by Joe Simpson
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Product Description
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.
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.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 The Psychology of Adventurism, 2007-10-09
Joe Simpson has a talent for describing his mountaineering adventures, best captured in the fascinating Touching the Void. As Ghosts shows, however, he's perhaps even more adept at writing about adrenaline and danger in general. The book is a loosely-organized, chronological narrative of biographical events (too non-linear to be considered a true biography) and essays on the psychology of risk.
The non-climbing accounts are more varied and entertaining, and less wordily technical, than tales of rope lengths and crampons (especially tough without the glossary that Void provided- I couldn't tell belaying from abseiling if it hit me over the head with a piton). They include descriptions of a fight with professional thugs at a party in his native England; getting buried in an avalanche; a car wreck with friends, in surreal and slow-motion detail; a harrowing ride to a hike along the Silk Road (Pakistan/China) from a drug-addled, sleep deprived driver; and goofy thrills sought out of boredom between mountain adventures, like stealing food and sledding ski jumps on cafeteria trays. That much adventure doesn't occur without attendant injuries and near-death experiences, reports of which are detailed in rubbernecking detail. The story of Simpson's rescue, recovery, and hospital visit after the Siula Grande events which formed Touching the Void is a fascinating companion piece to that book.
Simpson strikes the right tone throughout Ghosts: objective enough to give the proper detail and perspective to his wonderful adventures, yet granting real insight into the often selfish and reckless thought processes of a thrill seeker. He recognizes the folly of his passions, and the high toll they have taken in the form of friends' lives. However, Simpson long ago learned to suppress fear and accept his risky choices, without rationalization or need to attribute any virtue to his acts other than gratitude for the amazing things he's seen and done. Readers are grateful he put pen to paper to chronicle them.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Another great book by Joe Simpson, 2007-09-18
Its amazing what Joe has been trough and lived to tell. This book is simply great for the mountaineer as well as non-climbers. Just get the book, you will not be disappointed.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Fear is the Key, 2003-08-01
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.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A thoroughly enjoyable read, 2000-10-14
Although the story is not as dramatic as his "Touching the Void", the writing style is better and Joe gives us an inside on his life and his climbing. He is honest and and paints a colourful portrait of his life and encouters with danger. His story includes a funny cast of climbers who share the same lifestyle and sport.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.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Good reading, 2000-06-30
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.
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