Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival Book

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Book By: Joe Simpson

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Sales Rank: 872; Release Date: January, 2004; Media: Paperback

Customer Book Reviews
Average Rating: Rating: - Read this one Can you imagine trying to descend from the top of a twenty-one thousand foot peak in the Andes, with a broken leg? Touching The Void, a book written by Joe Simpson, is a harrowing first person account of one man's miraculous survival. Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, finally reached the top of a twenty-one thousand foot peak when Simpson plunged off a vertical ice edge and broke his leg. Touching the void has constant, breathtaking events as you are walked through Joe Simpson's journey. Each chapter is filled with obstacles that Simpson and his climbing partner must overcome. I recommend buying this book and finding out what happens; it's worth the money. Touching the void will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you're into action and suspense, this is a book for you. Rating: - The Bandwagon Rope-Trick This might not apply to American readers (or it may, I don't know) but there's a huge misconception in the UK as to what this book is about. I work in a bookshop and we're selling this by the dozen, which infuriates me not because I do not believe it should sell well and be widely read, but because people are buying it for the wrong reason. Touching the Void is, simply put, the story of the human spirit's ability for survival against all the odds. There are many occasions where both Joe and Simon could have given up; many moments when it could all have been for naught; but they kept going, and both lived to tell the tale. Simpson's writing is, as ever, vivid and visceral, putting you up on Siula Grande with him. We vicariously experience his time in the crevasse, his efforts on the glacier, and then his crawl back towards the camp, wondering if there will be anybody there even if he does make it. You know all along that he survives, but when he reaches safety you want to cry out because he describes it so painfully well. This is what the book is about. With the impending release of the movie, and widespread radio coverage in the UK featuring interviews and editorials, a terrible misconception has crept in. Almost everyone who has come into the shop and asked me about the book has said, "I heard about this book on the radio. It's about a climber who cuts the rope on his friend. Do you have it?" By focussing on Simon Yates' cutting of the rope, it seems that everyone is missing the point. Far from a cold-hearted act, everybody fails to acknowledge that had Yates not lowered Simpson down several thousand feet of the mountain, a non-stop feat of incredible courage and fortitude, Simpson would not have survived, period. Simpson himself does not blame Yates for his actions, and this is the lead we should be taking. All these people who have never been on a mountain in their lives saying, "Ooh, he broke the code, he shouldn't have done that," just have no idea. I'm glad the book is selling well, and deservedly so, but I wish it could sell for the right reasons and not because people want the inside story on The-Man-Who-Cut-The-Rope. Rating: - A Bit Hard To Read, But Fascinating Nonetheless It's hard to believe that Touching The Void is a true story. The level of physical exertion that is depicted in the book seems beyond anything a human could produce. But, the searing emotions that accompany that exertion are described so movingly that a reader has no choice but to accept that this story is painfully true. The only drawback to this fascinating tale is the mountaineering minutia littering the text. I realize that this information was presented to provide some context to the difficulty of the climb and the descent. However, instead of informing me, this information actually bored me with its technicality. It also added a clumsy quality to the writing that ended up disrupting the flow of the story. Like The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev, Simpson makes up for his sometimes clumsy writing style by dramatically portraying the emotions he felt during this ordeal. As a result, Simpson's story is a testament to the power of ingenuity and faith. After reading Touching The Void, it will be impossible not to have a greater appreciation for the inherent strength of the human character.

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