Comment on tone

The book's tone varies with the author's fluctuating mood throughout the story. At times, he is irritated by bureaucracy or by what he sees as the inability of others to appreciate why he risks his life to climb mountains. Sometimes, he is impatient with Nena or annoyed by what he says is her ill temper. At other times, he is hopeful and buoyant. He is frequently awed by Mount Everest and by the calm dignity of the politically repressed and poor Tibetan people. Sometimes he battles fear, loneliness, and homesickness. On the mountain, his state of mind varies from exhilarated to frightened to exhausted.