"M. John Harrison - Suicide Coast" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison John M)

said quietly:

тАЬIтАЩm coming off.тАЭ

We all looked up. It was a slow afternoon in Mile End. Nobody
bothers much with training in the middle of summer. Some teenagers were
in from the local schools and colleges. A couple of men in their late thirties
had sneaked out of a civil engineering contract near Cannon Street.
Everyone was tired. Humidity had made the handholds slippery. Despite
that, a serious atmosphere prevailed.

тАЬGo on,тАЭ we encouraged him. тАЬYou can do it.тАЭ

We didnтАЩt know him, or one another, from Adam.

тАЬGo on!тАЭ

The boy on the wall laughed. He was good but not that good. He
didnтАЩt want to fall off in front of everyone. An intention tremor moved
through his bent leg. Losing patience with himself, he scraped at the
foothold with the toe of his boot. He lunged upward. His body pivoted away
from the wall and dropped onto the mats, which, absorbing the energy of
the fall, made a sound like a badly winded heavyweight boxer. Chalk and
dust billowed up. He got to his feet, laughing and shaking his dreadlocks.

тАЬI can never do that.тАЭ
 тАЬYouтАЩll get it in the end,тАЭ I told him. тАЬMe, IтАЩm going to fall off this roof
once more then fuck off home. ItтАЩs too hot in here.тАЭ

тАЬSee you, man.тАЭ

****

I had spent most of that winter in London, assembling copy for MAX, a
Web site that fronted the adventure sports software industry. They were
always interested in stuff about cave diving, BASE jumping, snowboarding,
hang-gliding, ATB and so on: but they didnтАЩt want to know about rock
climbing.

тАЬNot enough to buy,тАЭ my editor said succinctly. тАЬAnd too obviously
skill-based.тАЭ He leafed through my samples. тАЬThe punter needs equipment
to invest in. It strengthens his self-image. With the machine parked in his
hall, he believes he could disconnect from the software and still do the
sport.тАЭ He tapped a shot of Isobelle Patissier seven hundred feet up some
knife-edge ar├кte in Colorado. тАЬWhereтАЩs the hardware? These are just
bodies.тАЭ

тАЬThe boots are pretty high tech.тАЭ

тАЬYeah? And how much a pair? Fifty, a hundred and fifty? Mick, we can