Post by jetjackson on Oct 10, 2018 6:57:41 GMT -7
Just finished reading the book. Warning, somewhat spoilers ahead.
Having read climbing auto-biographies, it was a smart decision to use Niall Grimes as a ghost writer - the quality of the writing was excellent, and made the book an easy and enjoyable read. Contrast this with the Andy Pollitt auto-biography, which is more ‘stream of consciousness’ and uses a lot of British slang, making it a tough read.
As a ‘performance oriented’ climber, I enjoyed learning about Jerry’s experience, and gaining a better understanding of British climbing history through the 80s and 90s. The conditions he lived through just to climb when he finished school, his level of dedication, and how he leveraged his climbing to success in other aspects of his life, is inspiring. I got the impression that he was really pushing the scene in the UK beyond just being one of the best climbers at the time, but also bucking the local UK climbing scene, and ‘going his own way’, so to speak.
Having said that, at times the book does come across as apart from his elbow tendon issues, and one lost competition, there was really not a lot of other description of struggle or failure. The story telling of each climb became a bit monotonous, a description of the route, Jerry tries hard, maybe there is a deadline, and then he sends. This approach just means that you’re not left in suspense at all after the first couple of chapters, when you realize that pretty much any climb that is talked about, Jerry is going to send. This leaves me with the overall impression that this is a very glossy view of Moffat’s career, which is capped off when he discusses his post climbing investment successes at the end of the book.
Still, a great read, but as per the other comments, I want to read a few other books, such as Ben Moon’s to get a bit more flavor for British climbing during that era, and perhaps some alternate perspectives on Jerry’s career.
As for my original comments - I can understand why Jerry did not want to continue climbing. Which I can't relate to entirely, but going back to my original comment - I think life can be swings and roundabouts - some of us do the career first and other things later - for me, climbing is the 'other things' that I'm doing later. Maybe I'll retire from my career early and move to Buoux and try and send Le Minimum for my max lifetime grade - I'll never be the best climber in the world, but that's okay
Having read climbing auto-biographies, it was a smart decision to use Niall Grimes as a ghost writer - the quality of the writing was excellent, and made the book an easy and enjoyable read. Contrast this with the Andy Pollitt auto-biography, which is more ‘stream of consciousness’ and uses a lot of British slang, making it a tough read.
As a ‘performance oriented’ climber, I enjoyed learning about Jerry’s experience, and gaining a better understanding of British climbing history through the 80s and 90s. The conditions he lived through just to climb when he finished school, his level of dedication, and how he leveraged his climbing to success in other aspects of his life, is inspiring. I got the impression that he was really pushing the scene in the UK beyond just being one of the best climbers at the time, but also bucking the local UK climbing scene, and ‘going his own way’, so to speak.
Having said that, at times the book does come across as apart from his elbow tendon issues, and one lost competition, there was really not a lot of other description of struggle or failure. The story telling of each climb became a bit monotonous, a description of the route, Jerry tries hard, maybe there is a deadline, and then he sends. This approach just means that you’re not left in suspense at all after the first couple of chapters, when you realize that pretty much any climb that is talked about, Jerry is going to send. This leaves me with the overall impression that this is a very glossy view of Moffat’s career, which is capped off when he discusses his post climbing investment successes at the end of the book.
Still, a great read, but as per the other comments, I want to read a few other books, such as Ben Moon’s to get a bit more flavor for British climbing during that era, and perhaps some alternate perspectives on Jerry’s career.
As for my original comments - I can understand why Jerry did not want to continue climbing. Which I can't relate to entirely, but going back to my original comment - I think life can be swings and roundabouts - some of us do the career first and other things later - for me, climbing is the 'other things' that I'm doing later. Maybe I'll retire from my career early and move to Buoux and try and send Le Minimum for my max lifetime grade - I'll never be the best climber in the world, but that's okay