Touching My Father's Soul traces Jamling Norgay's two journeys: (i) to the top of Everest with the 1996 IMAX expedition, and (ii) his inner search for spirituality and how to grapple with his father's legacy. It is this latter journey that makes this book a welcome addition to the many books already written about the 1996 Everest disaster and, more generally, about climbing Everest, as his perspective as a Buddhist Sherpa has not been articulated before.

Although Jamling Norgay's story provided the emotional backbone of the IMAX movie, the movie didn't really provide a full portrait of the man, or the way in which he had to grapple with his father's legacy. The book really helps flesh out his character and his spiritual reawakening. Although it's not as gripping as Into Thin Air, for example, the book is reasonably well written and is a page turner in its own right.

I wouldn't buy this book solely to try to find a lot of additional information about the 1996 Everest disaster or much "behind the scenes" information about the Everest IMAX movie, as it really doesn't add much new. Instead, it is a heart-felt story of one man's journey and perspective on Everest.

As a final note - if you have the opportunity to see Jamling Norgay's book tour in support of Touching My Father's Soul, I would highly recommend it. I attended the book signing in Washington, and he has a very interesting 40 minute slide show.

This newly published book is a marvelous feat as told by the son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, the Sherpa who accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary on the first ascent of Mt. Everest. By weaving together the story of his own effort with a number of little-known stories from his father's Everest ascent, this book brings the spirituality of the Himalayas to the forefront. While the world celebrated Hillary and Tenzing for their achievement, Jamling was inexorably drawn to attempt Everest in his own time. According to the book, both men reached their goals through remarkably similar experiences which shows, as probably few other people can, that climbing Everest is still a personal journey that is remarkably unchanged over the last 40 years even though both the culture and equipment have changed considerably. Although there is not much that is new in this book about the well-documented troubles on Everest (see Krakauer's Into Thin Air) in 1996, this book does break new ground by telling the story from the perspective of the native Sherpas.

Perspective - that's the real key this book gives one with respect to the disaster of Everest '96. Many books have been written, from the bigger than life action thriller angle of "Into Thin Air", the defensive shield of "The Climb", the horrific cringe of "Left for Dead" on through the somewhat egotistical air of Lene Gammellgard's book. But to me, "Touching My Father's Soul" is the best of the lot.

This book is not fast moving, nor impressively dramatic but it is exceedingly real. Having been born a Sherpa, raised in India and schooled in America, Jamling brings us a unique perspective on the events. I've read countless books written by westerners that attempt to describe the culture of the Sherpa, but none compare with this book.