The Color of Everything by Cory Richards #
The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within by Cory Richards (audio).
First things first: Cory Richards can write.And read: the audiobook is read by the author, which works well in this case.
I’m not sure that I expected to say that when I started listening to this book. Richards isOr maybe “was”. The nature of identity and it changing over time are a key piece of the end of the story in this book. a high-altitude mountaineer and National Geographic photographer famous for, among other things, broadcasting a no-oxygen ascent of Everest on social media when that was a revolutionary idea, being the first American to summit an 8,000 meter peak in Winter, and taking this photograph of himself after surviving an avalanche during the descent of the previous summit. Much of his meteoric rise happened before I personally paid attention to climbing media, so I knew of him more by reputation than anything else. But I’ve been known to devour a climbing memoir, even when they are not the finest writing.
While the title appears cryptic, the subtitle reveals that this will not simply be a climbing memoir of the standard type. So, too, would the social media campaign surrounding the release of this book: there was a period where I couldn’t read or watch anything without being interrupted by Richards speaking in wrought tones about the nature of mental health in front of a camera in a well-decorated house. I must admit to finding this campaign to be a bit off-puttingly self-aggrandizing. But when many folks I respect started singing the praises of the book, I knew I had to check it out.For instance, Blister Podcast’s monthly “Reviewing the News with Cody Townsend” episode always ends with a reading-and-watching segment, and Cody raved about this book.
The book, like Richards himself, comes at you hard and fast: it opens with a first-person recounting of the aforementioned avalanche on Gasherbrum II. You are hooked instantly. And hooked by a feature of Richards’ prose that makes this book unique and often riveting: he shows, instead of tells. Reading this account, the prose makes you feel like you are being rocked around and ripped apart by the snow yourself. Later portions of the book, which focus on things like constant fighting with his brother, institutional psychology treatment, and manic episodes, often have the same character: short, jumpy prose reflects “the chaos within” that Richards has been on a journey to quiet.
From this opening, Richards quickly lets the reader know that this will not be a traditional adventure memoir, and then takes us through the many details of a troubled childhood and, frankly, a troubled adulthood as well.Featuring, for instance, many failed relationships, addiction, and a Me Too reckoning. I will not attempt to recount any of these details, but will say that there’s plenty here for the adventure lover as well as anyone interested in mental health, and creative types more broadly as well.
In the final chapters, Richards grapples with who he is and what his place in the world is after a dramatic break from National Geographic and from the climbing world more generally. My only complaint about the book is that these chapters seemed to drag on a bit more than earlier ones, veering much more into the “telling” than the “showing” regime. Then again, this probably reflects exactly what is happening within for him: things likely are unclear enough that he has to explicitly talk himself through them. As always, we are along for the ride with him.
Grade: B+