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Anyone read any good ones lately?
I have read White spider into thin air, the climb touching the void etc and really enjoy the subject, and am currently without inspirational stories of derring do!
Ta
Psychovertical
Couple of nice compilations of extracts from mountaineering books and short stories called 'Epic' and 'High' by Clint Willis, I think. Really entertaining.
'Kiss or Kill' - Mark Twight. Barking mad. But probably best if you have a climbing background with mild psychotic tendencies.
Andy Kirkpatrick's 'Psychovertical', which is brilliant. And his second book, which I can't remember the name of.
If you like The White Spider, 'Conquistadors of the Useless' by Lionel Terray has similar historical lunacy vibe to it.
'Learning To Breathe' by Andy Cave. The best bits are about his brief career as a coal miner.
'Game of Ghosts' - Simpson's second book and again autobiographical, which I think he does a lot better than talking about climbing ethics. The bit about driving the Karakorum Highway is genius in a laugh out loud funny way.
If you're interested in the weird alpha male, ego-jousting psychology of climbers, a Scottish guy called Andrew Greig - awesome writer and poet - wrote a book about climbing with Mal Duff and others in ****stan, which I forget the name of, it's not Kingdoms of Experience, I think, the other one, erm, 'Summit Fever', which is a cracking, non-climbing outsider's look at an expedition in action.
'Feeding the Rat' by Al Alvarez. Perfectly captures a point in British climbing culture.
And... for a good biography of a seminal British rock climber, The Villain by Jim Perrin about Don Whillans.
Sorry, got carried away there 🙂
"Learning to Breathe" - Andy Cave
An amazing book, the stories from his days down the pit are equally as harrowing as his mountaineering.
"The Eiger Obsession: Facing the mountain that killed my father" John Harlin
Any Tim Moore book, more travelogue than adventure but laugh out loud funny. Spanish Steps is really good.
+1 Epic
LOL thought there might be a few folk on here that like this stuff too!
Thanks guys
Andy Cave ah yes he was on that Eiger programme the other night
I really enjoyed The Villain, about Don Whillans, possibly the best mountaineer of a generation and a very flawed character. It might only be interesting to someone of a certain age tho, who grew up around the myth and Bonnington exploits of that time.
Re the Eiger programme, Bonnington/Whillans rescued that British climber detailed in the programme. I think Bonnington say something of Don along the lines "If the sh*t hit the fan, Don was absolutely the person you wanted to be with". Whilst rescuing the climber, Don worked out an escape route around the Hinterstoisser Traverse, which would have saved Hinterstoisser/Kutz and friends, had they found it.
Running the Amazon,joe kane .
from the source to the sea,great read,lots of interesting stuff.
I read it twice.
Running the Amazon,joe kane
Yup got that one! read it at least 4 times great book
Second pyschovertical, it's one of those books which you start reading and look up and think 'bugger, I've got to get up in an hour! oops'
Not exactly a mountaineering book, but A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby is a classic and hugely entertaining.
Great stuff
Amazon used books are taking a hit now!
Creagh Dubh Climber is well worth a go. A bit different from Bonnington et al.
Just finished Fiva http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiva-Adventure-That-Went-Wrong/dp/0957054300 by Gordon Stainforth - worth a read and a good insight into what climbing in the 60s was like.
Psychovertical +1
I must read The Villain. I read Don Whillans autobiog a lot of of years ago, many escapades with the likes of Joe Brown
Hermann Buhl Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage - think i spelt that right
"Mountains of the Mind" by Robert Macfarlane
it can be very wordy in parts but it discusses what drove the early pioneers to do daft things like climb the Matterhorn at the dawn of mountaineering as a sport dressed in a suit etc etc.
It's a very good book and you can dip in and out as you please
Psychovertical is very good. Andy KP's got a new one out called "Cold Wars" which is just as good, if not better. Genuinely laugh out loud funny. I think my guffawing started to get to my other half, who was stuck into something a bit heavier at the time.
"Mountains of the Mind" - very good too.
"La Trace de l'Ange" about mentalist/alpinist/everest snowboardist Marco Sifreddi is brilliant if your French is any good (even if it's not, it's a better way to improve it than exercises about day to day tedium in La Rochelle)
And this thread wouldn't be complete without The Ascent of Rum Doodle.
THE HARD YEARS by joe brown is a must read
excellent thread...thanks...got some books I need to buy now!
Nothing like sitting by a warm fire with a nice bottle reading about someone else's brave struggle against nature! 🙂 Love it
Been meaning to reread Lionel Terray and see if it's as good as I remember. From an earlier time WH Murray's two Scottish books - Mountaineering in Scotland and Undiscovered Scotland - are absolute crackers. Particularly when you read how they came to be written.
I'd normally scroll through a thread before making a reccomendation, but [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Mountain-Travel-Books/dp/1898573417 ]The Six Mountain Travel Books[/url] by Eric Shipton is massively under-rated and often overlooked, so I can be fairly sure it's not up there ^^^ (although I'll be looking into some of those ^^^ myself!).
Really can't recommend it highly enough - read it! Eric is a bit dry and his delivery is a bit matter of fact, but boy, what amazing stories from one of the real pioneers of mountain exploration.
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Papa yes read that he is indeed mad (especially admitting to turning up on a desert security job with Polar gear accidentally!)
"Mountains of the Mind" by Robert Macfarlane +1 Excellent book.
A little-known suggestion: Eaten by a Giant Clam by Joseph Cummins. Tales of the adventures early explorers and scientists had - some cracking stories.
I didn't really like "Mountains of the Mind". Too much woolly navel-gazing for me.
"Killing Dragons", while more historical than introspective deals with some of the same themes better for me, as does "The Philosophy of Risk", "Feeding the Rat" or just about anything by Joe Simpson.
Games Climbers Play - It's old but still has some nice articles within it. As it's a compilation it's more of a dip into / out of than a cover to cover book anyway. Some tales of derring do; some tales less so.
Not really in the same theme but I also really like "The Complete Doctor Stories" by J.F.Dutton. A work of fiction but the writing just sets out scenes so perfectly.
Anything by Tilman.
Ascent of Rum Doodle is good.
Not sure it's inspirational, but a thought-provoking read: Cairngorm John - A Life in Mountain Rescue.
Not mountaineering but should appeal to a similar crowd. In fact, it's just a really interesting story, really well told....
A Voyage For Madmen by Peter Nichols
Not mountaineering but should appeal to a similar crowd.
Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. The book of the essay of the guy who died in the van that got made into a film. More on the "call of the wilderness, why?" theme. Great read (albeit with a short wandery/ploddy bit at 2/3rds?) Especially if you enjoyed you enjoyed the film. Loads more in the book.
'The Everest Years' by Sir Chris Bonington was a good one.
Annapurna by Maurice Herzog. Brilliant.
re Joe Simpson
I find his writing style truly awful. "Touching the Void" is a simply a remarkable story but the book does not flow or read that well.
"This Game of Ghosts" was thrown at the wall several times before being dropped off at a charity shop 2/3 read. I've heard the same comments from others too.
I believe from friends his latest book is much better but I refuse to spend any more money on his books.
He's an English Literature graduate so you'd think he'd know how to write a book that the reader can enjoy
Mark Twight - kiss or kill +1
Adventure, yes:
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Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson is worth a read.
"Climb" and "Epic" both by Clint Willis
"Into Thin Air" by John Krakaur
Anything by Reinhold Messner- probably the best mountaineer who's ever lived.
"Into Thin Air" by John Krakaur
If you're going to read this, then also read "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev - the other side of the story
I read Fearless on Everest - about Sandy Irvine and The Wildest Dream - about George Mallory, back to back. Both worth reading if you're interested in that period of mountaineering and that famous expedition.
The last grain race by Eric Newby is a lovely read and is cheap as chips to buy secondhand on Amazon.
My Vertical World: Climbing the 8000-Metre Peaks by Jerzy Kukuczka is a great book but not easy to get hold of because it's out of print. What an awesome climber and grafted for everything he got. Maybe someone on the forum has a copy you can have...
Totem pole by Paul Pritchard and Life And Limb: A true story of tragedy and survival by Jamie Andrew are a bit different from the usual books but great reads.
Can anyone recommend [i]Shining mountain[/i] by Boardman / Tasker? Been meaning to get it for a while as it sounds like a landmark ascent, but no idea what it would be like as a read.
Can't believe no-one's mentioned Tom Patey: One Man's Mountains - The good bits are truly excellent and more than outweigh the slightly dodgier bits!
ElShalimo - got to disagree with you there. I really enjoy Joe Simpson's writing. He's won several writing awards too, so I'm not the only one!
The Mountains of Snowdonia. H.R.C.Carr & G.A.Lister first publsished 1925 2nd print 1948. If you like North Wales, this is the good shit.. fascinating book, not adventury adrenaliny stuff, just a solid gold book encompassing everything about early mountain exploration in North Wales. and geology and etymology of the places etc. If you can find it. It quotes some of the earliest ever written stuff re. climbing about this locality. It's a proper fascinating book... I do reccommend 😀
You have to get it second hand off of Amazon now (for pennies) , but Chris Bonington did a coffee table book called 'Quest for Adventure'.
"Into Thin Air" by John KrakaurIf you're going to read this, then also read "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev - the other side of the story
+1 Still not sure who's version i believe though, with so much altitude confusion!