Islamabad, 12 Sept.: Oxford University Press (OUP) launched its recent publication And Death Walks with Them: Above Eight Thousand Metres with Pakistani Porters from Shimshal,written by Christiane Fladt, at the Islamabad Club. The book throws light on the uncelebrated lives of some of Pakistan’s High Altitude Porters (HAPs), who help mountaineers climb the Pakistan-based eight-thousand-metre peaks. The author has attempted to delve into their lives by digging out adventure and drama in their stories, which makes her work a significant contribution to the literature available on this topic. This book will be the first to record the names of the porters alongside those of the more wealthy climbers who hired them.
Christiane Fladt is a mountaineer, teacher, and an adventure enthusiast. She teaches English and Latin languages in Germany. She first came to Pakistan on a mountaineering expedition in 2002 as a tourist. Fladt has authored two books.
Speakers at the book launch included Dr Almut Besold, Country Head of Friedrich Nauman Foundation Pakistan, and Farman Ali who is an author. Shehrbano Saiyid, a documentary film-maker and an amateur mountain climber, showed a presentation on the porters from Shimshal. The speakers highlighted that the accounts of the high altitude climbers and porters given in the book enables one to appreciate the amount of strength, skillfulness, readiness to suffer, and defiance of death that these porters have to demonstrate. Christiane Fladt pointed out that her objective behind writing this book is to pay homage to these brave porters and introduce them as individuals and personalities worthy of recognition for their work.
Earlier in her welcome address, Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, OUP Pakistan, introduced the author and said that Christiane Fladt’s book is not just a description of an unusual culture or a spectacular landscape. “These are the stories of real-life human beings—individuals with their own distinctive personalities, families, ambitions, and uniquely adventurous lives. It makes for a unique reading experience,” she highlighted.