The Totem Pole: And a Whole New Adventure

By Paul Pritchard

Book Overview

* Winner of the 1999 Banff Mountain Book Festival Grand Prize * Gripping mountaineering literature and inspirational, true-life drama * Chronicles one athlete's struggle to give up the sport that defined his existence After winning the 1997 Boardman Tasker Award for his first book, Deep Play, climber Paul Pritchard used the prize money to kick off a world climbing tour in Tasmania, on a slender sea stack called the Totem Pole. However, a chance rockfall inflicted such terrible head injuries that Pritchard spent the next year in and out of hospitals, relearning basic thinking processes and muscle movements. This insightful, firsthand chronicle of the accident and its aftermath portrays the physical and emotional ordeal of Pritchard's recovery. He weaves together accounts of earlier climbs, his changed relationships with family and friends and his girlfriend, Celia, and details about the rescue operation itself. And with an unpitying voice, Pritchard describes his return to the accident scene with a film crew to watch some of his friends complete the climb that changed his life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898866960
• ISBN13: 9780898866964
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Another kind of climbing

Words like "spellbinding" are thrown around too often, but I truly could not put this book down. It is a rare chance to visit inside the experience of a person with a brain injury, and inside the experience of rehab. Fortunately for the reader, the writer is a man of rare courage and humor, and the trip, while painful, is ...well, spellbinding. The writing is a little bit uneven, but don't let that stop you. The story is the thing, and he tells it well.

Highly recommended, inspiring reading.

The Totem Pole is an heroic tale of the human spirit in overcoming horrific trauma, told with complete candor, considerable insight, and an ultimate triumphal joy. The Totem Pole is highly recommended, inspiring reading.

One more step on the rehabilitation road

This is the story of a man who was at the pinnacle of his career in the morning, and in the afternoon was lapsing in and out of consciousness, fighting for his life on a sea-swept ledge on a remote Tasmanian sea stack. The account follows the events of that Friday 13th an subsequent memories of the Tasmanian hospital, journey home, and painful experiences during rehabilitation in Clatterbridge.The whole story ebbs and flows wildly with emotion, and you can only wonder at Pritchard's strength of character, and marvel at his ability to tell his story in such a clear manner.See also (...)for further details of Pritchard's experiences.

a first-rate read

Although it follows his award-winning work, Deep Play, it cannot be described as a sequel. The Totem Pole is an account of a singular event in the author's life: a climbing accident in Australia that resulted in brain damage and partial paralysis. His rehabilitation is marked by the frightening uncertainty of how much (or how little) progress he will make. Climbing had been the essence of his life, and now no one can tell him if and when he will ever climb again.For an early dropout from school (at his father's urging), Pritchard has an amazing writing talent. "Deep Play" showed signs of his ability, but "The Totem Pole" brings Pritchard's talent to full flower.The only disappointment in the book is the middle section, where he switches from his narrative to a transcription of a taped diary made during his rehabilitation. The transcripts are a noticeable dropoff in the writing, but help reveal the inspired level with which the book begins and ends.A standout in the genre of climbing books, Joe Simpson fans will not be disappointed.