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Against the Wall (Paperback)

by Simon Yates (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (1 Jan 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099766418
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099766414
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 98,735 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #56 in  Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Climbing & Mountaineering > Mountaineering History & Biography

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Product Description

Product Description

Simon Yates is the man who cut the rope in Joe Simpson's award-winning account of their struggle for survival in "Touching the Void". In this book, Yates recounts how he and three companions climbed the world's largest vertical rock-face, in the Chilean Andes.


From the Back Cover

Simon Yates is 'the one who cut the rope' in Joe Simpson's award-winning account of their epic struggle for survival in Touching the Void. Afterwards, Yates continued mountaineering on the hardest routes. Perhaps the most testing of all was one of the world's largest vertical rockfaces, the 4, 000-ft East Face of the Central Tower of Paine in Chile. Battered by ferocious storms and almost crippled with fear just below the summit, Yates and his three companions are forced into a nightmare retreat. After resting in a nearby town, they return to complete the climb, but Yates knows he still has to face one of life's greatest challenges...
'In recent years, self-examination has lined up with crampons, belays and jumaring as a standard component of mountaineering literature. Against the Wall is a beguiling mix of all these things, blended with honesty in a workmanlike, solid prose style. It is an engaging book, both the story of another great climb and a wistful acknowledgement that nothing, in any area of our lives, is ever quite what it seems' Sara Wheeler, Literary Review
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars High Anxiety, 23 Feb 2002
By J. Mcgregor "jiy126" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
I wasn't too sure about this book in the beginning as I began to suspect that Simon had been on some sort of writing course before it. He writes in quite short sentences. Almost keeping it simple and manageable. Being careful not to drift from the point. Once I got into the story, however, I forgot about the style and in the end I felt I had more of an idea into how these types of vertical wall climbs are conducted. Simon is quite frank about his own vulnerability, describing how he retches with fear over some of the dangerous moves he has to commit to on the climb. This vulnerability increases as the expedition extends, and I enjoyed his introspection and conclusion that his addiction has to be kept in balance before it kills him. There's no romance in it - like anything else out of balance, it can seriously detract from your life as you lose friends, roots, family and eventually identity. The writing becomes tinged with disappointment and depression in this search for understanding, but he comes through it and is uplifted in the end.
This is not a typical climbing book, but I found it to be a more balanced account of the climber, what he does and why he has chosen to do it than many others.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This book should be on any would be mountaineers list, 22 May 2000
Simon Yates, The man who cut the rope, Knows better than anyone the difficult decisions one must be prepared to make in order to survive on the remotest of mountain ranges.One of the most difficult decisions to make can be the most straight forward of all Do I want to do this? . Simon is the only author to my knowledge who has posed this question in print, yet probably it is the secret question that every climber asks him/herself when faced with the task they have set themselves ( or been pursuaded into). To go or not to go ? After perhaps weeks if not months of preparation, simply to have doubts on a route and question the reason for, takes an extraordinary amount of inner strength. Simon Yates eloquently relates his thoughts into text and any climber or would be expedition member will benefit from reading this book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking..., 14 Jul 2007
By J. K. Eady (Somerset, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Simon's description of his attempt to summit the Central Tower of Paine in Patagonia was slightly disappointing to me in its lack of emotional description. He does describe the technical difficulties of climbing a vertical rock face very well, enabling readers to envisage just what an enormous undertaking this is. As I read the book through, I felt I was always waiting for something more from Simon, but it never really happened. He writes well how he comes to realise that climbing the summit is not worth risking his life for, but this also makes the book ending slightly flat. I have read far better written mountaineering / adventure books.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Mountaineering in the Mind
Simon Yates is likely never to escape from his role in the "Touching the Void" saga, being the "one who cut the rope". Read more
Published 2 months ago by SCM

5.0 out of 5 stars First class adventure writing!
Remember when you read this that it is Yates's first book. And it is an absolute cracker - unputdownable! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Daniel Oakman

3.0 out of 5 stars Climbing ok, but could do without the self-analysis
Having recently seen Into The Void, I snapped this book up during a recent visit to the charity shop. Read more
Published 20 months ago by paulzwo

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping  Well written a must read!
I really enjoyed this book, I am a non-climber and could not put the book down, so much so I have since visited a seminar which proved that Simon is as good at public speaking as... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2005 by mstruck2

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping  Well written a must read!
I really enjoyed this book, I am a non-climber and could not put the book down, so much so I have since visited a seminar which proved that Simon is as good at public speaking as... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2005 by mstruck2

4.0 out of 5 stars A very easy to read book, a captivating story.
I am a poor reader and usually find it difficult to get into a book but from start to finish 'Against the wall' by Simon Yates was believable, easy to relate to and exiting story... Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent narrative - a rollercoaster of emotions!
Very well written book that really brings the emotions of this sport vividly to life. A great read for climbers and non-climbers alike.
Published on 29 Jan 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent on the climb itself; introspection can be trying
This is a great book if you've ever been the vaguest bit interested in the outdoors. The climbing sequences are superb. It falls down on two points. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good
Simon Yates writes well. This book is full of caractor and excitement. You get a taste of his writing in 'Touching the Void' There is an epilouge where simon explains his... Read more
Published on 19 Jul 1999

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