This Game of Ghosts

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.

His life stories are funny and interesting. However he also deals with the dark side of climbing, the loss of his comrades. Joe is honest and shares with us his recollection of his life after the accident. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.


Good reading   June 30, 2000
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

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.