This Game of Ghosts [Paperback]

Joe Simpson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 1995

A sequel to the award-winning "Touching the Void", in which Simpson described a fall in the Himalayas which crippled and almost broke him. This is a memoir of the signposts that have directed him since childhood to measure fear and embrace the unknown.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In his second memoir, climber Joe Simpson reveals a lifetime of flirtation with danger, from risky childhood stunts to an astonishing number of near-death climbing accidents. Simpson revisits his many brushes with death while climbing: a 2,000-foot fall in the Courtes, the collapse of a bivy ledge on the Dru, a 150-foot fall on Nepal's Pachermo, and his nearly fatal climb in the Andes, covered in his Boardman Tasker Award-winner, Touching the Void.

Simpson writes in an effort to understand his own reasons for taking such risks. He describes what it is like to face death, and works through the guilt of being spared so many times when other climbing friends and mentors were not. Simpson also copes with the frustration of having his climbing ambitions cut short by injury and the resultant feelings of uncertainty. Complete with photo documentation of key events in the author's life, This Game of Ghosts is a gripping account of honesty and fortitude that will keep both mountaineers and outdoor enthusiasts in suspense.

About the Author

Joe Simpson is the author of several best-selling books, of which the first, Touching the Void, won both the NCR Award and the Boardman Tasker Award. Since its first publication in 1988, Touching the Void has become a classic and an international bestseller, translated into fourteen languages and made into an award-winning feature-length documentary film (winner of the Outstanding British Film of the Year BAFTA 2004). Joe currently lives in Sheffield.

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books (September 12, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898864607
• ISBN-13: 978-0898864601
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #613,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reading, June 30, 2000

By 

Bryan Moore (Jonesboro, AR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Game of Ghosts (Paperback)

This is a delightful book. Not that the writer's more well-known TOUCHING THE VOID is badly written; it isn't, and it remians on my short list of the best mountaineering/adventure books I've read. But in THIS GAME OF GHOSTS Simpson stretches out more fully, more autobiographically (is that a wrod?) in an attempt to explain (to himself, to the reader) what it is about climbing that is so attractive, so essential to his existence. While he is honest almost to a fault, Simpson is smart enough to not fall (no pun intended) into the cliches and pseudo-mystical parrot talk that waters down an awful lot of mountaineering lit. For Simpson, there is no short, definitive answer as to why he is drawn to steep, icy mountain walls. On the other hand, the whole book is an answer to this question, which he poses, dismisses, returns to, and obliquely answers over and over.

This is not just a good mountaineering book; it is a bood book, period. At first I thought Simpson was being a bit self-indulgent by detailing his early life. ("Who does this guy think he is?" I asked myself. "This isn't Winston Churchill or even Frank McCourt, but an unknown Brit who thinks we care about his schoolboy years.") But he won me over through his strong sense of humor and good storytelling. And the whole thing is full of good stories. Part of the book's appeal is in the stupidity of Simpson's climbing mistakes, many of which lead to life-threatening accidents. But through all his many incidents, Simpson proves to be as resilient as a rubber ball.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fear is the Key, July 31, 2003

By 

gotta run now (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: This Game of Ghosts (Paperback)

From Simpson's introduction to this book we realize that it is perhaps fear, and overcoming fear and the accompanying exhiliration that drives him. Or is it?
Touching the Void was a brilliant book, detailing a horrific climb and fall in the Peruvian Andes. But at the end, you do wish you could know more about this guy. This Game of Ghosts fills in the blanks. Beginning with his upbringing as the youngest of 5 children, we get to come along as he is introduced to climbing, and adopts it more as a lifestyle than a hobby. Simpson comes of age literally and figuratively in this book. His writing is more polished than in his first book, he is older and wiser, and has gone on to experience more peaks, more true friends, more loss. He explores these things in an effort to describe the allure climbing holds for him, while admonishing us not to assume all adrenaline junkies are the same.
Don't worry, this isn't a philosophy book. It's chock full of fantastic adventures and once again we get to accompany him to dangerous places where we feel the cold, the fear, and the companionship of like minds. This is a must read for anyone who liked Touching the Void. Highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, August 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: This Game of Ghosts (Paperback)

"This Game of Ghosts" is about 10 times better than "Touching the Void". The writing is so much better, it's hard to believe that it's the same author. Simpson touches on his childhood as well as his early climbing years. You really get to know the author thorough many events instead of just one covered in his first book. His narratives are extremely funny and entertaining. What an incredible cast of characters. Simpson talks about what climbing meant to him, and how in changed his life. Truly a fantastic read.