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This Game Of Ghosts
Book by JOE SIMPSON
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
43 people are currently reading
914 people want to read
About the author
Joe Simpson
39 books220 followers Joe Simpson is the author of the bestselling Touching the Void, as well as four subsequent non-fiction books published by The Mountaineers Books: This Game of Ghosts, Storms of Silence, Dark Shadows Falling, and The Beckoning Silence. The Beckoning Silence won the 2003 National Outdoor Book Award. The other three published by The Mountaineers Books were all shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
December 2, 2010
Ever since I read Joe Simpson's 'Touching the Void', I have been an admirer and had wanted to read other books from him. Still, it took me a few years after reading 'Touching the Void' to read 'This game of Ghosts'. Though this one is billed as a sequel to 'Touching the Void', it is more autobiographical and also philosophical about why he or anyone else climbs mountains. It also contains his reflections on so many of his mountaineering friends' deaths over the years on the mountains. It is an absorbing and fascinating book. His philosophical musings gave me more of understanding and respect for Joe Simpson. He writes about his early teens in Malaya and the times he spent with his sister Sarah there and also about the years he spent in Austria and how he gradually became a mountaineer. Mountain climbing is not only a passion for him but it is also his solution for the existential puzzle that we all grapple with. Joe writes about the many assaults he makes on major mountain peaks in Europe and Asia and we read about how he came close to death at least on four different occasions on the mountains. Perhaps, seasoned mountaineers with sterling records may denounce him as a climber who could not assess risks properly and consequently found himself in dangerous situations but survived due to good fortune and then recounted them as books of adventure. That would be unfair because Simpson constantly questions himself and agonises about why he climbs and about climbing being such a selfish endeavour. Nowhere does he talk about his ordeals as 'adventure' even though for laymen like me it is rivetting life experience.
Many aspects of his life were of great interest to me as I read the book. For example, Simpson writes about the life of climbers in Chamonix and how they live in such a spartan way with all focus on the mountains. Often, they sleep upto twenty people in small flats and live by stealing food from the nearby supermarkets to feed themselves. Simpson himself says that he used to live on just 4000 pounds a year on welfare before he hit pay dirt with his books. This aspect of the mountaineers' life was charming to read about as it shows how everything else in life was only secondary to the next big ascent.
Simpson has some powerful philosophical comments on life itself. He writes very perceptively about fear, death and purpose in life. I quote some of them here:
"...All one can do is to experience the present, nothing more. Deprived of the ability to imagine the future, you are fearless; suddenly there is nothing to be scared about..."
"...it is only the belief of being in control that keeps us all on an even keel. The moment we suspect that we are losing control is the moment when fear edges into the fragile balance of sanity..."
"... it seems to me that if you can escape from the need to know the future and free you yourself from the constraints of the past and in so doing act in and only in the present, then you achieve an absolute freedom..."
"....in a curious way, the climber stops living when he begins to climb. He steps out of the living world of anxiety into a world where there is no room, no time for such distractions. All that concerns him is surviving the present...."
I found it a very honest book and an illuminating one as well. I would recommend it to all those who enjoyed 'Touching the Void'. I have a feeling that people who read this one as the first book of Simpson may have a slightly different take on it as they would not know about him through the experience of his climb on Siula Grande.
Many aspects of his life were of great interest to me as I read the book. For example, Simpson writes about the life of climbers in Chamonix and how they live in such a spartan way with all focus on the mountains. Often, they sleep upto twenty people in small flats and live by stealing food from the nearby supermarkets to feed themselves. Simpson himself says that he used to live on just 4000 pounds a year on welfare before he hit pay dirt with his books. This aspect of the mountaineers' life was charming to read about as it shows how everything else in life was only secondary to the next big ascent.
Simpson has some powerful philosophical comments on life itself. He writes very perceptively about fear, death and purpose in life. I quote some of them here:
"...All one can do is to experience the present, nothing more. Deprived of the ability to imagine the future, you are fearless; suddenly there is nothing to be scared about..."
"...it is only the belief of being in control that keeps us all on an even keel. The moment we suspect that we are losing control is the moment when fear edges into the fragile balance of sanity..."
"... it seems to me that if you can escape from the need to know the future and free you yourself from the constraints of the past and in so doing act in and only in the present, then you achieve an absolute freedom..."
"....in a curious way, the climber stops living when he begins to climb. He steps out of the living world of anxiety into a world where there is no room, no time for such distractions. All that concerns him is surviving the present...."
I found it a very honest book and an illuminating one as well. I would recommend it to all those who enjoyed 'Touching the Void'. I have a feeling that people who read this one as the first book of Simpson may have a slightly different take on it as they would not know about him through the experience of his climb on Siula Grande.
December 6, 2012
Joe Simpson became famous for Touching the Void, his retelling of a mountaineering accident that nearly killed him. Here, he goes further and starts by providing half autobiography, half a memory of climbers that were killed. This leads to a rather disjointed structure that makes it often hard to follow along, which is a shame because otherwise the book is quite an interesting take on the obsession of the climbing community and what drives them to risk everythiung for something so "pointless" as reaching the summit of a mountain in the hardest possible way. Most people will probably have no personal connection to the sport, but the book may still be for them. Simpson's a good writer with an easy style that allows deep insights without claiming to be more than a mere attempt at understanding. If you like reading about people who lead unusual lives, this is definitely a book for you. Just maybe read Touching the Void first, since this is considered a sequel.
July 31, 2024
Brilliant, very moving in some ways. It’s filled with some brilliant stories and it’s great to hear his full story outside of touching the void.
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
February 22, 2025
Thrilling but heartbreaking real life drama
September 5, 2021
I enjoyed this one, but there was a lot missing that I really enjoyed from the previous book I've read. As a sequel to Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival it fits very loosely. I think the only reason it's a sequel is because it's by the same guy, but in terms of narrative it doesn't really follow along from the previous book so much as elaborate on the before and after. This is interesting, of course, but I really think the fact that this is another book about mountaineering by the same person should have been enough to sell it on. What was there is decent, but it's definitely not a sequel in terms of content or in writing style, if I'm honest.
The style of this book is a lot more disjointed and feels a little disorganised. Some things are rushed or brushed over or begun and picked up again later, and it didn't feel very organised. It wasn't incoherent, and what was there was interesting, but it was just a little strange. I did appreciate, however, the fact that Simpson knows what his readers are there for -- when everything is going fine and there's no drama, he skims over it quite quickly, but lingers on the events that are dangerous, funny, or some measure of both. I really did like how well he knew his audience, and he wasn't afraid to give them exactly what he knew they were coming for.
As well as a chronicle of climbing disasters and travelling misadventures, there's a lot of really interesting stuff about the psychology and philosophy of mountaineering. Simpson does a good job at explaining just why it is that people climb mountains, despite acknowledging that it's probably impossible to explain to somebody who has never experienced it for themselves. I can certainly appreciate why people like Simpson feel driven to do what they do -- while not a mountain climber myself I am possessed by far too much curiosity and perhaps a little too much hubris, so it's something I could see myself being drawn to, had things been different. This book makes it easy to understand, rather than just appreciate, why people climb mountains despite the risk and despite the losses. There's a lot of solid philosophy in here that adds unexpected weight to the book.
I have to admit to being impressed by Simpson's self-awareness, as well. I'm going to say it -- when he was younger he seemed like quite the prick, but he openly admits this and does nothing to defend the flaws in his personality that have led him to danger or disaster. Sometimes, though, I was still rattled by his attitude -- even with his acknowledgment and his sense of humour towards his younger self, it was still on occasion a little tough to feel any kind of positive feeling for him at all. This did admittedly dissipate, however, as the narrative moved out of his youth, and by the end of the book Simpson is a much more sympathetic figure. I say all this not as a criticism, as it's some impressive writing to accurately chronicle a personality that well, especially your own -- many people would be tempted to cut and edit and defend, but Simpson does none of that. I merely say it because it was something that reflected my rating; it would have been four stars if not for the lack of overall cohesion and also the fact that I spent half the book wanting to throttle him.
Still a good read, though. While it doesn't quite stand up to Touching the Void, if you enjoyed that book you wouldn't be wasting your time to read this one.
The style of this book is a lot more disjointed and feels a little disorganised. Some things are rushed or brushed over or begun and picked up again later, and it didn't feel very organised. It wasn't incoherent, and what was there was interesting, but it was just a little strange. I did appreciate, however, the fact that Simpson knows what his readers are there for -- when everything is going fine and there's no drama, he skims over it quite quickly, but lingers on the events that are dangerous, funny, or some measure of both. I really did like how well he knew his audience, and he wasn't afraid to give them exactly what he knew they were coming for.
As well as a chronicle of climbing disasters and travelling misadventures, there's a lot of really interesting stuff about the psychology and philosophy of mountaineering. Simpson does a good job at explaining just why it is that people climb mountains, despite acknowledging that it's probably impossible to explain to somebody who has never experienced it for themselves. I can certainly appreciate why people like Simpson feel driven to do what they do -- while not a mountain climber myself I am possessed by far too much curiosity and perhaps a little too much hubris, so it's something I could see myself being drawn to, had things been different. This book makes it easy to understand, rather than just appreciate, why people climb mountains despite the risk and despite the losses. There's a lot of solid philosophy in here that adds unexpected weight to the book.
I have to admit to being impressed by Simpson's self-awareness, as well. I'm going to say it -- when he was younger he seemed like quite the prick, but he openly admits this and does nothing to defend the flaws in his personality that have led him to danger or disaster. Sometimes, though, I was still rattled by his attitude -- even with his acknowledgment and his sense of humour towards his younger self, it was still on occasion a little tough to feel any kind of positive feeling for him at all. This did admittedly dissipate, however, as the narrative moved out of his youth, and by the end of the book Simpson is a much more sympathetic figure. I say all this not as a criticism, as it's some impressive writing to accurately chronicle a personality that well, especially your own -- many people would be tempted to cut and edit and defend, but Simpson does none of that. I merely say it because it was something that reflected my rating; it would have been four stars if not for the lack of overall cohesion and also the fact that I spent half the book wanting to throttle him.
Still a good read, though. While it doesn't quite stand up to Touching the Void, if you enjoyed that book you wouldn't be wasting your time to read this one.
August 8, 2022
Joe Simpson, l’autore dell’indimenticabile “La morte sospesa”, ci presenta una sua biografia, in cui seleziona i molteplici (innemerevoli?) eventi adrenalinici che l’hanno costellata. Quinto ed ultimo figlio di un militare di carriera, Joe passa la sua infanzia in diverse parti del mondo fino a quando non approda all’età giusta per la boarding school, che costituirà quel fil rouge di linearità nella sua vita, proprio a tutti i figli di expatriates. Ad un anno dalla laurea, Joe ha una profonda crisi esistenziale e depressiva: sente di essere ad un passo dal suicidio (non ce ne spiega affatto i motivi, anche se non pare ce ne siano di specifici. Semplicemente era molto, molto triste). Abbandona gli studi e si dedica all’alpinismo, trasferendosi a Chamonix dove si arrabatterà per vivere, alternando lavoro e scalate. Siamo ormai a metà del libro e la mia presentazione di cui sopra non tiene minimamente conto degli innumerevoli incidenti da far accapponare la pelle in cui Joe è incorso. Ma arrivati a questo punto si possono cominciare a trarre delle impressioni: la prima è che indiscutibilmente Joe sa scrivere molto bene questo tipo di racconto. La seconda, che ombreggia la prima (almeno: a titolo personale) è la sua vuotezza personale. Da vero britannico, ripudia l’introspezione (a lui non viene neanche il sospetto che possa esistere) e accumula tutta una serie di riflessioni sulla vita, sulla morte e sulla paura fortemente meccanicistiche. Leggo nel terzo di copertina che è uno speaker motivazionale e resto perplessa come possa essere d’aiuto, in che senso possa motivare la gente, anche se forse uno come lui è molto adatto ad un pubblico di connazionali poco inclini all’autoanalisi. Il libro prosegue, accennando all’incidente sullo Siula Grande (giustamente, visto che ci ha dedicato un libro intero che tra l’altro ha vinto un sacco di – meritati – premi) e poi condividendo col lettore la sua vita, francamente abbastanza squallida: vive con l’assegno di disoccupazione a Sheffield, in quartieri malfamati e non fa molto della sua vita, se non quello di cercare di tornare a scalare, specialmente per riprendersi psicologicamente da dopo l’incidente con Simon Yates in Perù. Un uomo che passa il tempo a sbronzarsi, fumare e a ridere nervosamente (parole sue). Tanti dei suoi amici in montagna muoiono, l’uno dopo l’altro e seppure si capisce che lui ne sia addolorato, altrettanto si capisce che per lui è importante non soffermarvisi troppo, piuttosto pensare di farsi una bella bevuta con gli amici al pub in loro onore, riuscire a fare una bella battuta che scuota la tristezza e poi riprendere. E il libro difatti riprende con un altro suo spettacolare incidente.
Concludo come ho aperto: Joe Simpson ha indiscutibilmente un grande talento per scrivere di eventi adrenalinici e questo suo libro non delude affatto. Ma mentre un Manolo, anche lui eternamente dietro l’adrenalina (quando invece cercava emozioni anche se dapprincipio non l’aveva capito), riesce a fare un salto di crescita e l’arrampicata gli spalanca un meraviglioso e saggio mondo interiore, con Joe Simpson noi si legge una lista interminabile di incidenti da far accapponare la pelle. E basta. Quindi il giudizio sul libro è di 4 stelle perché ben scritto, ma sulla figura che ne emerge da queste pagine, non do più di 2 stelle. Non è un alpinista che mi ha raggiunta.
Concludo come ho aperto: Joe Simpson ha indiscutibilmente un grande talento per scrivere di eventi adrenalinici e questo suo libro non delude affatto. Ma mentre un Manolo, anche lui eternamente dietro l’adrenalina (quando invece cercava emozioni anche se dapprincipio non l’aveva capito), riesce a fare un salto di crescita e l’arrampicata gli spalanca un meraviglioso e saggio mondo interiore, con Joe Simpson noi si legge una lista interminabile di incidenti da far accapponare la pelle. E basta. Quindi il giudizio sul libro è di 4 stelle perché ben scritto, ma sulla figura che ne emerge da queste pagine, non do più di 2 stelle. Non è un alpinista che mi ha raggiunta.
July 12, 2020
Touching the Void, Joe Simpson’s personal account of an appalling mountaineering disaster and his extraordinary survival against all odds, was a surprise bestseller and multiple prize winner when it was published in the 1990s. Its success surprised the author as much as the literary world. This Game of Ghosts (described on the cover as a sequel to Touching the Void - it isn’t really, but can be seen as a companion volume) fleshes out more of Simpson’s early life and exploits on the mountains. It’s a fairly warts and all portrait of a relatively privileged upbringing in an army family in various imperial outposts and at public school, followed by a single-minded obsession with climbing. To support his addiction, Simpson and his friends are happy to subsist on welfare benefits and occasional crime. To do him credit he’s fairly upfront about this. He’s drawn to danger like a moth to a flame, and the book really comes alive when he describes real, visceral peril and fear. He paints many vivid pictures of life and death moments on the mountains including multiple appalling accidents that should have ended his life (and many tales of death and loss among his climbing community), but the most gripping episode is a long passage describing the world’s worst road trip along the Karakoram Highway in the company of a stoned, exhausted (he hasn’t slept for 48 hours!) driver. Simpson describes this truly appalling and frightening journey so vividly that I actually started to display physical symptoms of extreme anxiety while reading it.
January 11, 2019
(Mostly) objectively written, Joe Simpson gives details from his life that grant hints concerning his obsession to climb mountains. It seems Joe was climbing mountains of a sort from the very beginning of his life. Raised overseas in various atmospheres and scenarios and exposed to differing cultures, Simpson had a wide-open view of the world and its possibilities. While I was shocked by the virtual violence among the siblings, it was not too surprising that the next step would be to expose himself to violence in accelerating degrees until finally a kind of a maturity "kicked in" when Simpson came to middle age. He is a good writer and certainly a brave, if often foolhardy, person. Those of us who don't need that adrenalin rush to advance through life really cannot understand what drives a person such as Joe Simpson. Simpson himself hit the nail on the head when he spoke, often in his book, of selfishness being a motivating force. I'm just glad he lived to grow up and find a modicum of caution in his later life.
May 23, 2022
Not my first book by Joe Simpson and a long way from being my first climbing book. However for me this is one of the best I've read. Driven climbers tend to be a little "difficult" at best. In the early part of this - a first part of his autobiography - it's fair to say that Joe Simpson is somewhat arrogant and lives life as dangerously as he can (I'm talking about from the age of 5 or less!!). It's maybe not that appealing but it is readable. As time and major accidents go by the book becomes far more reflective. In that respect it felt unusual compared to many of the climbing books I've read.
It's a book that really does look at the "why" of climbing probably better than any of the other ones I've read. It is dark, poetic at times and really quite philosophical too. It is extremely honest as well - brutally so at times. I'd suggest any interested in going beyond the nuts, bolts and dramas of climbing might find this interesting. Maybe not quite 5 star but it's one of the best climbing books I've read. I've got his next one so will get to that sometime.
It's a book that really does look at the "why" of climbing probably better than any of the other ones I've read. It is dark, poetic at times and really quite philosophical too. It is extremely honest as well - brutally so at times. I'd suggest any interested in going beyond the nuts, bolts and dramas of climbing might find this interesting. Maybe not quite 5 star but it's one of the best climbing books I've read. I've got his next one so will get to that sometime.
November 14, 2016
Vivid, well-balanced autobiography
Joe Simpson is one of the few mountaineering authors who writes in a way that can be equally appealing to audiences of climbers and non-climbers. His accounts of his climbs are packed with vivid imagery, and he doesn't get bogged down in the mundane technical details (ie he explains the specifics of a piece of equipment or a belay system only when it's pertinent to the story).
'This Game of Ghosts' is an account of various climbs and other experiences throughout Simpson's life and how they shaped his view of the sport and the world. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone into mountaineering or any other "adventure sport."
Joe Simpson is one of the few mountaineering authors who writes in a way that can be equally appealing to audiences of climbers and non-climbers. His accounts of his climbs are packed with vivid imagery, and he doesn't get bogged down in the mundane technical details (ie he explains the specifics of a piece of equipment or a belay system only when it's pertinent to the story).
'This Game of Ghosts' is an account of various climbs and other experiences throughout Simpson's life and how they shaped his view of the sport and the world. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone into mountaineering or any other "adventure sport."
September 24, 2025
Joe had a lot of luck, some good and some bad. He seemed to have a knac of getting into trouble (something to do with his life style) and the luck to get out of it. He caused a lot of time ,costs and trouble to those who had to get him out what ever he had got into. He in modern terms he is a content provider. My copy is signed, I got it at a meet Joe night in the Hallamshire Hospital maybe it was doctor Kay who introduced him.
Reading the book again I realised that while Toutching the Void is a classic story and deserves all the accolades it recieved, the rest of his story is bigged up and not really a story its just what happens in life if you go out of the door.
Reading the book again I realised that while Toutching the Void is a classic story and deserves all the accolades it recieved, the rest of his story is bigged up and not really a story its just what happens in life if you go out of the door.
May 3, 2020
I really love how much of himself Joe Simpson puts into this book. The reflection of his former character, and recognition of how this evolved through his life experiences was fascinating. It was also interesting to hear his and other climbers perspectives on the ever present shadow of death and made me remember this quote... "Death I discovered that day is not frightening, because it is utterly still. And it is still because death, when it comes is always over. There is only terror in it if you fear it." - Michael Morpurgo, Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea
May 13, 2020
Another introspective, brooding memoir from Joe Simpson, of “Touching the Void” fame.
It’s astounding that Mr. Simpson is able to churn out book after book that balance content and pontification so ably, but here we are.
To follow Mr. Simpson on his musings is to take a frank, at times bleak look at the mountaineering life, and its ethical implications.
Eminently readable, engaging, and filled with dark humor as always.
It’s astounding that Mr. Simpson is able to churn out book after book that balance content and pontification so ably, but here we are.
To follow Mr. Simpson on his musings is to take a frank, at times bleak look at the mountaineering life, and its ethical implications.
Eminently readable, engaging, and filled with dark humor as always.
March 24, 2019
Primo libro che ho letto di questo autore, e che mi ha portato poi a leggerne altri.
Sicuramente Simpson ha una capacità descrittiva eccezionale e racconta le storie in un modo tale che il lettore ne è osservatore e partecipe al tempo stesso.
Storie di montagna e di un alpinismo che forse non c'è più.
Sicuramente Simpson ha una capacità descrittiva eccezionale e racconta le storie in un modo tale che il lettore ne è osservatore e partecipe al tempo stesso.
Storie di montagna e di un alpinismo che forse non c'è più.
May 27, 2024
A powerful quasi-autobiography rather than a sequel to Touching the Void. Having read the latter, I had very little idea about the man himself. This reveals all. An impressive book which attempts to explain what drives people like him to do what he does. The final part is quite harrowing, taking us effectively back to where the book started...
April 26, 2020
Excellent read
This book is a must read for anyone who is in awe of the mountains and the people who choose to adventure in them. It relates, as well, to leading our lives on the flat ground. You will enjoy Joe Simpson's book.
This book is a must read for anyone who is in awe of the mountains and the people who choose to adventure in them. It relates, as well, to leading our lives on the flat ground. You will enjoy Joe Simpson's book.
July 22, 2020
While this is noted as a sequel to Touching the Void, it really is a self sole-searching book of why one person chooses to follow a path in life. I am thankful that it took me just 3 days to read; it made me very melancholy; not depressed, just a bit sad.
January 12, 2025
Numerous dates with potential disaster makes you wonder what the impelling drive to keep climbing is. Seems climbers are fuelled with vast amounts of beer and desire. I found this a bit hard to read at times, but it did give an interesting insight into the authors life.
January 2, 2026
I found this book in a stack of unread books. It was a gift from my parents - Christmas ‘95 according to the inscription. We had all loved the author’s book “Touching the Void”, but this was depressing as it focused on climbing expeditions gone terribly wrong.
January 11, 2019
This is a favorite author so far.
July 12, 2021
Brill.
December 7, 2021
Helps the reader to get into the mind of a high mountain climber.
February 23, 2023
More Joe
July 16, 2023
Interesting to read about how people accept their lives no matter how dangerous it is.
December 13, 2024
Some interesting chapters, some less interesting ones.
to-buy
January 16, 2025Read touching the void
February 1, 2024
A very good book. Unlike the narrative in Touching the Void, this was more a collection of stories collated together. This gave the book a feel of sitting opposite a friend while they tell anecdotes from a recent holiday, which I enjoyed. Only loses a star for - as the name suggests - the sadness of some of the stories involved.
March 17, 2016
We know Joe Simpson as indomitable survivor in Touching the Void, which rightfully ranks as one of the greatest adventure stories of all times in addition to its resiliency value as an incredible self-rescue in mountaineering. That book, a bestseller not just with adventure junkies, introduced Simpson as a confident and unflinching writer, despite the struggles of it being his debut. Touching the Void featured crisp prose, polished syntax, a well-constructed narrative with bits of humor to enliven its overall gloomy mood, and, perhaps most importantly, the author's total honesty in sharing his harrowing ordeal with the world. I found all those qualities and more in This Game of Ghosts, which Simpson wrote for additional context on his life before and after Siula Grande.
Many descriptions call This Game of Ghosts a sequel, but that label is misguided. It is not simply a follow-up to the events that happened in Peru in 1985, though it begins with them and, later on, explains how completely life-altering those desperate days in the Andes turned out to be. Instead, the book gives a fuller picture of Joe Simpson the human being, not just the Joe Simpson the climber. While he makes it clear that climbing defined his path in life and shaped him as an individual, the author does not shy away from sharing with the readers deeply personal stories from his childhood, where his role as the youngest in a large and disorganized family set the foundation for the strong-headed and fiercely self-reliant man he would later become.
The experiences while growing up drove Simpson to assert his independence in all aspects of his adult life, eventually finding an outlet for his energy in climbing - and not just at the local crag, but in taking on the hardest routes across the world without a moment's hesitation. Gifted with a natural ability to scale mountains, Simpson describes in vivid detail the incredible risks he subjected himself to during his mountaineering career, many of which should have long left him dead. In particular, three major incidents, an avalanche and a stranding in the Alps early on, along with a massive fall in the Himalayas late in his career, combine with the famous crevasse drop in the Andes to amaze us at how lucky Simpson got, and live to tell us about it.
These harrowing stories are more than page-turners - they are 'gulpers', as one cannot help but helplessly gulp at the game of random chance that climbing is. The mountains do not seek to take human lives, they are indifferent to our fears or desires, and thus those who venture into their domain must understand that perishing is the result of human error or the unfortunate 'wrong place, wrong time' condition. From this perspective, Joe Simpson's astonishing survival not once, but FOUR times in what are certain death scenarios, serves as food for thought on the randomness of life. Oh, and Simpson also walked away from a car accident in Britain.
Ultimately, this memoir is about Simpson's struggle to come to terms with his still being alive while having many of his friends and fellow climbers perished, sometimes in circumstances beyond their control (like plane crashes). In a way, the book is about Simpson overcoming survivor's guilt, even though he was not physically present when most of the deaths happened, and finding justification through resignation and acceptance. And while the price of his own survival was steep (significant fractures in both legs effectively ending any dreams of elite climbing), Simpson found a reason to keep moving despite the ghosts of others multiplying and coalescing into an ever-present reminder that perhaps life is really just a sequence of haphazard events, most innocuous but some lethal, and that an in-the-moment, thrilling existence will have the same result as a well-ordered, minimal risk one.
This Game of Ghosts is well worth the read. Despite its overall dark theme, it is an excellent rendition of the English language without being pretentious. It features some hilarious sections, like the climbing bum period in France and the surreal drive on the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan, both of which were written with such fine deadpan humor, that I was laughing myself silly. And it is an honor to highlight it as one of the better contributions to the canon of mountaineering literature, from one of the best writers in the genre. Thanks Joe for sharing your stories with us.
Many descriptions call This Game of Ghosts a sequel, but that label is misguided. It is not simply a follow-up to the events that happened in Peru in 1985, though it begins with them and, later on, explains how completely life-altering those desperate days in the Andes turned out to be. Instead, the book gives a fuller picture of Joe Simpson the human being, not just the Joe Simpson the climber. While he makes it clear that climbing defined his path in life and shaped him as an individual, the author does not shy away from sharing with the readers deeply personal stories from his childhood, where his role as the youngest in a large and disorganized family set the foundation for the strong-headed and fiercely self-reliant man he would later become.
The experiences while growing up drove Simpson to assert his independence in all aspects of his adult life, eventually finding an outlet for his energy in climbing - and not just at the local crag, but in taking on the hardest routes across the world without a moment's hesitation. Gifted with a natural ability to scale mountains, Simpson describes in vivid detail the incredible risks he subjected himself to during his mountaineering career, many of which should have long left him dead. In particular, three major incidents, an avalanche and a stranding in the Alps early on, along with a massive fall in the Himalayas late in his career, combine with the famous crevasse drop in the Andes to amaze us at how lucky Simpson got, and live to tell us about it.
These harrowing stories are more than page-turners - they are 'gulpers', as one cannot help but helplessly gulp at the game of random chance that climbing is. The mountains do not seek to take human lives, they are indifferent to our fears or desires, and thus those who venture into their domain must understand that perishing is the result of human error or the unfortunate 'wrong place, wrong time' condition. From this perspective, Joe Simpson's astonishing survival not once, but FOUR times in what are certain death scenarios, serves as food for thought on the randomness of life. Oh, and Simpson also walked away from a car accident in Britain.
Ultimately, this memoir is about Simpson's struggle to come to terms with his still being alive while having many of his friends and fellow climbers perished, sometimes in circumstances beyond their control (like plane crashes). In a way, the book is about Simpson overcoming survivor's guilt, even though he was not physically present when most of the deaths happened, and finding justification through resignation and acceptance. And while the price of his own survival was steep (significant fractures in both legs effectively ending any dreams of elite climbing), Simpson found a reason to keep moving despite the ghosts of others multiplying and coalescing into an ever-present reminder that perhaps life is really just a sequence of haphazard events, most innocuous but some lethal, and that an in-the-moment, thrilling existence will have the same result as a well-ordered, minimal risk one.
This Game of Ghosts is well worth the read. Despite its overall dark theme, it is an excellent rendition of the English language without being pretentious. It features some hilarious sections, like the climbing bum period in France and the surreal drive on the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan, both of which were written with such fine deadpan humor, that I was laughing myself silly. And it is an honor to highlight it as one of the better contributions to the canon of mountaineering literature, from one of the best writers in the genre. Thanks Joe for sharing your stories with us.
March 7, 2017
An interesting book. Although I didn't understand some of the climbing terms it still managed to enthral me. It was a somewhat philosophical book and the message that came across was that most climbers were obsessed by climbing and really only became alive when on the mountains.
October 21, 2022
This Game of Ghost provides some context for the events in Touching the Void, but is very much about Simpson's early climbing career both before and after the accident on Siula Grande.
Simpson is a great writer, and did a great job going through the different stages of his personal journey as a climber, from someone who wanted to climb the most impressive mountains to having a more mature appreciation. The more philosophical aspect to his relationship with climbing is very interesting as well, and I really respect his ability to put such grand thoughts in a way that feels tangible, and relevant.
Simpson is a great writer, and did a great job going through the different stages of his personal journey as a climber, from someone who wanted to climb the most impressive mountains to having a more mature appreciation. The more philosophical aspect to his relationship with climbing is very interesting as well, and I really respect his ability to put such grand thoughts in a way that feels tangible, and relevant.
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