Customer Reviews

Postcards from the Ledge: Collected Mountaineering Writings of Greg Child

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Greg Child is a famous mountain guide who fearlessly describes what other mountaineering writers omit. He describes everything from bodily functions to theft to dishonest summit claims, to bureaucratic corruption, and all with a great wit and perception. Several of these essays left me gasping for breath from laughter while others, like his story about Alison Hargreave had me fighting tears. My favorite essay is Greg attempting to show off his climbing skills for his mother. Greg Child is one funny guy.

Few mountaineers write with quite the prose of Greg Child. "Writer who climbs? Climber who writes?" he himself has mused and many have quoted. What he gives with his accounts of high places is an ever-clear explanation of the inherent dangers and pure exstacy of high-altitude mountaineering and big wall climbing, as easily comprehended by the armchair mountaineer as the Himalayan veteran. My collection of mountaineering literature is great, but most of the wealth therein lies between the pages of his books. Thanks, Greg. You've done it again. A future Himalayan veteran, -C.

I was searching Amazon for some Joe Simpson books and this one popped up. I thought it was one I missed but then saw that Simpson wrote the introduction to it. It seemed pretty entertaining so I bought a copy.

Greg Child's Postcards from the Ledge is hilarious and touching and informative at the same time. I couldn't stop laughing after reading the essay about him showing his elderly mum just how "safe" mountaineering is. In the end he hobbled away like the hurt little boy his mother knew him to be. I enjoyed learning about the nitty gritty facts of mountaineering, from where and how to use the toilet to stinking to high heaven after being on the mountain for so many weeks.

All joking aside, the mountains can be a dangerous place to be. An example of this is when Childs and his group come across a teenage girl who has fallen to her death into a crevasse. There are also some good essays about Alison Hargreaves' death and the world's reaction to a mother's "selfish" need to climb mountains.

And many things can be learned about other countries and cultures from the small details of his visits to these places.

I'd recommend this book to any mountaineering fans. I'm glad I bought it for my collection.

Greg Child has written a blockbuster with Postcards from the Ledge. Greg is one of the top mountaineer/rock climber around and has been at it for longer than most. He storytelling is first rate whether it is about tragedies or humor, and there is a lot of both in this book. There will be times when you will be laughing out loud even if you are not a climber. I have climbed for many years and can relate to some of the things Greg talks about but you do not have to be a climber to enjoy this book.

Greg did a lot of research for this book as you will see when you read the interviews with fellow climbers who he writes about whether it be on Himalayan peaks like Everest, K2 or Trango Tower, mountains in Alaska or sport climbing in Vietnam.

The Alison Hargreaves story toward the end of this book is both gripping and enlightening. Greg touches on why people go to the extremes in high altitude mountaineering and does a good job of making even the layman understand their reasoning for climbing.

The claim of Tomo Cesen's Lhotse South Face solo ascent is covered from all aspects and really shows the work the author did to give you all the facts out there on Cesen's claim.

There are few climbers out there that can write and climb (or is it climb and write) at the level that Mr. Child does. Buy this book and it will become a favorite.

I just recently discovered Greg Child's books and must confess to now being completely addicted. After being in love with THE ASCENT OF RUM DOODLE, the classic [but ancient - i.e. 1950s] mountain humor classic, I thought there could be no rival. Thank God I was wrong and thanks to Greg's mum for whatever she did to contribute to his comic genes. Last week I took this book on a camping trip and each night by the fire would read aloud a few essays to my companions, who looked forward all day to the next hysterically humorous missives the evening campfire would bring from the funniest climber/writer in the world. It makes a person jealous to know that one person can be this fabulously talented, both as climber and writer. Damn, he's good! You will not be able to put this book down. PS Warning: this book often produces side effects of laughing out loud.

This is a great book of short 'stories' about mountaineering that Child has edited from his articles published in magazines. Each of these stories is a well-written perspective on the art of climbing; they cover a wide range of his experiences ranging from sea-level (island cliffs in the Gulf of Tonkin) to the top of the world in the Himalayas. Each of the stories reflects to Child's own experiences over the last 10-20 years and the philosophy of climbing that he has developed in this time.

Many of these stories are written with a dry sense of humor (eg, the 10 rules of bivouacs) that reflect Child's personal experiences. Of course, this humor leavens the drama and tragedy that are described in several of the pieces. With the variety of stories that are included in this book, it is distinctly different from 'Thin Air' which covers three different Himalayan expeditions in depth. I'd recommend both highly; the difference in voice shows the range of perspective that Child can generate with his passion for this sport.

Postcards From The Ledge has something for everyone. From artful and hilarious descriptions of the most unpleasant of bodily functions and living conditions, to thoughtful reflection on the beauty and thrill of an epic climb, Greg Child gives you an insiders view of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of climbing. A must read even if you are not a climber.

I have a huge collection of mountainerring books...but none are as good as the books by Greg Child who no doubt writes with such humour and sensitivity that he can bring tears and laughter at the same time. It was a great pleasure reading this book and the other titles by him - 'Thin Air' and 'Mixed Emotions'. All these books are unputdownable and no doubt would be treasured possesions to all who loves to read mountaineering literature

Few mountaineers write with quite the prose of Greg Child. "Writer who climbs? Climber who writes?" he himself has mused and many have quoted. What he gives with his accounts of high places is an ever-clear explanation of the inherent dangers and pure exstacy of high-altitude mountaineering and big wall climbing, as easily comprehended by the armchair mountaineer as the Himalayan veteran. My collection of mountaineering literature is great, but most of the wealth therein lies between the pages of his books. Thanks, Greg. You've done it again. A future Himalayan veteran, -C.

I spent most of last weekend reading this book and loving it. I was late for the bus today cause the first thing I did this morning was catch up where I left off. Funnier than hell, descriptive, intelligent, good stuff...