Chessler Books
Rock Climbing - Mountaineering - Exploration
New - Used - Collectible - Signed
Chessler Books Accepts PAYPAL Chessler Books Accepts VISA Chessler Books Accepts MASTERCARD Chessler Books Accepts DISCOVER CARD Chessler Books Accepts AMERICAN EXPRESS
All Orders Shipped via United States Postal Service   Chessler Books Ships Via USPS
Author:
Title:
Keyword:
Item #:
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M Mc N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
Item #: BK1352-8605
SOLO FACES [Novel] James Salter 1988 or 1998 Softcover Near Fine-Fine Multiple Copies Available
By Salter, James
Price: $9.99

List Price: $15.00
You Save $5.01 (33%)



Add to wish list


Detailed Product Description

California/New York, 1988 or 1998. 218 pp. Used softcover. Near Fine to Fine.

One of the most highly acclaimed climbing novels, loosely based on the life of Gary Hemming.  What makes Solo Faces such a good read is, in part, 1) Salter's lean, understated, 'honest' style, 2) his concern for all his characters, and 3) his ability to write about climbing intelligently without overdoing it. As far as I know, no novelist but Salter has pulled #3 off successfully.

The novel is based (more or less) on the life of Gary Hemming (Rand in the book), who made a heroic rescue of two German climbers (Italians in the book) who were stranded on the daunting face of the Dru. Rand is a believable character: humble and shy, but confident and unable (or unwilling) to develop attachments to the various women that shuffle in and out of his life. All in all, this is a very fine novel by one of our most underread writers.

This great book by Salter who has authored many great books may just be his best. The book is about rock climbing. That sport is the most extreme of the extreme sports but also the most solitary and therefore most spiritual and lyrical as it is so often done alone and any mistake is almost certainly a fatal one. The book begins on the top of a church in L.A. where our main character Rand is doing yet another impermanent odd job in an equally impermanent location repairing roofs for a summer, a situation that allows him to retain his most cherished possession, his freedom. And the ultimate expression of that freedom is climbing.
 
Nothing holds Rand for long, no place and no woman, and so very soon in the novel he is off to the Swiss and French Alps, locations of some of the most heralded peaks including the sheer faced obelisks, the Eiger and the Dru. The book is full of climbing lore(including one mountain rescue based in fact) and that great theme of man versus nature as well as the writing style recalls Conrad and Hemingway. Salters sense of adventure as well as his aptitude to tell a story perfectly recalls both authors, but he has his own style and what he does with this adventure tale is completely his own.
 
Salter shows the great romantic appeal of his hero Rand and he also shows the singular nature of such a character and how a life dedicated to legendary feats and life-in-peril daring can leave a man at some remove from others. The minor characters include climbing friends and the various women involved in Rands love affairs. Though each of them a brief episode only the love episodes are poignant as they more than any other part of the book show how unreachably alone romantic Rand really is.
 
Subtle scenes between men and women who say very little to each other but feel very real is something Salter is especially good at. Very very highly recommended to outdoor enthusiasts and lovers of pristine sentences strung gracefully together and which seem to catch the hard glint of the mountain sun itself. Salter is an author who has only written five novels, one story collection, and a memoir, each one is very much worth your while.

Other Items You Might Like

  • Similar Items Available
  • Items From This Author
  • Items From This Category
SOLO FACES [Novel] James Salter 1979 1st ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine
By: Salter, James
Price $25.00 ~ Regular $75.00, You Save $50.00 (67%)
- Item # OP135B-873
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ALPINE JOURNAL 100s OF INDIVIDUAL ISSUES LISTED HERE! PAPERBACK, WRAPPERS or HARDCOVER ISSUES 1863-1986
By: Alpine Club UK
Price $10.00
- Item # JR207B
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
TRAIL AND TIMBERLINE 1962 - 1998 As Available Not a Set $5 each
By: Colorado Mountain Club
Price $5.00 ~ Regular $10.00, You Save $5.00 (50%)
- Item # JR727A-966
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE CLIMBING ART MAGAZINE Individual Back Issues Numbers 1 to 31
By: Climbing Art Magazine, Pat Ament
Price $10.00
- Item # JR156-869
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SUMMIT MAGAZINE USA BACK ISSUES 1960s: This List is of Available Issues betyween 1960-1969
By: Summit Magazine
Price $10.00 ~ Regular $20.00, You Save $10.00 (50%)
- Item # JR154J-868
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE WALL [Yosemite Novel] 2006 1st ed Hardcover DJ Fine SIGNED by Jeff Long Multiple copies available
By: Long, Jeff
Price $14.95 ~ Regular $34.99, You Save $20.04 (57%)
- Item # BK2077B-8614
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE 2006 MOUNT HOOD TRAGEDY: THE UNTOLD STORY: HOLDING FAST Karen James 2008 1st ed Hardcover DJ Multiple copies available
By: James, Karen
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $24.99, You Save $15.00 (60%)
- Item # BK4851-8444
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MAZAMA BULLETIN Individual Back Issues 1905 - 1975 New issues recently added
By: Mazama Bulletin
Price $5.00
- Item # JR225-127
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SUMMIT MAGAZINE USA BACK ISSUES 1990s: 1990-1995 See This List of Available Issues
By: Summit Magazine
Price $10.00 ~ Regular $20.00, You Save $10.00 (50%)
- Item # JR154A-868
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ALL 14 EIGHT-THOUSANDERS 1988 1st US ed Hardcover DJ Fine Multiple Copies Available SIGNED by Reinhold Messner
By: Messner, Reinhold
Price $250.00
- Item # BK1013D-8372p
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SOLO FACES [Novel] James Salter 1979 1st ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine
By: Salter, James
Price $25.00 ~ Regular $75.00, You Save $50.00 (67%)
- Item # OP135B-873
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
CLIMBING ON THE EDGE Betta and Gioachino Gobbi 2002 New Softcover Multiple Copies Available
By: Gobbi, Betta and Gioachino
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $19.95, You Save $14.96 (75%)
- Item # BK1782-9673
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MUSTANG: THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM: EXPLORING A LOST HIMALAYAN LAND Michel Peissel 1967 Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Peissel, Michel
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $25.01 (71%)
- Item # OP612B-835
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MOJ PIONOWY SWIAT [MY VERTICAL WORLD: CLIMBING THE 8000 METER PEAKS] Jerzy Kukuczka 1995 1st Polish ed Paperback Near Fine
By: Kukuczka, Jerzy
Price $29.99 ~ Regular $99.95, You Save $69.96 (70%)
- Item # BK837E-861
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
VANOISE PARK: [GRAIANS WEST] TARENTAISE & HAUTE MAURIENNE Collomb 1988 1st ed Softcover Fine
By: Collomb, Robin
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $20.00, You Save $15.01 (75%)
- Item # GB217-954
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
AVALANCHE AWARENESS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO SAFE TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN John Moynier 1993 1st ed Softcover Fine 2 Copies Available
By: Moynier, John
Price $4.95 ~ Regular $20.00, You Save $15.05 (75%)
- Item # BK5840-9652
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE BOYS OF EVEREST: CHRIS BONINGTON AND THE TRAGEDY OF CLIMBING'S GREATEST GENERATION Clint Willis 2006 Hardcover DJ Fine 2 copies available
By: Willis, Clint
Price $19.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $15.01 (43%)
- Item # BK2122A-8322
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE MAVERICK MOUNTAINEER: THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF GEORGE INGLE FINCH Robert Wainwright 2016 1st UK ed Hardcover Fine Multiple copies available
By: Wainwright, Robert
Price $49.95 ~ Regular $79.95, You Save $30.00 (38%)
- Item # BK3265-8563
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
K2: THE SAVAGE MOUNTAIN Charles Houston and Bob Bates 1955 1st UK ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine [Not Signed] 2 Copies Available
By: Houston, Charles and Robert Bates
Price $19.95 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $15.05 (43%)
- Item # OP412G-8372
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
NORSKE SKI EROBRER VERDEN [NORWEGIAN SKIS CONQUER THE WORLD Jakob Vaage 1952 Hardcover DJ Near Fine [Not Signed]
By: Vaage, Jakob
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $29.95, You Save $24.96 (83%)
- Item # OP7010-172
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH Gaston Rebuffat 1970 1st US ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine 2 copies available [Not Signed]
By: Rebuffat, Gaston and Pierre Tairraz (Photos)
Price $39.99 ~ Regular $70.00, You Save $30.01 (43%)
- Item # OP1783B-8402
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart