights (without setting foot out of my apartment). I might as well have been on the Matterhorn. The experiences of being one with nature were quite vivid. The pieces pack powerful images and I was glad I was along for the ride. Recommended. R. Alvin
