Thread: Book Review...Mud, Sweat and Tears by Bear Grylls

Possibly the wrong place for this but anyway!!

I have never been able to decide whether I liked the television imaginary of the guy or not, so I started on the book with some hesitation. But for the odd times he talks about his faith and religion, I found the book very readable. In fact, I found the chapters on his Mount Everest expedition both thrilling (and downright fearful in parts) and most informative. His SAS (R) selection chapters were the most compelling for me. The passage recounting his parachuting accident, which ended his SAS involvement, was so explicit you could almost feel the fear. The fact that he was not left a paraplegic is utterly remarkable and testament to the spirit of the man.

It is truly an autobiographical work; has moments of great sadness, some of great joy and some of real humour. I appreciated how he tells of his weaknesses, admits he can cry. It is not all gungho by any means.

The narrative is interspersed with family photographs, North Africa (SAS), expeditions, filming of his television series and personal life.

In two nights I completed reading this soft cover book...it was difficult to put down!