Your favourite 'outdoor' book?

There have been some great reads, from fictional 'Call of the Wild' type stuff to stirring acounts of exploration, adversity and adventure, from pamphlets to tomes.

So what's yours and why?

I know it might sound like a local book for local people but love Richard Mersey's 'The Hills of Cork and Kerry' (1987). I know the areas and walks he describes. I like the mix of raconteur/amateur historian/geolgist/cultural references and pop history he brings in. I like the whole approach he takes, no North Face gear for him, sensible shoes and a packet of fags and an orange brought him up most climbs. I like the whole carefree attitude that if night fell he would sleep under the nearest bush. Just a nice easy read of some of the countrys finest hikes.

dogmatix

By outdoor books I assume you mean anything remotely connected with the outdoors - including travel books?
1. Joss Lynams books - Easy and Leisure walks near Dublin.
2. The Eternal Frontier (Tim Flannery).
3. The Meadowlands (Robert Sullivan) - Never been to that part of the US but a very entertaining and informative read.
4. A walk in the woods (Bill Bryson).

Evil Phil

1. Storms of Silence - Joe Simpson. I love Simpson's style of building a message or story around his climbing experiences.
2. Learning to Breath - Andy Cave. Just a brilliant book about his adventure through life.
3. Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. The bible for all things mountainy.

Just as a side note, there's some guy playing golf on the course behind my house in a fecken thunder storm. Seriously, I can see the lightning strikes behind him. Unbelievable.

Whitehawk

Scouting for Boys: A Handbook for Instruction in Good Citizenship is the first book on the Scout Movement, published in 1908. It was written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell, its founder.

Might be cheating a bit, as it's an anthology rather than one story, but the Mammoth Book of On the Edge contains some of the better extracts from works on climbing, mountaineering and hiking.

http://www.books-express.co.uk/book/l9781845299248.jpg

Chapters from Herzog's Annapurna, Simpson's Touching the Void, Krakaeur's Into Thin Air, works by Mallory, Whymper, Messner, Harrer etc...and most wince inducing of all, the chapter in Ralston's Between a Rock and Hard Place where he decides the hand has to come off...

Slogger Jogger

Really enjoyed the Joe Simpson books. Read another 'Call of the Wild' book in recent years by Guy Grieve who spent a year living in isolation in Canada, building a house from the ground up in the process. Quite a good read.

SomeFool

keenan110

I loved Joe Simpson's "Touching The Void", really great story of survival!
I recently finished "The Man Who Cycled The World", by Mark Beaumont, which i really enjoyed, it's a great account of his journey.

Evil Phil

Not exactly Outdoors but I was given Pole to pole by Michael Palin when I was a teenager, it's given me a love of travel that works very well with the outdoors.

keenan110

The Dervla Murphhy books are great too, i suppose they are probably more 'Travel' books, but there is also a definite element of adventure in cycling from Ireland to India on your own!:)

SomeFool

Should stick this one in here too, it's a brilliant read from another remarkable character

fergalr

I have to say, I don't actually like a lot of the 'outdoor' books.

Instruction books with techniques and tips are wonderful.
I've read quite a few, but these two are great:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hill-Walking-Official-Handbook-Mountain/dp/0954151100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286748656&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Climbing-Essential-Skills-Techniques/dp/0954151119/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1286748662&sr=8-2


But books of outdoor 'stories' I often find badly written and boring. I don't know why, I think its because people are trying to turn what should be ideally written in 30 pages into 300 pages. I think a lot of outdoors people are also bad at conveying personalities and situations well.


I do really like this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Survival-Fittest-Understanding-Physical-Performance/dp/0099272598
I found it both entertaining and educational, and its got maybe 1 chapter per interesting story which is about the right length.

I recommend it, its a good read.

Evil Phil

I have to disagree, mountaineering has turned out an extraordinary amount of literature over the last couple of centuries. I find it astonishing that one sport has consistently produced such a high standard.

Crazy Taxi

I actually thought you meant "books for reading outdoors"! it gets right up my nose to see people (usually males in the 22-27yo group) walking along whilst reading a (usually large) tome, pretentious pr1cks, I pray they walk into fast moving traffic whilst reading said tome.

On the original subject, any of Michael Palin's "travel" stuff is fine by me.

fergalr

fergalr wrote: »

I have to say, I don't actually like a lot of the 'outdoor' books.

Instruction books with techniques and tips are wonderful.
I've read quite a few, but these two are great:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hill-Walking-Official-Handbook-Mountain/dp/0954151100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286748656&sr=8-1

Have one of these that's about 30 years old. Good stuff alright.

fergalr

Deleted User wrote: »

Have one of these that's about 30 years old. Good stuff alright.

I think this particular book is fairly recent - are you talking about the Eric Langmuir book that this the successor to? 'Mountaincraft and Leadership'?

Because I have 2 editions of that, one is recent and one is very old, which I picked up in a second hand book store, and both are excellent and worth having!

fergalr

fergalr wrote: »

I think this particular book is fairly recent - are you talking about the Eric Langmuir book that this the successor to? 'Mountaincraft and Leadership'?

That's the one. Lot of it is beyond my clambering and hillwalking needs though, but flick through it a fair bit.

dermCu

The Worst Journey In The World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard

The story of Scott's last Antarctic expedition. Its brutally honest with certain passages that will have the hairs on the back of your neck standing up!

"The worst journey in the world" part he refers to is not Scott's trek but his own trip with two others to collect Emperor penguin eggs - mid winter!! The temp got down to something crazy like -60c and the they got hit by a blizzard and lost their tent. The guy shivered so hard that he shattered some of his teeth. Cant argue with the title.

nompere

I've recently read "The Villain", Jim Perrin's biography of Don Whillans again. There was little enough about Whillans as a person to admire, and the author doesn't pull many punches. There's no doubt he was a wonderful mountaineer.

It's a terrific read, and there are some quite terrifying photographs.

CianRyan

I find this is great.
I generally have it in my dry bags on hikes/camping trips.

Some useful stuff in it and it's always a laugh to try out the shelter building and the likes of that.

http://www.amberbooks.co.uk/amber/?q=node/413&last=title

TheUsual

Ok, I admit to owning a GPS device on my phone but never really needing it in Ireland to save my life outdoors.

A year ago I heard this writer talking about his new book on Newstalk radio and I bought it as a result. It's a bit old school like looking for the Northern Star and what side of trees moss grows on but its good all the same.

"The Natural Navigatigator" by Tristan Gooley.

keenan110

keenan110 wrote: »

The Dervla Murphhy books are great too, i suppose they are probably more 'Travel' books, but there is also a definite element of adventure in cycling from Ireland to India on your own!:)

Thoroughly agree Keenan, -all of her books are great reads. Her autobiography is one of my favourites. She was (still is) a true adventurer and a great inspiration for solo women travellors. Pity she is such a recluse, -she never seems to give interviews or feature on chat shows.