UKC

Tales of climbing and mountaineering adventures have long been written, read and shared; stories of fleeting moments of fear, survival epics and questing on peaks unconquered. Our rich heritage of mountain literature has inspired climbers and writers of today to continue documenting experiences in the outdoors; extractions from the quotidian that often encourage us to reflect on life.

Jim Perrin is one of the most prominent writers in British climbing. A double Boardman Tasker winner, Jim has a particular interest in the lives of others and the history of climbing and mountaineering. Natalie Berry sent Jim some questions to find out more about his reading and writing habits...

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In reply to UKC Articles:

Interesting read, bit surprised he granted you an interview given his views about uninformed krapulous comments in the past!

In reply to Andy Hardy:

How could he possibly resist Natalie? Anyway he'd probably quote Walt Whitman at us. 'Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes.)'

Glad to see Jim in such fine fettle, reminding us of all those weighty tomes we meant to read... but didn't!

Mick

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great stuff.
Whether it was writing about deserted Pembrokeshire beaches, the joys of gritstone, or sleeping out on the Arans in the rain, it was Perrin's writing that helped me decide what climbing was all about.

I always hear his "let them ever be so small..." line in a Winston Churchill voice. I sure he'd be very amused....

In reply to UKC Articles:

Good stuff. A fantastic writer himself - Menlove and The Villain are really vivid portraits, because they're about so much more than the individual "personality". Will take up some of his mountaineering book recommendations.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Good lord, Shipton looks like a yeti in that photograph. Do you think those whiskers just grow like that or happen by design?

Always entertaining to hear Jim P, of course. What's his line in the footnote of that essay on soloing the Street about the Lucan quotes in it -" I am not a learned person, nor do I wish to be considered as such", or something along those lines.

jcm

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

"erudite"

Steve (not)

In reply to UKC Articles:
A good article about a very versatile writer. He manages to cover a wide range of formats - critique, biography, essay, magazine article and one of my favourites of his work - Guardian Country Diary - always thought provoking and elegant.

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Well the Lucan quote is, 'Ridetque sui ludibria trunci' - 'and he laughs at the joke that is his body'. The footnote is from Horace - 'Dulce est desipere in loco' (in the CC centenary journal this is misprinted as disipere) - 'It's nice to play the fool sometimes'.

In reply to UKC Articles:

A continuing joy in language, and a pleasure to read.

T.

In reply to UKC Articles: whats his gripe with Robert Mcfarlane ?

In reply to Mark Lloyd:

From http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/06/death-naturalist-why-new-nature...

"observations made by another critic, Jim Perrin, a mountaineer and the author of a searing memoir entitled West: a Journey Through the Landscapes of Loss (2010). Perrin argues that new nature writing is quintessentially an urban literature with a primarily metropolitan audience. He suggests that for both author and reader, engagement with nature is an act of remembrance rather than a daily, lived experience. Given that most Britons now dwell in cities, one could argue that it is therefore a perfect literature for our times.

The person who has borne the brunt of the criticisms – and who is the target of Jamie’s [sic]passage quoted above – is the ­author credited with widening and popularising the genre. Robert Macfarlane bestrides the entire sphere: an establishment guru akin to Laurens van der Post in the 20th century or John Ruskin in the Victorian era"

Possibly hints at one reason?

In reply to UKC Articles:

Never straightforward, always worth listening to. I admire the strong vein of contrariness that always comes through when Perrin is interviewed. I grew up as a person and a climber reading his On the Rocks column and it's certainly had an influence on me although teasing that influence out is a difficult task. I have a big bundle of old mags with Perrin articles in them which I might need to revisit.

In reply to UKC Articles:

There is of course the other view of JP.

http://www.jacssisters.org/

In reply to ian caton:

As a younger man much as I really enjoyed his writing. Nowadays I, unfortunately, find it difficult to get past some of the less magnanimous parts of his character. The stuff with Jim Curran wasn't a high point.

In reply to Andy Hardy:

Re Robert MacFarlane's writing - well said Jim Perrin. For all its wide acclaim, I never got on with Mountains of the Mind: I found it rather jejune. Good to know that I'm not in a minority of one.

T.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:


There's at least three of us then.

In reply to ian caton:


Yes. I think think Perrin writes beautifully but I've come to the conclusion that he's not one to let the truth get in the way of a strong emotion.

As has been said of Donald Trump, he should be taken seriously, but not literally.

In reply to DaveHK:

At least four. There are just so much better books on the subject. E.g By Lunn and Noyce.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
Five.

We may approaching the required number to form a society.

In reply to Dave Garnett:
This isn't specifically directed at you,

there are two sides to every story and I'm not sure taking one side or the other, unless one has some inside knowledge, is a good idea and is certainly irrelevant to this article and to the contributions Jim has made to climbing lore over the decades. FWIW, I don't know him personally but have met him and communicate with him over FB a fair bit these days and he alway comes over as an engaged and thoughtful man with genuine cares rather than personal tubs to thump. Of course like the rest of us he must be more complex than that but unless one actually knows him, best to stand by the maxim of 'if you can't say anything good about someone, say nothing,' or something like that.

In reply to Removed UserDave Kerr:

In 'The Wild Places' Macfarlane wrote:

'gritstone, the conglomerate moraine thrown up by glaciers and then compacted over time into rock',

which will mean I'm never likely to take him entirely seriously. I do enjoy most of his travel/nature writing, but he has a habit of throwing lines like that in which make you doubt the whole thing.

It's worth digging into the UKC archives to read the bashing 'Mountains of the mind' got here at the time, and his rather unexpected appearance to defend it: https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=52494&v=1

Not sure when Perrin went off him as I seem to remember he was very impressed by the early stuff. It's Jim's stuff I keep by the bed for dipping into though; whatever his flaws his contribution has been immeasurable.

In reply to Adam Long:

Yes, I seem to remember him liking Mountains of the Mind (which I thought was a very overrated rehash of well worn material) but disliking later stuff (which I though was brilliant).

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:
At least five
read a little further, now six

In reply to Removed UserStuart en Écosse:

I once emailed Climber taking issue with something Jim had written in one of his columns and pointing out that he had said the opposite in a previous column. I got a very friendly email back from him a few days later. I suspect very few other writers would have bothered to reply and even fewer done it so nicely.
Easily one of the most acute writers on the outdoors for me despite the occasional preference for form over content.

In reply to Iain Thow:

Acute ... but sometimes obtuse?
Steve

In reply to Steve Clegg:

But definitely not square.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Wonderful how he trips out references to classics impress and seem to be well read while he slags off contemporary writers- (anything he might be afraid of-?) - like levels of true achievement and literary regard?
remarkable the degree to which he overwrites and over obsesses about himself.

For a true reading about this man- reading/ writing/ literature / just the stuff of getting through with other people - read jacssisters.org - no amount of obfuscation can conceal the truth esp towards the women he has been involved with.

In reply to ian caton:

You are so right. If only others read their site they might recognise the blinding truth.

In reply to Roe:

Genuine question: you seem to have just registered for the site and have posted twice on one thread to state a view about an individual.

Why? What's the back story here?

Like I said; genuine question and an attempt to understand, rather than something to let me subsequently disagree with you.

T.

In reply to Roe:

I liked the Don Whillans bio. I figure he has a writing style that floods the page so that you get the gist of things he does not say or even mean to say perhaps but the passion of his effort creates a few areas for you to work in too. Like I figure Don gets it very hard because a so called fighting come blameworthy figure landed on his much less troublemaking shoulders than he wanted due to the crowd making him seem and forever carry it.
Fewer fights are able to be accurately told about Don than could be for many people. He, Don, is genuiniely hurt at being left out at times. These things Jim Perrin writes but does not state, even contradicts as he marries the traditional image of fighting and that. I like that. Good stuff. Roll with it but write (right) with it.

In reply to UKC Articles:
Ian McEwan chooses to be unstomachable, it's his job. Jim Perrin you should get out more.

In reply to John H Bull:

Eh?