Customer Reviews
surprising, touching, motivating - By: Richard Beddard, 08 Oct 2008 
This book surprised me. It was a Christmas present & its taken this long for me to open it, but I'm very glad I did. I must admit before I read it I thought Ranulph Feinnes was a bit of a nutter. I still do. But there's more to him than that.
I think this book is about love, failure & doing & not thinking! He doesn't talk about his first wife, Ginny, much. He uses far more words describing how he wedged his handsin various crannies, or tried to get the blood flowing back through them once they were frozen. But he speaks so poignantly about her it's touching. More so because he doesn't wallowin sentimentality.
He failed a lot. There's a temptation to think about him as the bloke who trekked on his own to the North Pole or more recently did seven marathonsin seven days on seven continents after a heart by-pass, but he failed more than he succeeded, & the matter-of-fact way he deals with failure is as inspirational as the success.
I also found the narrative of the challenges compelling & there are a few heart-stopping moments & very amusing anecdotes. Frankly, I don't know if he's a good adventurer or not, he seems reckless sometimes, & luck often played a part, but he's as hard as they come.
I don't even know if he's a good writer. If you lead a life as full of adventure, love & commitment as his, the books probably write themselves.
Good book but heavy reading - By: Danny Boy 99, 21 Aug 2008 
I enjoyed this book overall, but found it a bit heavy going at times. The early part where Fiennes describes his upbringing, school life & timein the armed forces was very good & was at just the right pace. However, when he goes on to write about the various expeditions & races he subsequently took part in, I found the level of detail uneccesary. Its almost like he recounts each trip day by day from his diaries. This made for quite heavy reading, & certainly slowed the pace of the book right down. By the end it had become quite hard work, & I was glad to finish it. Overall a good read, but not one you'll be able to get through without a lot of time & concentration!
Outstanding - By: Rio Calling, 17 Jul 2008 Wow. This man is absolutely incredible. I'm sure others have been through the examples from the book, so I won't repeat, but if you have respect for someone who can push their body to the absolute limit, then this is a must read.
What a legend! - By: Clint Thrust, 01 Jun 2008 This is a must read for everyone who needs motivation
Fiennes tells his story with brutal honesty & his adventures are amazing achievements
An amazing, inspiring read... - By: Doug, 26 May 2008 There are books you read & forget.
There are books you read that stay wiith you
And there are just a few books that really inspire you.
This is one of those books, it is well written, gripping, & hard to put down.
This is my first RF book, but it will not be the last, it is an inspirational read, this guy has achieved so much & yet the book is written with a humility, the facts & the details of the events are what you are reading.
It is a million miles from these awfull celebrity biographies.
Recommended.
