The back cover of Small treaty of elevation of the philosopher Pascal Bruckner offers us a somewhat reductive point of view with regard to the extent of the explorations actually carried out there.
Posted at 5:00 p.m.
Certainly, the author’s ice axes quickly tackle the central question: why bother to reach heights and how to explain this irresistible attraction? The second chapter of the book offers us beautiful tracks cleared by thinkers and mountaineers. But this reflection is only the peak hiding the cordillera, because the subsequent chapters approach a host of divergent axes, although all tied to the mountain theme.
There are declaimed the Swiss singularity, an ode to the cow, a debate on the reintroduction of the wolf and the bear, the flirtation with death; In a tasty chapter sprinkled with mischief, we gently poke fun at these two polar opposite species: the seasoned climber imbued with his exploits and the Sunday mountaineer clogging up the trails. With solid references, both classic and recent (we come across Gaston Bachelard as well as Sylvain Tesson), Bruckner delves into fascinating reflections on the mysteries of the mountain by attacking it from all sides.
In the friendship of a mountain
Pascal Bruckner
Grasset
190 pages