All Elevations Unknown

May 28, 2001
First-time author Lightner, a well-known rock climber, presents a memorable if somewhat problematic travel-adventure memoir of his 1999 climb up Borneo's Batu Lawi, an all-but-unknown peak in a rough jungle. He approaches the peak armed only with regional maps, none of which show the mountain, and a book called World Within, a travel memoir published in 1958 by Tom Harrisson, a British officer who parachuted onto the mountain during WWII to establish an Allied base. Drawn to Harrisson's book, Lightner intersperses chapters about his climb with chapters retelling Harrisson's story, building dramatic tension to the climaxes of both tales. He occasionally refers to his funding from a hiking supply company, and one sometimes wonders how sponsorship affected the story, though to Lightner's credit, the narrative seems free of commercial agenda. More problematic are the imagined dialogues between Harrisson and his colleagues; Lightner admits they are based on second- and third-hand accounts, and the conceit feels strained. "Although it is not pure history, it comes very close," Lightner claims. Harrisson settled on Borneo with a Kelabit (a local ethnicity) wife and helped the island improve its educational and political structures. But Lightner's own story, his natural flair for writing and the inspiration he derives from Harrisson's life would have been sufficiently interesting to support a more traditional approach to Harrisson's tale. As it is, though, this remains a wonderful introduction to an island and culture known to few people. 3 maps.

February 1, 2001
If you're sick of Everest: the tale of Lightner and German climbing pal Volker, who head for Borneo to climb a mountain no one is sure even exists.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2001
In the heart of the Borneo highlands lies Batu Lawi, a strange spire that has been the subject of worship by the Kelabit natives and the obsession of two fanatical rock climbers. After years of searching for the spire they had seen only in a photograph, climbing it had become tantamount to a holy quest for Lightner and his climbing friend. Wending through a rain forest full of poisonous snakes, leeches, and disease-carrying insects, Lightner reflects on the small Allied force dropped into the highlands 50 years earlier to sabotage Japanese oil production. Weaving together Lightner's adventure and the exploits of British Major Tom Harrison, who united the fierce head hunting tribes and defeated the Japanese, the book becomes the saga of a quest for the spirits of the highlands and of the men who affected the area so profoundly. Lightner's awed fascination with the place and its history quickly becomes contagious and grips the reader. His unrestrained and honest narrative voice makes this travel account vital enough to grab even only occasional adventure readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)