By climbing many peaks, he was not looking for glory but for a victory over himself.
A Lie on Everest, Jean-Michel Asselin, Glénat
Jean-Michel Asselin has just published a “novel” which traces the life of Dani. Novel? Yes, not everything is true in the sense of what actually happened. In fact, everything happened but the actors sometimes took on other identities.
The story is Dani’s. We are in the 70s in a libertarian community in Auvergne. Everyone is mobilizing against the Creys-Malleville nuclear power plant, the Lazarc, the Sévéso disaster, etc. It’s Maxime’s blue house!
Dani is a journalist, he writes in the open mouth, the first ecological newspaper. He shares his life between his fights for a better world, his lovers and the mountains.
He will quickly understand that their struggles repressed in violence will not succeed. He turns to the heights. He multiplies expeditions on all continents. He is close to reaching Everest but he has the courage to give up. However, reason did not always guide him. The book tells of a completely crazy adventure on the north face of Les Courtes in the Mont-Blanc massif. An adventure he will regret.
So why this need to constantly challenge yourself?
A universal question that resonates, reasons in each of us.
It’s a novel that makes us relive (for those over 20 years old!) a time when we dreamed of the Grand Soir. They are stories of non-exclusive love, of friendship. Adventures in every sense of the word told with all the humanity that characterizes Jean-Michel.
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