I read “To Conquer Yourself” by Silvia Azdreeva yesterday. A woman who likes hiking goes to the Himalayas and climbs Ama Dablam, with no prior high-altitude experience. It’s 288 pages of captivating insanity and by far the best book I had a chance to read in 2024. Makes “Into thin air” sound sane or rookie, with its mild insanity levels, and lack of ambition or real achievement.

You can’t turn a page without thinking that this couldn’t possibly be happening, that it’s made up, that she’s going to give up, or even die. But the evidence is clear – it did happen, and a series of difficult adventures were endured by a woman made of steel, blood, tears, vomit, and a gigantic bowl of emotions. Reading it made me cry several times and then enthusiastically promote it to friends and family, although it looks like mountaineering is not exactly a hot topic out there.

The book is not yet available in English but it should be because it’s powerful and unusual. 5/5.