Come Back Safe, My Friends and The White Spider Summary and Analysis

In The White Spider, Heinrich Harrer chronicles the history of mankind's battle against the North Face of the Eiger, a mountain in the Swiss Alps. The North Face is a sheer drop, treacherously icy and rocky, and constantly bombarded with avalanches. Harrer, one of the first party to succeed in climbing the North Face, focuses on the strength of character and courage of the climbers who have faced this challenge, many of whom lost their lives in the attempt.

As "Come Back Safe, My Friends" begins, the author narrates an anecdote about telling a climber he is writing a book about the Eiger. The climber attacks his book idea as either sensationalistic or unnecessary, and the author defends it as providing accurate information to the...