Crevasse Wanker vs. Snotty Students

[Hugh Conway]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/24/mountaineer-joe-simpson-twitter-row

 

 

Even the most successful authors have to suffer the occasional fit of spite from critics and readers. Few, however, have to contend with the twin indignities of being branded a "crevasse wanker" and having their accounts of preternatural mountain endurance rubbished by sulky teens.

 

Fortunately, as befits a man who has outshuffled the Grim Reaper in both the Andes and the Himalayas – and who chose an automated alcohol dispenser as his luxury on Desert Island Discs so that he could drink himself to death rather than endure a protracted insular exile – Joe Simpson is not the sort to sulk.

 

 

Best though is from his twitter:

Ha ha RT @oliverburkeman: But let's just admit now that "Crevasse Wanker" would indeed have been a better title for @TouchingTheVoiD

http://twitter.com/#!/touchingthevoidhttp://twitter.com/#!/touchingthevoid

[glassgowkiss]

we should send Hobbik to peru- a new book for sure. He is not a crevasse wanker, he is just a wanker.

[Pete_H]

If nothing else, the British are definitly entertaining.

[rob]

I wish I could get away with saying things like, "I don't give a toss"

[JasonG]

I liked this part:

 

Still, he mused, there was an odd irony to the situation – albeit one that was probably lost on his critics. "I've never had children; I made it specifically impossible to have children – and I'm being hassled by children," he said. "Maybe it serves me right."

 

It is funny what the young 'uns get worked up over. The older I get the more I realize that "nothing matters" (to quote Paul Theroux), most especially school exams.

[rob]

I love it when non-english speakers say things like, "you are a stupid!"

[Off_White]

Joe Simpson is kinda like Chuck Norris with crampons, I'd doubt such a bunch of toffee nosed malodorous perverts could get him worked up.

[glassgowkiss]

The truth is ( and I did read all 3 of his books) that the guy is not safe, and seems to me gets in a lot of trouble. Having not one, but three or four serious accidents would not make me want to tie in on one rope with it. It's kind of strange he is still alive, but as a climber it makes him kind of a wanker nevertheless.

[Pete_H]

I'm not sure why the kids were all worked up about having to read his book though. Seems to me it would be a lot easier to write an essay about Touching the Void than Moby Dick or some shit like that. Maybe they're pissed because its harder to find critical essays about Simpsons work on the internet than Keats and Melville.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I'm not sure why the kids were all worked up about having to read his book though. Seems to me it would be a lot easier to write an essay about Touching the Void than Moby Dick or some shit like that. Maybe they're pissed because its harder to find critical essays about Simpsons work on the internet than Keats and Melville.

 

Melville rules!