We were phoned today by one of the many well-wishers who keep us informed. They had seen online a post — please refer here to the estimable blog To Hatch a Crow* (whose editor seems always to have his finger on the pulse!) — which they thought might be of interest: and indeed, so it was. We contacted him, the author of the critical piece: ‘Touching the Void — When Writers Lose the Plot!’, which he had posted on the 10/07/2018. Very kindly he gave us permission to quote him and we will do so, but to begin with we would like to give something of the background.

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On the 24/04/2005 ‘Llywarch’ posted his review on Amazon of Joe Simpson’s extraordinary book Touching the Void. (It was one of 370 reviews with a showing of 4.5 out of 5 stars.) He gave it a paltry two stars and short shrift. There followed two comments — although strangely they were posted later, in 2014, after a gap of nine years. Here is ‘Llywarch’s’ (JP?) review (with his favoured ‘psychology’):

‘Interesting subliminal basis behind all the hype: the severed cord, the struggle out of the crevasse, the crying in the night, the welcoming arms at the end of the long struggle. But please, doesn’t all that crawling — and our identification with it — infantilise us just a little? As for Simpson’s other titles, when can we anticipate the Deep Gloom Lifting?’ Continue reading →

Reading the heartfelt post which Dr Duff recently contributed has brought into even sharper focus Jim Perrin’s distasteful behaviour.

At the beginning of their relationship, when she trusted him, doubtless Jac would have confided in him, and thus he was able to acquire his knowledge of her past love and their lost child. ‘Knowledge is Power’, and we have been told by others how adept Jim Perrin was at discovering their secrets… But to make public that traumatic period in our sister’s life was a mean betrayal of her deepest confidences, and that he should have written of this highly personal matter in West, when she had died — and in the exaggerated and melodramatic way that he did — was nothing less than repellent self-interest. Possibly he thought it added spice to the book…

It was not Jim Perrin’s place to reveal something which had been so guarded and so private; it was not his story to tell. For him to have done so is yet another example of his self-aggrandisement. Continue reading →

Let me introduce myself, I’m a retired doctor (GP) and a mountaineer. As a climbing doctor I took part in, or led, several Himalayan expeditions including two new routes on Mount Everest (first British ascent in 1975, first Australian ascent 1984). I’ve spent four decades working, teaching and volunteering in Nepal and started the IPPG (International Porter Protection Group), a charity that works for the safety of mountain porters.

I find it exquisitely personal and painful to write what follows. That it’s taken me so long to do so is unforgiveable and I offer my sincere apologies to Jac’s sisters and friends.

That I have to write the following is a serious indictment of Perrin’s judgement and character in writing “West”, at least around the events concerning his relationship with Jac, and a testament to the pain and grief he has caused many good people.

Continue reading →