Query Letter
Dear ________,
Mr. Goldman is not your ordinary climber. He graduated from Horace Mann School in 1975; Harvard College in 1979, and Harvard Law School in 1982. In addition, he was elected a member of The Phi Beta Kappa Society in 1979. He worked as an attorney in a “Wall Street”- firm for many years, and is now retired. For many decades, his avid avocation had been mountaineering, and when he reached 61 he realized that the time had come to commit to paper his observations and insights about human nature and human interaction with both the mountains, and with his fellow climbers. He conceived the idea of conveying those insights in the form of Narrative-style poetry reflecting on his climbing adventures through the lens of retrospective psychological awareness about the struggle with the challenges presented by mountaineering, and its wider implications about the limits of human understanding and achievement.
The resultant work-product of Mr. Goldman’s efforts is set forth in his memoir: REFLECTIONS ON MOUNTAINEERING: A Journey Through Life As Experienced In The Mountains (Fifth Edition, Revised and Expanded, with Addendum) (2024), which is a collection of one hundred and forty-eight readily intelligible poems that encompass the full spectrum of human emotions evoked during the challenge of climbing. The resultant poems thus convey his perception of the symbiotic union between the climber and the mountains that illustrate many “life-lessons” shared by climbers and people in “everyday” situations, as well as his insights exploring the perennial questions that human existence holds.
Mr. Goldman’s efforts captured the Pacific Book Awards (2022) as the winner in the field of “Sport,” for being a “celebration of the limits of human achievement,” and is dubbed by Clarion Reviews as a “poetic love letter to the indomitable spirits of Earth’s peaks.”Moreover, with an Amazon global rating of 4.7 out of 5, Mr. Goldman’s poetry book “beautifully depicts the feeling of personal success and failures,” and interprets how “climbing mountains create[s] meaning out of nothingness,” as Maileen Hamto remarked in the Seattle Book Review.
Indeed, with regard to the topic of Reviews in general, the reader is strongly urged to refer to the Book’s Website: www.mountainreflections.art click the “Reviews” tab on top, which contains the complete text of reviews by a host of professional critics, as well as by Amazon “Verified Purchase'' reviews of the Book. All these reader reviews are highly laudatory, indeed, enthusiastic, about the Book. Many of these reader reviews are emotionally moving, and even ecstatic (e.g.: the review entitled “Enlightening” wherein the reader states that “Within each of his thoughtful works are vast amounts of emotion, melded together with personal triumphs and disasters, each enwrapped in the brutal beauty found only at the top of some of our world’s greatest peaks.” Written by “Primer,” Nov. 16, 2022).
From vivid, you-are-there descriptions of avalanches and the risks of potential extinction at every step, to philosophical musings, such as the moral consequences of taking an easier route, the poems in this collection draw the reader into a virtual snowstorm of vicarious climbing, together with mental exploration, emotional introspection, and even metaphysical contemplation.
Moving seamlessly between thoughtful lyricism and witty rhyme, and encompassing styles reminiscent of both the Modern and Romantic eras, the poems, as some critics have observed, combine delectable sensory language with lofty intellectual ideas that simultaneously ground readers in an intimate physical and psychological experience. The collection of thought-provoking poems in this unique book invites readers to consider insightful metaphors and challenging questions that have open-ended answers. Like climbing, this Book is a melding of the physical and the psychological, of the actual and the aspirational.
What sets this Book apart from other poetry collections is its unique presentation of the poems in a Narrative format – regardless of whether some of the poems rhyme, others are in blank verse (meter but no rhyme), or are presented as “prose-poems,” where syntax is crafted for exposition in poetic “line format,” and not ordinarily in colloquial language.
The salient fact is that all the poems are designed to be readily accessible to a wide audience having a basic education, and not just directed to poetry buffs and active mountaineers – wholly unlike so much of what “poetry,” these days, is rightly regarded as being: grossly esoteric, obscurantist, impenetrable, and inscrutable. Each of the poems in his collection, by contrast, effectively conveys a story or parable that is meant to be readily intelligible, lucid, and cogent, each containing its own moral insight or life-lesson in a coherent story..
The opening poem in the Book, “Being and Nothingness,” invokes Jean-Paul Sartre’s Existentialist philosophy of the same name (in French, L’Etre et le Neant (1943)), which has had a significant impact on the literary style of the entire Book (see, “Read About What’s At The Top And What Comes Before” pp. ii-iv), for the Book soberly celebrates Existentialist principles in a wholly novel way.
For instance, the very first poem (discussed above) in the Book, applies these principles to the field of meditative poetry in the context of mountaineering, with the central idea being that the very act of climbing itself creates human “meaning out of nothingness” – the “ultimate Existentialist act” (p.2), bringing the formerly undifferentiated pile of rock, snow, and ice into the realm of human conversation, and thereby creating mountain “lore”. The author relates the story of his adventures, and the musings of his mind about what it means to climb in one’s youth – thus generating mountain lore – and also reflects on what it means to grow old.
Over the past 30 years, the Author has climbed a myriad of mountains; but what he treasured most of all was the ineffable beauty of the journey, striving for the summit that always left him quite humbled and astonished, as aptly articulated in the poem entitled “Wonder and Embrace” (pp.21-22):
“Is that what I’m about to surmount? Is that what I’m to scale? Is that where my ambition draws me nigh?”
The Author has discussed at some length his motivations in mountaineering and the origins of the Book’s creation, in a wide-ranging radio interview with Ric Bratton on his radio show, This Week In America, where he complimented the Author on the very visual and comprehensible way he presented his concept and understanding of the challenges of the climbs that he had undertaken. As Mr. Bratton said, “that’s a special talent unto itself to take these feelings and to convert and translate those into poetry”. That is because, as a climber and writer, the Author leaves a part of himself “behind” in the mountains with every expedition. Likewise, he had a substantial interview with both Benji Cole of CBS Radio, and Logan Crawford from The Spotlight Network – in which the Author related the concepts in the Book, and the substance behind it, at considerable length.
Both of these interviews, and additional edifying material, can be found recorded in full length on the Author’s Website, www.mountainrelfections.art, under the tab “Interview”. In the Website, the Author also read aloud many of the poems in his own voice, not using professional “talent,” because he felt that he could best convey the intended meaning animating the poems.
For newer content, please see the final version of the Book, REFLECTIONS ON MOUNTAINEERING: A JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE AS EXPERIENCED IN THE MOUNTAINS (Fifth Edition, Revised and Expanded) with Addendum (2024), a 43,000-word collection of one hundred forty-eight Narrative-style poems, which encompass the full spectrum of human emotion -- much in the same way that climbing does – and molds the mountain and the climber into a symbiotic pairing that functions as a reflection of many of life’s lessons.
There’s the existing value of the transformation of the self over time as one of the concepts found from the Addendum entitled “Time’s Passage and Our Legacy” (p. 257). Not only does it depict a journey through deception and fear, it questions the nature of destiny and free will as well, wondering if a climber is accountable for the choices shaped by his intuitive and spontaneous perspectives:
As asked in the poem, “...at what point are we to be held accountable for all the choices we made that shaped us into what we have become?”
Also noteworthy is that the mountains depicted in the poems are “majestic yet elusive entities,” which are factors in a poet’s journey, such as the Author’s. Although there’s a tension between reverence and conquest emphasizing the climber’s struggle to assert control over this magnificent natural force (“Hidden Peak” (p. 260)). Despite the mountain’s dominance, there’s the paradox of “free will,” which the Author writes about in “Constrained Freedom – A Paradoxical Analysis” (p. 266). As humans, they are often limited to following a predetermined path shaped by genetics (Nature) and our upbringing (Nurture). With a truly open mind, however, one can attempt to glimpse into the infinite possibilities that present themselves.
Mountaineering is an art form, where there's a paradoxical allure of life and death enhanced by the notion of the unknown (“Seeking the Prize” (p. 269)). In climbing, humans seek wisdom and insights gained from pondering the value of unraveling life’s mysteries, and the cost of endangerment during the perilous endeavor. The mountains stand as silent witnesses to the climber’s/poet’s journey of existential exploration, which necessarily entails the pursuit of perfection and the self-discovery of one’s potential and one’s limitations.
Moreover, the variety of style in the collection is altogether appropriate because a mountaineer experiences the secret facets of his obscure desire both in classically poetic terms, and in “blank verse”—all offering a fleeting glimpse into the hidden aspects of mountaineering.
Ultimately, the Book recognizes that the “quest” driving climbers – pursuing the “Freedom of the Hills,”(see the poem, “The Freedom of the Hills” (pp.118-19), strongly relates to the “Pursuit of Happiness” as proclaimed in the United States Declaration of Independence. Readers are wholeheartedly invited to contemplate their own paths, the choices they make, and the forces or factors that shape their fate, as these conditions can truly uncover the truth about themselves and their sense of belongingness in the world.
Please note that I have included a Comprehensive Synopsis and Detailed Book Outline to this“Query Letter Package” for your review. Thank you for your consideration of all my efforts. I look forward to hearing from you, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
Sincerely,
ALAN V. GOLDMAN
Comprehensive Synopsis
Alan V. Goldman is an achiever. In addition to graduating from Horace Mann School (1975), Harvard College (1979), and Harvard Law School (1982), He was elected a member of The Phi Beta Kappa Society in 1979. He practiced law for many years and is now retired. Mr. Goldman has also avidly pursued his avocation, i.e., mountaineering, vigorously and has spent several decades climbing, and interacting with his climbing teachers and peers. Reflections on Mountaineering: A Journey through Life as Experienced in the Mountains is a collection of poetry that considers his mountaineering endeavors through a lens of intense self-reflection and perspicacious insight.
Mr. Goldman came to realize that a climber must engage in the “existential struggle” to create “meaning out of nothingness,” and seek to infuse nature, specifically here, the mountains, with human meaning, even when nature has left only a “blank on the map”. Indeed, a climber creates “something out of nothing” by the very fact of his climbing what had been an undifferentiated pile of rock, snow and ice, i.e., a mountain, and thereby brings it into the realm of human conversation and mountain lore.
Finally, a recurring theme in the book is an introduction to the idea of “the mountains” —both the mountains of the mind and of the landscape—and whether the mountain is an actor (being) or only a static object that is acted upon, as well as whether the mountain is viewed as an inviting partner/lover, or a menacing challenge to be overcome. However, the poems do not dwell only in the philosophical realm. The reader is anchored into a tangible reality wherein “... each moment, each step, occurs in the here and now,” just as it does for any climber who is in a state of “Flow.” (See The Power of Now, p. 16).
“Flow” occurs when the mountaineer is in a highly focused state of mind, totally immersed in the moment. Attaining this psychological state of mind is one of the prime “rewards” sought by climbers seeking to experience definite achievement, even when confronted by the inherent “uncertainty of the outcome” of their endeavor. Climbers strive to attain a sense of “mastery” over their environment, a sensation that is brought about by the accretion of a series of small successes, seriatim (one after another), thereby creating a feeling of self-confidence based on a belief in one’s own competency to cope with any new problems, and that one’s capabilities will be at least adequate to deal with any responsibilities that may arise (see pp. ii-iii, pp. 16-18, 153, “The Power of Now” (p. 16), ”Our Way to the Top” (pp. 17-18), and “Fear and Flow” (p. 153).
The collection thus emphasizes the palpable reality of “Flow,” or “being in the Zone" or “in the Moment” as this state of mind is more commonly known in other sports. The poems note that when a person is fully present and highly focused while they are accomplishing anything, everything seems to snap or fall into place, and the mountaineer continues forward, feeding on that momentum. In this situation, the only things that count are what they’re doing in any given particular moment, and the subsequent specific actions a climber takes to achieve the desired objective.
Moreover, time itself seems to “slow down” for the climber as he devotes his attention to the task at hand – and then the bubble bursts and “real time” resumes, once the planned act is completed.
Climbing a big mountain is no small thing, and the successful completion of a climb is one of those life experiences that separates the wheat from the chaff in terms of physical and mental determination and endurance. No doubt, mountaineering is perilous. Every step carries the possibility of meeting one’s demise. The poems concretize the physical realities of these risks, which climbers speak of as either “objective risks,” such as avalanches and errant bear cubs and their mother bear (see “Mountain Ballad”), to the “subjective risks” of succumbing to internal, hazardous flaws lurking in one’s own physical errors, and one’s psyche as well.
In this regard, the Author would direct the reader to “Last Leg of the Trek to Kilimanjaro’s Kibo Hut” (pp. 24-26) that recounts a harrowing journey across an expanse of volcanic rock that demanded a true test of grit just to reach the base camp before the climb itself.
Finally, “Existentialist” principles are operative when fluidity occurs. A person is in a free state at this point, and the climber’s choice of actions at that very instant will influence how things will transpire. Once the mountaineer keeps riding that wave and achieves his or her goals, they will feel content and proud of what they have done. It’s the kind of happiness that is foreign to many other persons, except those in their own circle, which ultimately gives them a sense of inclusion and liberation, and of being in an “in-group” or subculture – which the Author’s Book seeks to unveil to the general public.
As is recited in the first line of the First Edition (1960) of the standard textbook in the field, i.e., “Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills,” “the quest of the mountaineer, in simplest terms, is for the freedom of the hills” (see, the poem, "The Freedom of the Hills" (p. 118)). Furthermore, the Author believes this collection is unique in binding together this mountaineering ideal with the quintessentially American concept, as proclaimed in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, of the “Unalienable Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” (emphasis added). By exercising one’s right to pursue happiness in the form of mountaineering, one thus becomes in touch with one’s right to seek after “The Freedom of the Hills” – which is actually the subtitle of the standard Textbook in the field, supra, (“Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, The Mountaineers: 1960, 1967,1974, 1982, 1992, 1997, 2003, 2010, and 2017”) (see pp. iii-iv, and passim).
The Author’s collection comprises poems that encompass the full spectrum of human emotion, much in the same way that climbing does, because the stresses encountered during mountaineering bring to the fore both the very best, or altruistic, human impulses, as well as the very worst, or selfish, impulses. The Book also offers verses that consider such philosophical quandaries as whether all “victories" are truly honest victories in the conventional sense. The poem “Reflections on Mountaineering, Morality, and Life” (pp. 88-90) considers whether the path of least resistance is secretly paved over by shame and fear.
Furthermore, Private Thoughts is a deeply personal Chapter of the book that tackles a subject that every person faces eventually, whether they are climbers or not: growing older. See “Masked Duplicity” (p. 133), which deals with how to age gracefully and without resorting to subterfuge.
The Fifth Edition, Revised and Expanded, has a newly established section called Afterthoughts, consisting of eighteen poems entitled “In Search of One’s Private Peace of Mind,” “The Next Breath,” “Reflections on My Creative Process,” “Silent Sentinel,” “Fate Plays a Hand,” “Mountain Justice,” “Time Warp in the High Country?” and more.
It is the Author’s goal to celebrate the freedom to pursue happiness through climbing and the making of “existential” statements illustrating our true purpose. These poems assert that freedom is a vital component of a climber and his impact on nature. See, Time’s Passage and Our Legacy (pp. 257-258), and “Constrained Freedom – A Paradoxical Analysis” (pp.266-267), which reveals the climber’s sense of mastery and self-determination.
In addition, the poems in the Addendum further probe themes of limits and boundaries, legacy and maturity, self-awareness, and the paradox of freedom. Two poems noted above, “Time’s Passage, supra, and Constrained Freedom, supra, delve into how a person’s physical heritage (Nature, their DNA) and cultural heritage (Nurture, or their education and values instilled in them from birth) shape their present and future selves, and their ability to exercise their own “free will”. These elements, inherited from their ancestors and society, affect their decisions, actions, and ultimately, the legacy they create. These poems from the Addendum will be discussed further in the detailed book outline.
Moreover, there is the theme of inner doubt and fear. The poem, “Insight and Self-Anagnoresis (Revelation)” (p. 268), highlights the climber’s internal struggles and insecurities. In order for climbers to confront and reconcile their inner selves, they must set off on an ongoing quest for authenticity and self-knowledge, while they climb and achieve their goals.
Through the lens of mountaineering, this collection of poems unravels themes of ambition (including its erratic nature), existentialism, nature, and other elemental human emotions (See pp. 252, "Delicacy Amidst Terror"). The poems expose the various facets of “the human condition,” from the pursuit of one’s inner peace and goals despite adversities, to the existential reflections prompted by reaching the summit. When mountaineering and striving to accomplish our objectives, there will always be a delicate balance between ambition, humility, and the search for human meaning in nature’s environment, however hostile (See pp. 261-262, “Meditation on the Drive to Meet the Unknown”).
Hence, the poems seek to examine the highs and lows of human emotion, and the nuanced relationship between one's inner aspirations and the outside world. The themes explored in this poetry collection, which generally express universal emotions, will undoubtedly help readers to climb and face their own flaws courageously, in the fullness of time. See “Perpetual Challenge” (p. 215): ”Someday we will trample it [another summit than the Author climbed], all in due course, at a time and manner of our choosing”.
The Author’s Book also reflects on such practical considerations as whether a climber can really place his faith in his rope partner, see “Rope Partner of Mine, (pp. 94-95), to spiritual considerations, such as the existence of “some silent, guiding hand” (see “Scene of the Avalanche) at p. 105, that overarch all climbers, and are buried deep within the mountain’s origins and form.
A brief sampling of reviews by professional critics exemplifies the enthusiasm with which this collection of poems has been received:
This collection of poems perfectly encapsulates Goldman’s obvious deep awe and reverence of the mountains...one truly feels present with Mr. Goldman, as he climbs both the physical and emotional mountains in front of him... The moral questions and dilemmas Goldman grapples with within his journey are as applicable to both climbers and non-climbers alike, making this collection a worthwhile read to all.”
– Theresa Kadair, Portland Book Review
“The whole work edifies in its celebration of a timeless meeting between nature’s awesome power and brave souls willing to face their limits.”
– Mari Carlson, US Review of Books
“No reader will look at the mountainous scenery or photography of mountain subjects in quite the same way after reading these poems.”
– Joan Kirschener, IndieReader
“Goldman does a truly wonderful job of presenting these eye-opening, awe- inspiring peaks and mountains in a completely new way with wonderful use of vocabulary.”
– Alex Telander, San Francisco Book Review
“A truly thoughtful and beautifully written collection of poetry which captures both the author’s vivid imagery and the beauty of nature all at once.”
– Anthony Avina, Pacific Book Review
“Goldman makes nature speak the language of man.”
– David Allen, Hollywood Book Reviews
Though summiting a mountain may appear a straightforward (though not simple) act, the Author’s work reveals its beauty and its complexity, showing how its rippling implications reach even those far below its peak.”
– BookLife Reviews
Taken all in all, the Author respectfully contends that his poems in REFLECTIONS ON MOUNTAINEERING, while exploring the intensely personal nature of the climber’s reality, further endeavor to provide insight into no less than the so-called “meaning of life” writ large.