Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Audiobook8 hours
Running Water
Written by A. E. W. Mason
Narrated by LibriVox Community
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Although A.E.W. Mason is best known for The Four Feathers, an adventure novel of 1902 set in Egypt and the Sudan (and filmed several times), he was a prolific and popular writer of the period. Running Water, published in 1907, is, like its predecessor, a tale of romantic adventure. Though much of the story takes place in England, the real setting here is in the high Alps, in the range of Mont Blanc near Chamonix and Courmayeur. Here it is that Captain Hilary Chayne arrives, having spent the prior four years of his army service on the shores of the Red Sea, dreaming all the time of his return to the Alps, to the world of rock, ice, and snow, to mountaineering with all its challenges and joys, and to its comradeship. And here it is too that he meets the young and beautiful Sylvia Thesiger, a girl already in love with the high mountains, and seeking in them an escape, as far as possible, from her unpleasant and domineering mother.
Is it necessary to add that disappointments. problems, misunderstandings, and outright villainies, ensue to complicate the course of true love? After the twists and turns of novel's English midsection, the setting shifts back to the high Alps, and the final, climactic scene is played out on the heights of the Italian face of the Mont Blanc. This is the Brenva -- where thousands of feet of rock and glacier sweep steeply up to reach the highest point in western Europe. It is an Alpine route that today, over century later, even experienced climbers still find a challenge.There are not many novels given over to mountaineering, and some consider Mason's descriptions of climbing among the finest in fiction. Unlike The Four Feathers, Running Water has never been filmed – though given the quality of some of Hollywood's mountaineering movies, that may actually be a blessing.
Finally, for those unfamiliar with the teminology, several French terms are customarily used by alpinists and appear in Mason's book. An aiguille (needle) is a peak, usually sharp pointed, often of rock, sometimes of ice and snow. The Chamonix aiguilles, many of which are mentioned here, are famous among climbers and lovers of alpine scenery. A col is a pass between two mountains, or ranges, and in the High Alps often of steep ice and snow, sometimes of rock. And an arête is a ridge, or spur, of a mountain, sometimes of ice or snow, sometimes of rock, and often of all three.Historical note: The first ascent of the Brenva face was made by A.W. Moore and a party of three other British climbers and two Swiss alpine guides, in July, 1865. The account was published in Moore's book, The Alps in 1864, and it is this book that Garratt Skinner is reading in Chapter XII, as he lies in his Dorsetshire hammock. In 1943, another great British climber, T. Graham Brown published his Brenva, describing the various routes on the great southern face, on two of which had had made first ascents. Brown credits Running Water as first turning his attention to the face, and has high praise for its descriptions of mountaineering. (The second ascent for the Brenva route was made by W.A.P. Coolidge and others in 1870).
A further note: in Chapter XIII, Mason twice refers to Switzerland when he means France. Perhaps he was dozing; or perhaps he was drawing some of his material from Baedeker's Guide to Switzerland, whose earlier editions included the range of Mont Blanc, a chain shared by France, Italy, and Switzerland.
Is it necessary to add that disappointments. problems, misunderstandings, and outright villainies, ensue to complicate the course of true love? After the twists and turns of novel's English midsection, the setting shifts back to the high Alps, and the final, climactic scene is played out on the heights of the Italian face of the Mont Blanc. This is the Brenva -- where thousands of feet of rock and glacier sweep steeply up to reach the highest point in western Europe. It is an Alpine route that today, over century later, even experienced climbers still find a challenge.There are not many novels given over to mountaineering, and some consider Mason's descriptions of climbing among the finest in fiction. Unlike The Four Feathers, Running Water has never been filmed – though given the quality of some of Hollywood's mountaineering movies, that may actually be a blessing.
Finally, for those unfamiliar with the teminology, several French terms are customarily used by alpinists and appear in Mason's book. An aiguille (needle) is a peak, usually sharp pointed, often of rock, sometimes of ice and snow. The Chamonix aiguilles, many of which are mentioned here, are famous among climbers and lovers of alpine scenery. A col is a pass between two mountains, or ranges, and in the High Alps often of steep ice and snow, sometimes of rock. And an arête is a ridge, or spur, of a mountain, sometimes of ice or snow, sometimes of rock, and often of all three.Historical note: The first ascent of the Brenva face was made by A.W. Moore and a party of three other British climbers and two Swiss alpine guides, in July, 1865. The account was published in Moore's book, The Alps in 1864, and it is this book that Garratt Skinner is reading in Chapter XII, as he lies in his Dorsetshire hammock. In 1943, another great British climber, T. Graham Brown published his Brenva, describing the various routes on the great southern face, on two of which had had made first ascents. Brown credits Running Water as first turning his attention to the face, and has high praise for its descriptions of mountaineering. (The second ascent for the Brenva route was made by W.A.P. Coolidge and others in 1870).
A further note: in Chapter XIII, Mason twice refers to Switzerland when he means France. Perhaps he was dozing; or perhaps he was drawing some of his material from Baedeker's Guide to Switzerland, whose earlier editions included the range of Mont Blanc, a chain shared by France, Italy, and Switzerland.
Unavailable
Author
A. E. W. Mason
Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (1865–1948), otherwise known as A.E.W. Mason, is the author of A Romance of Wastdale, published in 1895. He is the author of more than twenty books, among them The Four Feathers, originally published in London in 1905 and now a 2002 major motion picture, starring Kate Hudson, Heath Ledger, and Wes Bentley.
Related to Running Water
Related audiobooks
44 Scotland Street Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killer Diller Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Economy of Sparrows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Elsie in New York and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tick of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Meadow: A Selection from the John Updike Audio Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Yellow Mask Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Language of Silence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Thirty-nine Steps Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sister Water Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Top 10 Short Stories - Jerome K Jerome: The top ten short stories written by English humourist Jerome K Jerome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnusual Uses for Olive Oil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Conspiracy of Friends Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dog Who Came In From The Cold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kings of Infinite Space Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Those Extraordinary Twins Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Portuguese Irregular Verbs Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Reluctant Fortune-Teller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recipes for a Beautiful Life: A Memoir in Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wild Beasts of Wuhan: An Ava Lee Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eighth Day: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swimming: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Death at Charity's Point Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWinter Light Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A Case of Spirits Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Opportunists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Romance For You
The Idea of You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twisted Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Twisted Games Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's in His Kiss Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Court of Silver Flames Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Never King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When He Was Wicked Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Duke and I Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Touch of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Starts with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Messy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One True Loves: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ugly Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bared to You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlander Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One Last Stop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Soulmate Equation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Your Perfects: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Witches of New Orleans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Water for Elephants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Cinderella: A Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winter Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slammed: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The "Good Parts" Version) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Drums of Autumn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Home: the most moving and heartfelt novel you'll read this year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5November 9: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Running Water
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
1 rating0 reviews