Deep Play: A Climber's Odyssey from Llanberis to the Big Walls [Hardcover]

Paul Pritchard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1998

This dramatic departure from traditional mountain-eering literature offers a slice of life by a British dole-climber.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books; First Edition edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898865654
• ISBN-13: 978-0898865653
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,943,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Climbing defined Paul Pritchard's existence and sign-posted his horizons.

He earned international respect as a cutting-edge climber and mountaineer. He has published three books:

'Deep Play' won the prestigious Boardman/Tasker Award for mountain literature (link) in 1997 and the 'Totem Pole' won both the 1999 Boardman/Tasker Award and the 1999 Banff Mountain Book Festival Grand Prize. He is the only author to win the Boardman/Tasker Award twice. And recently he completed 'The Longest Climb'.

During a planned year-long trip climbing around the world, Paul suffered an appalling head injury whilst climbing the 'Totem Pole' in Tasmania. He suffered hemiplegia, a paralysis of one side of his body and lost the power of speech for many months.

Since his accident Paul has continued to lead a challenging life climbing Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro amongst other mountains. His third book 'The Longest Climb' is the sequel to the Totem Pole epic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A climber's review, February 16, 2004

By 

S. Jyrkynen (Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Play: A Climber's Odyssey from Llanberis to the Big Walls (Hardcover)

I'd recommend this book to anyone who's even slightly addicted to climbing since it happens to be one of the best books around. Keyword of the last sentence is addicted. The book a short introduction to the mind of a very bold climber. For non-climbers... well it may be too complex and full of weird words. Must be interesting reading still, though.

For all the climbers out there I can say I've been climbing for 10 years and feel solid on alpine rock routes up to 5.11. The book didn't win Boardman Tasker award for nothing. Another very good book worth considering would be Feeding the Rat by Al Alvarez.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, May 21, 2001

By 

Steve (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Play: A Climber's Odyssey from Llanberis to the Big Walls (Hardcover)

This is a collection of essays that appeared first in climbing journals published in England. The essays are written in a variety of styles, from straight narrative to a kind of stream of consciousness. One style written as if the writer is dictating his thoughts while climbing is used several times. At first it was interesting, but the later essays written in this style lose their novelty. Pritchard's essays are relatively short and cover a wide variety of subjects, from specific climbs, whole expeditions to people. Most of his stories about people were written after their death in one climbing accident or another. One essay about a climber with a career ending injury and how he deals with it is prophetic considering Pritchard's recent possible career ending climbing accident. Overall, it is easy to see why this book won the Boardman-Tasker award for climbing literature. The variety of the subjects and writing styles makes this a very good anthology of climbing essays that every climber should have in their library.

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy and Quick!, January 4, 2012

By 

chambo - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Deep Play: A Climber's Odyssey from Llanberis to the Big Walls (Hardcover)

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