Nick Bullock seeks adventure

and finds some great tales with interesting introspection.
At times a little disconnected in 5 minutes he moves through time and space.
Llanberis to Nepal to a canal boat to Chamonix, you have to leap with him then it is a great listen.
Recommended.

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Very enjoyable

Very good listern, Nick has a skill for narrating in a poetic sort of way.

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A bit dreary, but not in a bad way

Story is v good, interesting and evocative. A lot of emotion and self doubt/criticism throughout the book, interesting to hear it read by the author, I had read his first book and didn't pick up on the emotions as much as hearing it read. Audio quality was good, but only sometimes was a tad unclear.

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Who gave Nick a microphone?!

Another good book from a fascinating climber, but he should be forced to have someone else read them!

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inspiring

as a climber stuck in a dead end job, never have I felt the pull of the mountains stronger than in sharing this author's story .. I now have to finish a shift knowing all I want to do is get in my own van, and pull into that little lay by under Tryfan to begin my own journey .. thanks for sharing your tale

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Thoughtful, exciting and poetic

This is a real climbing book. There are so many trashy ghost-written or just plain boring climbing books. Tides is more like Messner or Boardman. It’s an instant classic.

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A fascinating memoir of life in the mountains.

‘Tides’ picks up where Nick Bullock’s debut ‘Echoes’ left off, with Bullock leaving his career in the prison service to pursue a life of climbing out of a small van.

‘Tides’ found me during my own time of upheaval. Moving house and changing job in the same month, my first dip into the world of audiobooks provided my partner and I with a welcome soundtrack as we dismantled our life and prepared to start a new one in the north of England. Nick’s lyrical prose lulled us along the M62 as we ferried our belongings between houses, his northern twang recalling with stark clarity the ups and downs of an impressive career in the mountains.

This is a memoir with many faces, rattling from Chamonix in the French Alps to the peaks of the Himalaya and back to the UK. Bullock shifts between the years with each chapter, detailing impressive ascents of routes in Alaska, Canada and Scotland. His accomplishments are numerous, with many first ascents of Himalayan peaks and a Piolet d’Or to his name.

A logbook of ticks and accents though, this memoir is not. Bullock deals with all aspects of climbing: the challenges of balancing serious mountaineering with personal relationships, the ache of loss experienced when risks become consequences in the mountains, the sting of loneliness on the road, the longing for connection and its discovery in the most remarkable of places.

Nick captures the seduction of the mountains and the liberating unpredictability of life outside of your comfort zone. He describes the visceral fear of running out of time and grapples with questions of risk, selfishness and freedom. The snapshots of the quieter moments spent in his van give a fascinating insight into Bullock’s mind; a single raindrop falling from the roof of his van precedes the question ‘is there such a thing as to live too long?’

‘Tides’ is a brilliant, incredibly honest and personal insight into a life devoted to climbing – its joys and its discontents as rhythmic as the tides. Bullock’s reflections on life in the mountains often had me searching for a pencil in our moving boxes to scribble excerpts in a notebook, or interrupting my partner as we packed our life away and forcing him to listen to whole paragraphs. A rich and energetic celebration of non-conformity and the pursuit of passion, ‘Tides’, describes a life lived with intent, affirming ‘at whatever level, at whatever frailty, life has to be worth living’.

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More than the story of the life of a climber

Well written insight into the trials and tribulations of the life of a climber. To my surprise, it was a series of stories that jumped through different periods of Bullock's life from when he left his job in the prison service to living in his van which I really enjoyed.

A thoroughly enjoyable listen. I would look elsewhere however if looking for something solely focused on climbing, as this book focuses a lot on the difficulties of maintaining relationships while being a full time climber.

4/5 ☆☆☆☆

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Epic, emotional, and inspiring!

Tides is a gripping listen! It tells the story of Nick Bullock as he transitions from working in a prison to following his passion and becoming a climber full time. Bullock delves deep into the world of climbing in a raw and meaningful way, detailing his adventures and telling of what it means dedicate your life to this sport. This is a brutally honest and very personal account which illustrates the highs and lows, risks and rewards, and at many points turns inward to explore the psychological struggles one can face when embarking on a bold and unpredictable lifestyle such as this. Inspirational, emotional, and interspersed with humour: an all-round enjoyable and enlightening read.

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2 people found this helpful

Go climbing with the Hippy!

Thought provoking, inspiring and extremely well written /narrated. You don't have to be a climber to appreciate this book.

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