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Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson, is an account of the ascent of the 21,000ft Siula Grande peak in the Peruvian Andes. Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, had achieved the summit before the first disaster struck. What happened and how they dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted is the subject of this book.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Joe Simpson
39 books220 followers Joe Simpson is the author of the bestselling Touching the Void, as well as four subsequent non-fiction books published by The Mountaineers Books: This Game of Ghosts, Storms of Silence, Dark Shadows Falling, and The Beckoning Silence. The Beckoning Silence won the 2003 National Outdoor Book Award. The other three published by The Mountaineers Books were all shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,762 reviews
September 8, 2012
Joe Simpson had a remarkable experience - totally of his whole making, but nevertheless the way he survived was pretty amazing. Sadly, reading about it is a far less remarkable experience. To enjoy the book, you may need to really know what a 'col' is, what a 'moraine' is and the dangers and qualities of three types of snow and countless types of ice.
Essentially, it's one hundred pages of very, very detailed descriptions of climbing up a mountain - who belayed when is covered in full detail, as is when they stopped to make a brew. Then on the way down, there's a bit of a cock up and one fella breaks his leg. You then get fifty pages of one chap lowering another down a couple of cliffs - in very full detail. Finally you get another hundred pages of the one fella crawling back with a broken leg - every fall, every boulder, every bout of incontinence is painted in absolute detail. After that, there's a postscript, an epilogue and every other excuse possible to drag the book out.
Don't get me wrong, Joe Simpson completed a fantastic journey and survived against all of the odds. However, there were times when I was ploughing through this book when I would have much preferred to be dragging a broken leg across the 'scree' at the bottom of a mountain and pissing my pants.
Essentially, it's one hundred pages of very, very detailed descriptions of climbing up a mountain - who belayed when is covered in full detail, as is when they stopped to make a brew. Then on the way down, there's a bit of a cock up and one fella breaks his leg. You then get fifty pages of one chap lowering another down a couple of cliffs - in very full detail. Finally you get another hundred pages of the one fella crawling back with a broken leg - every fall, every boulder, every bout of incontinence is painted in absolute detail. After that, there's a postscript, an epilogue and every other excuse possible to drag the book out.
Don't get me wrong, Joe Simpson completed a fantastic journey and survived against all of the odds. However, there were times when I was ploughing through this book when I would have much preferred to be dragging a broken leg across the 'scree' at the bottom of a mountain and pissing my pants.
July 20, 2014
Long, long ago, I used to play pool in the Broadfield pub in Sheffield. I used to play another bloke regularly, nice guy - if a bit irascible at times - and, one day, he asked me what I did. "Writer," I said, "but unsuccessful."
"Oh," he said. "I've written a book too. Published. It's not doing too badly."
He seemed like an interesting bloke, intelligent, given to philosophising, had seen a bit of the world as a mountain climber, so I thought I'd give it a shot - as much out of politeness as anything.
The next time I went to the Broadfield I found myself, once again, playing pool with the bloke. Conversation had come easily with him previously. Not now. "I read your book," I said.
"What did you think?" he asked.
"I think I'm a bit too freaked out right now to even talk about it." I meant it.
Later, he told me I'd got an unnamed-check in his autobiography. A single line. He knew how lucky he was when he met me, apparently, given he'd cracked it as a writer and I'd hacked away at it and got nowhere.
Bless.
I got my revenge. He came in the Broadfield one day plastered up all over the shop. He'd fallen off another mountain.
This tale of a bloke with a penchant for finding large geological constructions to fall off is intense in the extreme. You don't get a feel for the balls of this bloke from reading it any more than you do from meeting him - at least not directly - but balls he has. Much of the tale consists of him crawling back from the place he fell to his base camp with the hell battered out of him and, in it all, he is all too human; a wreck of a man just trying to survive in his confusion, and in his dogged determination. It's an intensely personal book in that respect. Joe holds nothing back, strips himself naked in his predicament and shows us the man behind the challenge. There's no heroism here, no 'Didn't I do great', just that sense of someone pulling himself on little by little rather than just give up everything and die.
I heard a story some time later about Joe going into a television interview and tripping over the steps. A useless mountain climber, clearly. But one hell of a writer, the bastard.
"Oh," he said. "I've written a book too. Published. It's not doing too badly."
He seemed like an interesting bloke, intelligent, given to philosophising, had seen a bit of the world as a mountain climber, so I thought I'd give it a shot - as much out of politeness as anything.
The next time I went to the Broadfield I found myself, once again, playing pool with the bloke. Conversation had come easily with him previously. Not now. "I read your book," I said.
"What did you think?" he asked.
"I think I'm a bit too freaked out right now to even talk about it." I meant it.
Later, he told me I'd got an unnamed-check in his autobiography. A single line. He knew how lucky he was when he met me, apparently, given he'd cracked it as a writer and I'd hacked away at it and got nowhere.
Bless.
I got my revenge. He came in the Broadfield one day plastered up all over the shop. He'd fallen off another mountain.
This tale of a bloke with a penchant for finding large geological constructions to fall off is intense in the extreme. You don't get a feel for the balls of this bloke from reading it any more than you do from meeting him - at least not directly - but balls he has. Much of the tale consists of him crawling back from the place he fell to his base camp with the hell battered out of him and, in it all, he is all too human; a wreck of a man just trying to survive in his confusion, and in his dogged determination. It's an intensely personal book in that respect. Joe holds nothing back, strips himself naked in his predicament and shows us the man behind the challenge. There's no heroism here, no 'Didn't I do great', just that sense of someone pulling himself on little by little rather than just give up everything and die.
I heard a story some time later about Joe going into a television interview and tripping over the steps. A useless mountain climber, clearly. But one hell of a writer, the bastard.
June 1, 2009
I never really understood what there was to debate in the "big debate" surrounding Touching the Void.
Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made the first ascent on the west face of Siula Grande in 1985 but ran into some serious trouble coming back down. A storm kicked up, and Simpson fell on the ice, driving his tibia through his knee. His leg was a serious mess, and the pair tried to descend as fast as they could with the bad weather getting worse (more on that later).
They made their descent with Yates helping Simpson the best he could until Simpson slipped over a cliff and found himself dangling in mid-air over a crevasse. Yates held onto Simpson from a crumbling belay seat he'd dug out of the snow and ice, feeling all of Simpson's weight dangling prone at the end of the rope. With his seat about to disintegrate, no visual contact with Simpson or the cliff, the weather getting worse, and the likelihood of both of them going over the cliff increasing with every second that he tried to hold on, Yates made the only decision he could -- he cut the rope.
Enter the debate. Some say Yates should have held on to Simpson no matter what happened, even if it meant his own death, and some say (as I do) that he'd already done everything he could and cutting the rope was his only remaining option.
I seriously don't understand why Yates' act is up for debate, though. Not only did his decision turn out to be the right one, a decision that saved both their lives, but how many of those who say Yates should have hung on, and question his ethics for not doing so, would have actually kept their knives in their pockets? Not many, I'd wager.
This debate clouds the real issue in Touching the Void, however, which is that Simpson and Yates had no business being up on the mountain that day at all.
Local guides had warned them about the weather atop Siula Grande, and their own senses told them, before they even started the ascent, that they were racing against a possible mountaintop blizzard. Their hubris pushed them on, though, and they put themselves in a situation that never should have been. Had they waited for the storm to pass, the next three days of climbing would have been clear and easy, but they took an unnecessary risk, a foolish risk, and nearly paid the ultimate price.
My wife is a mountain guide who has walked in the shadow of Siula Grande many times, leading treks through the Peruvian Andes, and an old friend of mine went to Canada's Yamnuska Mountaineering school to become a guide (I am a dilettante when it comes to paddling and mountaineering, and I've done nothing like Erika and Curtis have, but I do love the extreme sports and have a healthy respect for the conventions that go along with them), and their response to Touching the Void is that the pair of them -- Yates and Simpson -- should have died for their stupidity.
Erika, Curtis and many of their fellows were or remain angry at Yates and Simpson for taking such a silly risk. Every ascent is dangerous enough without taking on dangers that are within one's ability to avoid. Their sport has enough difficulty being accepted without adding to the stigma of danger, and taking stupid risks gives mountaineering a bad name.
The general perception is that mountaineering is a sport whose athletes pursue danger for the sake of danger. Yates' and Simpson's insane ascent up Siula Grande and their antics trying to recover from their error only perpetuate that perception.
The book itself is actually quite compelling, despite my frustration with their decision to make the ascent. Moreover, Simpson's loyalty to Yates, even though Yates did cut him loose one dark and stormy night, is pretty impressive.
I've heard many people who love this book say that it is a triumph of the human spirit; instead, I'd call it a triumph over human stupidity.
Regardless, Touching the Void is a hell of an interesting read, and I can guarantee you won't get bogged down in any dull moments. There simply aren't any.
Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made the first ascent on the west face of Siula Grande in 1985 but ran into some serious trouble coming back down. A storm kicked up, and Simpson fell on the ice, driving his tibia through his knee. His leg was a serious mess, and the pair tried to descend as fast as they could with the bad weather getting worse (more on that later).
They made their descent with Yates helping Simpson the best he could until Simpson slipped over a cliff and found himself dangling in mid-air over a crevasse. Yates held onto Simpson from a crumbling belay seat he'd dug out of the snow and ice, feeling all of Simpson's weight dangling prone at the end of the rope. With his seat about to disintegrate, no visual contact with Simpson or the cliff, the weather getting worse, and the likelihood of both of them going over the cliff increasing with every second that he tried to hold on, Yates made the only decision he could -- he cut the rope.
Enter the debate. Some say Yates should have held on to Simpson no matter what happened, even if it meant his own death, and some say (as I do) that he'd already done everything he could and cutting the rope was his only remaining option.
I seriously don't understand why Yates' act is up for debate, though. Not only did his decision turn out to be the right one, a decision that saved both their lives, but how many of those who say Yates should have hung on, and question his ethics for not doing so, would have actually kept their knives in their pockets? Not many, I'd wager.
This debate clouds the real issue in Touching the Void, however, which is that Simpson and Yates had no business being up on the mountain that day at all.
Local guides had warned them about the weather atop Siula Grande, and their own senses told them, before they even started the ascent, that they were racing against a possible mountaintop blizzard. Their hubris pushed them on, though, and they put themselves in a situation that never should have been. Had they waited for the storm to pass, the next three days of climbing would have been clear and easy, but they took an unnecessary risk, a foolish risk, and nearly paid the ultimate price.
My wife is a mountain guide who has walked in the shadow of Siula Grande many times, leading treks through the Peruvian Andes, and an old friend of mine went to Canada's Yamnuska Mountaineering school to become a guide (I am a dilettante when it comes to paddling and mountaineering, and I've done nothing like Erika and Curtis have, but I do love the extreme sports and have a healthy respect for the conventions that go along with them), and their response to Touching the Void is that the pair of them -- Yates and Simpson -- should have died for their stupidity.
Erika, Curtis and many of their fellows were or remain angry at Yates and Simpson for taking such a silly risk. Every ascent is dangerous enough without taking on dangers that are within one's ability to avoid. Their sport has enough difficulty being accepted without adding to the stigma of danger, and taking stupid risks gives mountaineering a bad name.
The general perception is that mountaineering is a sport whose athletes pursue danger for the sake of danger. Yates' and Simpson's insane ascent up Siula Grande and their antics trying to recover from their error only perpetuate that perception.
The book itself is actually quite compelling, despite my frustration with their decision to make the ascent. Moreover, Simpson's loyalty to Yates, even though Yates did cut him loose one dark and stormy night, is pretty impressive.
I've heard many people who love this book say that it is a triumph of the human spirit; instead, I'd call it a triumph over human stupidity.
Regardless, Touching the Void is a hell of an interesting read, and I can guarantee you won't get bogged down in any dull moments. There simply aren't any.
December 22, 2022
It feels like this is a book everyone has read (and seen the film), yet up until now I had done neither. I guess even if you haven't seen or read, you will at least know the outline of the story: Two men climbing a remote mountain, one falls, injures himself badly, other man must decide whether to risk his own life to help him or leave him to his outcome; then once he has decided to assist, it goes even more wrong and the rescuer must decide whether to cut the rope (sending the injured man to almost certain death) and prevent himself from being dragged down the mountain. Well Joe Simpson is that injured man, and spoiler alert - he survives, and writes this book!
The writing contains some technical bits, although there is a glossary at the end; and a lot of the description of the climbing and the terrain was lost on me, but this isn't really relevant. This book is more about the mental capacity of Simpson to overcome his physical condition and to literally just continue. I can't imagine that one in 100 or 1 in 1000 people would have the ability the author did to continually take the hard option over the easy option (stopping, giving up, sleeping, crying, etc), and continued to hop, crawl and drag himself down a mountain to the camp where he hoped (against the odds really) that his friends still remained.
The action occurs in 1985, when Joe and his companion Simon Yates tackle the Western face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. At 6334m, its no easy pickings, and the complete the first successful summit. the return to base camp, however was less successful.
For maximised enjoyment, brush up on your moraines, seracs, verglas, belays and bergschrunds. Also an ideal book if you want to terrify yourself into not taking up mountaineering.
4 frostbitten stars.
The writing contains some technical bits, although there is a glossary at the end; and a lot of the description of the climbing and the terrain was lost on me, but this isn't really relevant. This book is more about the mental capacity of Simpson to overcome his physical condition and to literally just continue. I can't imagine that one in 100 or 1 in 1000 people would have the ability the author did to continually take the hard option over the easy option (stopping, giving up, sleeping, crying, etc), and continued to hop, crawl and drag himself down a mountain to the camp where he hoped (against the odds really) that his friends still remained.
The action occurs in 1985, when Joe and his companion Simon Yates tackle the Western face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. At 6334m, its no easy pickings, and the complete the first successful summit. the return to base camp, however was less successful.
For maximised enjoyment, brush up on your moraines, seracs, verglas, belays and bergschrunds. Also an ideal book if you want to terrify yourself into not taking up mountaineering.
4 frostbitten stars.
December 23, 2007
okay. i am still not going to climb any mountains, at least not any that are covered with glaciers and are over 10K feet.
but what really got me about this story, what deeply deeply moved me to a new understanding of human endurance, was not that he climbed the peruvian andes, suffered sub zero temperatures huddled in a dugout snow cave, got frostbitten digits, put his life in his climbing partner's hands, or alternately held his climbing partner's life in his own hands, or that he shattered his knee, got dragged through the snow for 2 days, fell down a crevasse and had to climb out with a mashed leg, dragged himself half delirious and starving for 3 more days across rocky moraines, but...that he did this without taking out his contact lenses. geez. that must've sucked.
but what really got me about this story, what deeply deeply moved me to a new understanding of human endurance, was not that he climbed the peruvian andes, suffered sub zero temperatures huddled in a dugout snow cave, got frostbitten digits, put his life in his climbing partner's hands, or alternately held his climbing partner's life in his own hands, or that he shattered his knee, got dragged through the snow for 2 days, fell down a crevasse and had to climb out with a mashed leg, dragged himself half delirious and starving for 3 more days across rocky moraines, but...that he did this without taking out his contact lenses. geez. that must've sucked.
October 15, 2023
4.25 ⭐️— Despite reading this epic memoir some time ago, it’s certainly an easy recall. Such an inspiring, harrowing & downright terrifying tale of that sense of adventure mountain climbers inhibit, leading to tragedy & life affirming heroism.
Touching the void is no picnic to read, it’ll pull you apart bit by bit & leave you with your heart smashed on the floor, but it’ll also help put the things on your mind in perspective and help you appreciate your little cocoon just that much more!
I can’t help but feel a reticence when I think about some of the more emotive moments in this powerhouse of a memoir, with truly beautiful, eloquent & poignant prose used to describe the gripping events of the those men deep in the heart of the Peruvian Mountains, where the descent into chaos is a more literal one than you can imagine.
Touching the void is no picnic to read, it’ll pull you apart bit by bit & leave you with your heart smashed on the floor, but it’ll also help put the things on your mind in perspective and help you appreciate your little cocoon just that much more!
I can’t help but feel a reticence when I think about some of the more emotive moments in this powerhouse of a memoir, with truly beautiful, eloquent & poignant prose used to describe the gripping events of the those men deep in the heart of the Peruvian Mountains, where the descent into chaos is a more literal one than you can imagine.
January 8, 2023
There are very few words to articulate to the feelings in which one human can relate to this scenario. In all life’s ordeals, survival is one of the most finicky of questions. Not one life will have the same results when it comes to survival.
Touching of the void sets the perfect notion for Darwin’s, “survival of the fittest.” The pure measurement of the human nature to bare down and move on. As the saying goes, “trust your instincts”, survival is the impediment answer to this idiom.
We are are built to survive, but until you are challenged with it you never know what you are made of. I challenge everyone to push yourself in this life to the limit. Find your strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses are a strength, because to know your weaknesses, is to find the strength within to overcome it. We fear challenges and change. Joe feared the inevitable but kept moving forward. The thought of self suicide is one thought we all are scared of. Despite knowing we will never make it out alive, we all fear the end.
The end is silent and lonely. It is dark, unknown and something we as humans never want to face. As a human, we all can be scared of the unknown. Most of us need to know what is going to happen so we can prepare. We cringe at the thought of insecurity.
To challenge those fears, challenge Mother Nature, is to accomplish the inevitable. Joe has done something only people in war can talk about, and some may never get their voice. Survival is never self inflicted, but when it is, we are the ones who should never pity ourselves for allowing the chance of disaster to happen.
Invite change, invite a challenge; enjoy the little things, and be grateful for the biology of you natural instincts.
Amazing read, and i invite you to the challenge to enjoy it as much as I did!
Touching of the void sets the perfect notion for Darwin’s, “survival of the fittest.” The pure measurement of the human nature to bare down and move on. As the saying goes, “trust your instincts”, survival is the impediment answer to this idiom.
We are are built to survive, but until you are challenged with it you never know what you are made of. I challenge everyone to push yourself in this life to the limit. Find your strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses are a strength, because to know your weaknesses, is to find the strength within to overcome it. We fear challenges and change. Joe feared the inevitable but kept moving forward. The thought of self suicide is one thought we all are scared of. Despite knowing we will never make it out alive, we all fear the end.
The end is silent and lonely. It is dark, unknown and something we as humans never want to face. As a human, we all can be scared of the unknown. Most of us need to know what is going to happen so we can prepare. We cringe at the thought of insecurity.
To challenge those fears, challenge Mother Nature, is to accomplish the inevitable. Joe has done something only people in war can talk about, and some may never get their voice. Survival is never self inflicted, but when it is, we are the ones who should never pity ourselves for allowing the chance of disaster to happen.
Invite change, invite a challenge; enjoy the little things, and be grateful for the biology of you natural instincts.
Amazing read, and i invite you to the challenge to enjoy it as much as I did!
February 8, 2017
Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were young, fearless and a little too careless when they attempted to climb a 21,000 peak in the Andes.
They were tired of their climbs in the Alps with all the traffic and thought a secluded climb in a beautiful setting would be a welcome change.
They were enjoying their seclusion on the mountain until disaster struck.
Joe Simpson suffers a serious fall and breaks his leg on the top of the mountain. He is completely helpless and wholly dependent on Simon to save his life.
The cocky, confident Joe suddenly has to face the terrorizing prospect of death and he's not ready to leave this earth just yet.
Simon Yates is a true friend as he attempts to lower Joe down the mountain. Due to their carelessness they were out of food, water and were now in danger of frostbite without warm drinks. It was imperative that they climb down the mountain in the dark with flashlights before they succumbed to dehydration and cold.
Joe suffers from agonizing pain as Simon lowers him down the mountain and has plenty of time to think over all their mistakes with regret.
Surely their luck can't get any worse?
Simons lowers Joe off a cliff and into a crevasse unknowingly in the dark. Joe is too far down the mountain to explain to Simon his precarious position as he hangs by a rope over the crevasse.
Simon doesn't have too many options left during a bitter snow storm as he is slowly being dragged down the mountain to his death.
In desperation he has to cut the rope as Joe plunges to his death into the crevasse.
Miraculously, Joe absorbs the shock of falling 100 feet by landing in snow and lies helpless in the dark contemplating his end. With the arrival of the morning sunshine he is able to assess his situation and form a plan.
There is no way he can climb out of the crevasse and no chance of rescue from Simon.
In desperation he begins to carefully lowers himself deeper into the crevasse as his only chance to survive since he can not face the prospect of a long, slow death.
What happens next is one of the most thrilling true-survivor accounts I've ever read marveling at Joe's will to live. How he is able to survive days without food or water as he slowly crawls his way back to the camp borders on miraculous.
Afterwards Simon Yates was to suffer much censure for cutting the rope in order to save his own life but I can't honestly blame him for his actions.
Since I wasn't familiar with mountain climbing and therefore a lot of the terms used in this book, things did bog down a bit as Joe describes all aspect of their climb in great detail.
Otherwise this book is an enjoyable and inspiring account of survival that I highly recommend.
They were tired of their climbs in the Alps with all the traffic and thought a secluded climb in a beautiful setting would be a welcome change.
They were enjoying their seclusion on the mountain until disaster struck.
Joe Simpson suffers a serious fall and breaks his leg on the top of the mountain. He is completely helpless and wholly dependent on Simon to save his life.
The cocky, confident Joe suddenly has to face the terrorizing prospect of death and he's not ready to leave this earth just yet.
Simon Yates is a true friend as he attempts to lower Joe down the mountain. Due to their carelessness they were out of food, water and were now in danger of frostbite without warm drinks. It was imperative that they climb down the mountain in the dark with flashlights before they succumbed to dehydration and cold.
Joe suffers from agonizing pain as Simon lowers him down the mountain and has plenty of time to think over all their mistakes with regret.
Surely their luck can't get any worse?
Simons lowers Joe off a cliff and into a crevasse unknowingly in the dark. Joe is too far down the mountain to explain to Simon his precarious position as he hangs by a rope over the crevasse.
Simon doesn't have too many options left during a bitter snow storm as he is slowly being dragged down the mountain to his death.
In desperation he has to cut the rope as Joe plunges to his death into the crevasse.
Miraculously, Joe absorbs the shock of falling 100 feet by landing in snow and lies helpless in the dark contemplating his end. With the arrival of the morning sunshine he is able to assess his situation and form a plan.
There is no way he can climb out of the crevasse and no chance of rescue from Simon.
In desperation he begins to carefully lowers himself deeper into the crevasse as his only chance to survive since he can not face the prospect of a long, slow death.
What happens next is one of the most thrilling true-survivor accounts I've ever read marveling at Joe's will to live. How he is able to survive days without food or water as he slowly crawls his way back to the camp borders on miraculous.
Afterwards Simon Yates was to suffer much censure for cutting the rope in order to save his own life but I can't honestly blame him for his actions.
Since I wasn't familiar with mountain climbing and therefore a lot of the terms used in this book, things did bog down a bit as Joe describes all aspect of their climb in great detail.
Otherwise this book is an enjoyable and inspiring account of survival that I highly recommend.
July 15, 2019
I remember seeing this documentary years ago, but had never read the book. It was just as harrowing to read and I could feel the tension & fear leap off the pages. Usually, when set in very cold climes, I also feel that also, but weirdly this time I did not. The description of the pristine mountains, snow & ice walls did loom very menacing in my mind, I suppose because I knew what was coming.
Joe & his friend Simon were going to attempt a first ascent to the summit of one of the Andes mountains. They made the summit but on the descent a horrible accident occurs in which Joe sustains a badly broken leg. Simon courageously tries to help him down the mountain using the ropes & manages to lower Joe about 300ft when another fall occurs & Simon realizes he is going to go over the edge also, he cuts the rope. He believes Joe died with that action and exhaustedly continues his descent wracked with guilt. But Joe survives and through unbelievable will he fights through pain, despair, hunger & thirst to manage to eventually claw, hop, & crawl his way back towards the base camp over 4 days & 3 nights. An amazing story of determination & resilience.
Joe & his friend Simon were going to attempt a first ascent to the summit of one of the Andes mountains. They made the summit but on the descent a horrible accident occurs in which Joe sustains a badly broken leg. Simon courageously tries to help him down the mountain using the ropes & manages to lower Joe about 300ft when another fall occurs & Simon realizes he is going to go over the edge also, he cuts the rope. He believes Joe died with that action and exhaustedly continues his descent wracked with guilt. But Joe survives and through unbelievable will he fights through pain, despair, hunger & thirst to manage to eventually claw, hop, & crawl his way back towards the base camp over 4 days & 3 nights. An amazing story of determination & resilience.
March 16, 2015
Exciting? Yes!
This is the quintessential survival story, and it is true!
In 1985 Joe Simpson and Simon Yates decide to climb the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. I am no mountaineer, but even I could spot some of their errors. The book focuses on moral issues too.
Most of the time I could picture the glacial landscape. There are crevasses and ice bridges and morasses and fissures and glacial expanses, sparkling light and snow storms and it is cold and wet, freezing. I could NOT exactly picture what it was like in the crevasse as the author described it. So maybe the movie is better than the book? The author took part in the filming later in 2002.
Joe's fear, his physical pain and exhaustion, his terror, THAT I definitely felt. His hallucinations became my hallucinations. Simon corroborated with Joe in the writing of this book. Nevertheless, I did NOT feel that his words rang as true as Joe's. Simon's voice in the audiobook is narrated by Andrew Wincott. It was too slick, too quiet. No, he didn't even sound like a mountaineer. Joe's narration by Daniel Weyman was spot-on.
My gut reaction to the audiobook was that I liked it. I certainly was not going to stop in the middle, although I had to take breathers. I am a coward and couldn't sit still, it gripped me so! I liked that not many lines were spent on the medical treatments required after this escapade. I liked that there is a short epilogue covering Joe's philosophical approach to his experiences. Yes, he continued to climb mountains.
***************************
I need a break. I absolutely cannot continue listening to Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival. It is so terrible......what happens, I mean. I cannot, cannot continue listening. Does that make it good? The two guys are and this is just too much. I also dislike movies where I want to but cannot leave at bad sections. How does everybody read this stuff and just keep their mouths shut? Why do I get so upset?
This is the quintessential survival story, and it is true!
In 1985 Joe Simpson and Simon Yates decide to climb the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. I am no mountaineer, but even I could spot some of their errors. The book focuses on moral issues too.
Most of the time I could picture the glacial landscape. There are crevasses and ice bridges and morasses and fissures and glacial expanses, sparkling light and snow storms and it is cold and wet, freezing. I could NOT exactly picture what it was like in the crevasse as the author described it. So maybe the movie is better than the book? The author took part in the filming later in 2002.
Joe's fear, his physical pain and exhaustion, his terror, THAT I definitely felt. His hallucinations became my hallucinations. Simon corroborated with Joe in the writing of this book. Nevertheless, I did NOT feel that his words rang as true as Joe's. Simon's voice in the audiobook is narrated by Andrew Wincott. It was too slick, too quiet. No, he didn't even sound like a mountaineer. Joe's narration by Daniel Weyman was spot-on.
My gut reaction to the audiobook was that I liked it. I certainly was not going to stop in the middle, although I had to take breathers. I am a coward and couldn't sit still, it gripped me so! I liked that not many lines were spent on the medical treatments required after this escapade. I liked that there is a short epilogue covering Joe's philosophical approach to his experiences. Yes, he continued to climb mountains.
***************************
I need a break. I absolutely cannot continue listening to Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival. It is so terrible......what happens, I mean. I cannot, cannot continue listening. Does that make it good? The two guys are and this is just too much. I also dislike movies where I want to but cannot leave at bad sections. How does everybody read this stuff and just keep their mouths shut? Why do I get so upset?
July 18, 2019
This is the second time I have read Joe Simpson's Touching the Void. In younger years, when I had more energy and less sense, I probably would have rated it four stars instead of three. Not now.
As to adventure, it pumps adrenalin through readers' veins as fast as the government these days pumps money through the failing finincial institutions, especially after a major catastrophe and the so-called ethical dilemma toward the middle of the book.
What becomes very obvious very soon is how young, immature, and foolish these two fellows--Joe and Simon--were. My second reading through was almost painful on top of the regular painfulness because of it. Of course, high adventurers like them wouldn't normally reclimb the same mountain and probably would advise against rereading Joe's narrative again. Onward and upward seemed to be their mantra--and almost their sole mantra. Climb every mountain.
Joe didn't seem grounded in society, in life, or in religion. He wasn't, it seemed, even grounded in the pursuit. Upon summiting, he took some photos, ate some chocolate, but felt the "usual anticlimax. What now? It was a vicious circle."
My feeling exactly.
While Joe cried in frustration, he rarely if ever cried about the loss of a parent, a companion, a child. When I think of tears, I think of deep emotions from the heart. When he cried, it seemed his came from somewhere else on the surface and not in the center. "Each thouoght of death, of mine or his, came quite unemotionally--matter-of-fact. I was too tired to care."
Me too.
It was all pride: "They'd never know we did it."
This self-centeredness I think is characterized in the narrative style, which was mostly descriptive and not emotive. I like a little more paint on the canvass, more nuance in the story-telling. If you are so much a risk taker on a mountain, I expect more risks, more inventiveness on the page. But there you go. I don't think the two climbers displayed much inventiveness in their endeavor. I think the book carried on with that theme.
As to adventure, it pumps adrenalin through readers' veins as fast as the government these days pumps money through the failing finincial institutions, especially after a major catastrophe and the so-called ethical dilemma toward the middle of the book.
What becomes very obvious very soon is how young, immature, and foolish these two fellows--Joe and Simon--were. My second reading through was almost painful on top of the regular painfulness because of it. Of course, high adventurers like them wouldn't normally reclimb the same mountain and probably would advise against rereading Joe's narrative again. Onward and upward seemed to be their mantra--and almost their sole mantra. Climb every mountain.
Joe didn't seem grounded in society, in life, or in religion. He wasn't, it seemed, even grounded in the pursuit. Upon summiting, he took some photos, ate some chocolate, but felt the "usual anticlimax. What now? It was a vicious circle."
My feeling exactly.
While Joe cried in frustration, he rarely if ever cried about the loss of a parent, a companion, a child. When I think of tears, I think of deep emotions from the heart. When he cried, it seemed his came from somewhere else on the surface and not in the center. "Each thouoght of death, of mine or his, came quite unemotionally--matter-of-fact. I was too tired to care."
Me too.
It was all pride: "They'd never know we did it."
This self-centeredness I think is characterized in the narrative style, which was mostly descriptive and not emotive. I like a little more paint on the canvass, more nuance in the story-telling. If you are so much a risk taker on a mountain, I expect more risks, more inventiveness on the page. But there you go. I don't think the two climbers displayed much inventiveness in their endeavor. I think the book carried on with that theme.
May 27, 2023
A great survival story and I was impressed with Simpson's writing. If you have ever enjoyed a mountaineering book, you will enjoy this one. It's a quick read too. Deserving of its classic status. This folio edition sure is pretty too. Low four stars.
August 30, 2007
Ok, even though the reader knows how it ends: as one of the mountaineers wrote this book, it’s incredibly suspenseful. I do seem to adore mountain climbing books, although it’s a totally vicarious experience as you could never get me on one of these expeditions. Especially this one as their method was different than all the other accounts I’ve read of mountain climbers. On the one hand I felt infuriated with these 2 men for taking such huge risks, but their story is unbelievably riveting and well told and I appreciated the honesty with which it was told as well. The thing is, it seems impossible that either one, especially the author, could survive what happened to them. Everything that could go wrong did, but so did everything that could go right.
October 27, 2017
Considering the circumstances here (mountaineer up 19,000 feet breaks his leg, saves himself after his partner is forced to leave him), this book should've been captivating. I should've been entirely engrossed by this survival story. Really, the page count could've been halved and we could've had 90% less mountaineering terminology. There was no emotion in this; the storytelling was flat. The mountain had more personality than the two climbers.
October 19, 2008
By the time I reach the last page I recalled I heard myself screaming
"Man, this dude is really something!"
"Edaaaaaan!"
An unbelievable and gripping story about survival and never say die spirit at its best
POSSIBLY SPOILERS
Joe Simpson dan sahabatnya, Simon Yates melakukan pendakian gunung Siula Grande (6.300m dpl) dipegunungan Andes, Peru. Setelah berhasil mencapai puncak dan dalam perjalanan menuruni gunung Joe terperosok sehingga kakinya patah. Suatu kondisi yang bisa dianggap vonis mati digunung setinggi 6000m. Dalam kondisi tak bisa berjalan, rasa sakit yang tak terperikan, Simon berjuang keras berusaha menurunkan Joe sedikit demi sedikit dengan tali yang diikatkan ketubuh masing-masing. Setelah beberapa usaha yang menguras tenaga Joe kembali terperosok dan tergantung dibibir tebing es tanpa bisa naik kembali. Simon yang ikut terseret akhirnya tak punya pilihan lain. Simon tahu pasti cepat atau lambat ia tak akan kuat menahan beban tubuh Joe yang tergantung dibibir jurang. Sehingga dihadapkan kepada pilihan yang sangat menyesakkan; ikut terseret ke jurang dan tewas bersama Joe atau memotong tali. Simon dengan berat hati memotong tali yang menyebabkan Joe "terjun bebas" ke jurang sedalam 30 meter. Ajaibnya, Joe
ternyata tidak tewas. Simon yang menyangka Joe telah tewas kembali ke kemah induk dan terus
menerus bergulat dengan perasaan bersalah kalau ia telah membunuh Joe.
Setengah dari buku ini adalah sebuah petualangan yang bikin gue geleng-geleng kepala disertai perasaan perut teraduk-aduk dan tulang jadi terasa ngilu. Sebuah perjuangan hebat dan habis-habisan dari seorang Joe Simpson dalam upaya mempertahankan hidupnya dan "penolakan" terhadap maut yang terus mengintainya. Gimana perut gak teraduk ama tulang gak ngilu kalo ngebayangin kondisi seperti ini:
*jatuh kedalam ceruk es sedalam 30 meter
*diserang badai salju dan suhu yang amat dingin
*angkle kanan patah, lutut remuk
*suara berderak dari kaki yang patah tiap kali terbentur batu
Dengan kondisi seperti itu, Joe merayap naik, melompat dengan satu kaki sambil menyeret kaki yang patah, merayap menuruni tebing, gletser, morrain. Terkadang meluncur tak terkendali terseret salju, tersungkur, kepala menghantam batuan besar, bibir sobek, kaki yang terpuntir gak karuan karena tersangkut batu. Masih kurang? dengan kondisi itu, Joe merayap turun selama tiga hari tiga malam tanpa makan dan minum untuk mencapai kemah utama. Masih kurang juga? Oke, pernah terkilir? gimana rasanya? gak usah ditanya. Bayangin deh, harus menyeret kaki yang remuk
selama tiga hari tiga malam dengan jari2 yang membeku karena terserang frostbite. Joe terus2an
menjerit dan menangis setiap kakinya membentur batu.
Bagian yang paling menyentuh mungkin ketika pada dinihari Joe yang telah kehabisan tenaga ketika sampai ke sekitar tenda induk menyangka akan mati disekitar tenda berteriak memanggil nama sahabatnya dan Simon yang terkaget-kaget seakan melihat hantu dan menghambur memeluk sahabatnya yang disangka telah tewas dalam kondisi yang sangat mengenaskan. Pemandangan yang memilukan dan mengharukan.
Sebuah cerita tentang perjuangan melawan kemustahilan, determinasi untuk hidup dan ketegaran yang disajikan dengan sangat intens oleh seorang Joe Simpson.
Huwaaaaaaa... pengen nonton film-nyaaaaaaaaaaaah
April 8, 2017
Picture this: an incredible panoramic view of a rugged mountain range and the camera slowly pans to the point where you see two tiny black specs climbing a 21,000 foot, shear-faced mountain wall. It's well below freezing. The wind is ripping through the air. And two climbers are hanging by their fingertips and boot toes but lashed together with a single strand of nylon rope and a few pitons hammered into the rock. After twelve hours, they crest an outcrop of rock and have just enough room to sit, fire a single-burner propane torch, and heat a can of Ramen noodles for dinner. The terrain is nearly impossible to traverse, and (laden with equipment) their only option is to "jump" into thin air over a deep crevasse to a nearby ledge in order to ascend any further… There were no margins for error here, and how these two dealt with it and their emotions when the worst occurred, was beyond understanding. The next second is near fatal and one breaks his leg. They are in a dire position, and their situation seems impossible to get out of. Yet, their courage, drive, and fortitude are on an Olympian scale. The decisions they are required to make are a huge gamble and a life-threatening risk.
How Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made it off that mountain in the Andes is an incredible journey worth reading. This is Simpson's firsthand account of these events, and he is as good a writer as he is a mountain climber. This is a gripping, direct, and honest account of a mountaineering extreme experience. This is a great title about survival in the most dire of circumstances. I was curling my toes through the last half of the book. The ending is climactic and this book will be unforgettable.
How both men overcame the torments of those harrowing days is an epic tale of fear, suffering, and survival, and a poignant testament to unshakable courage and friendship.
How Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made it off that mountain in the Andes is an incredible journey worth reading. This is Simpson's firsthand account of these events, and he is as good a writer as he is a mountain climber. This is a gripping, direct, and honest account of a mountaineering extreme experience. This is a great title about survival in the most dire of circumstances. I was curling my toes through the last half of the book. The ending is climactic and this book will be unforgettable.
How both men overcame the torments of those harrowing days is an epic tale of fear, suffering, and survival, and a poignant testament to unshakable courage and friendship.
May 16, 2019
A straight forward story of a couple mistakes on a mountain leading to one climber fighting to survive for a couple days as he makes his way back to camp. I liked it but found myself wishing for more in terms of revelations that go on in that type of situation. In terms of nonfiction mountain disaster stories, I much preferred Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster and Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine. In terms of nonfiction survival stories, I much preferred The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.
September 29, 2016
Not since Moses climbed up Sinai to meet his maker has the story of a man, a mountain, and a brush with infinity attracted so much attention as Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void (1988). The book has become a favorite with adrenaline addicts and is found near the top of most mountain literature must-read lists. Though the first chapters are laced with technical climbing jargon, the great chunk of the story is related in the short cries, grunts, and obscenities you would expect to find popping from the mouths of two young men facing a nightmarish trial on a 21,000 ft peak.
The adventure begins in the Peruvian Andes, where Simpson and his climbing partner Simon Yates attempt to scale the ice shrouded slopes of Siula Grande. The climbing, though more difficult than anticipated, proves manageable for the skilled alpinists. But upon reaching the summit, Simpson suffers the "usual anticlimax" of his sport, the bittersweet reckoning of just what he had really accomplished, coupled with the empty feeling of "What now?" He was about to find out.
Steep slopes, unstable snow, and the onset of a blizzard make every step of the descent a life-and-death ordeal. When Simpson falls and breaks his right leg, Yates, in a truly heroic style, attempts to lower his injured partner down the near vertical face of the mountain in a blizzard ... at night ... with a broken headlamp ... his hands horribly frostbitten. And he nearly succeeds. But when Simpson slips over a steep cliff and is left dangling in mid air, too weak to climb up the rope and too far from the mountain to secure himself, Yates has no option but to cut the rope that links them together lest he himself be pulled into the void.
How Simpson survived his fall into the abyss, freed himself from the crevasse, and dragged himself over miles of glacier and moraine back to camp, just as Yates was preparing to leave, has become a story of almost mythic proportions. Simpson has certainly made the most of his ordeal, publishing a bestselling book, speaking on several lecture tours, and even appearing in the film version. But the reason he wrote this book, he insists, was to deflect the sharp blame that was hurled at Yates for having taken a knife to the sacrosanct rope. I must give Simpson credit for never downplaying the difficulties Yates faced, and for confessing, that having found himself in Yates’ position, he too would have cut the rope. I suspect you’ll appreciate Simpson’s honesty and the direct, artless style of his book as much as you’ll enjoy its precipitous pace.
The adventure begins in the Peruvian Andes, where Simpson and his climbing partner Simon Yates attempt to scale the ice shrouded slopes of Siula Grande. The climbing, though more difficult than anticipated, proves manageable for the skilled alpinists. But upon reaching the summit, Simpson suffers the "usual anticlimax" of his sport, the bittersweet reckoning of just what he had really accomplished, coupled with the empty feeling of "What now?" He was about to find out.
Steep slopes, unstable snow, and the onset of a blizzard make every step of the descent a life-and-death ordeal. When Simpson falls and breaks his right leg, Yates, in a truly heroic style, attempts to lower his injured partner down the near vertical face of the mountain in a blizzard ... at night ... with a broken headlamp ... his hands horribly frostbitten. And he nearly succeeds. But when Simpson slips over a steep cliff and is left dangling in mid air, too weak to climb up the rope and too far from the mountain to secure himself, Yates has no option but to cut the rope that links them together lest he himself be pulled into the void.
How Simpson survived his fall into the abyss, freed himself from the crevasse, and dragged himself over miles of glacier and moraine back to camp, just as Yates was preparing to leave, has become a story of almost mythic proportions. Simpson has certainly made the most of his ordeal, publishing a bestselling book, speaking on several lecture tours, and even appearing in the film version. But the reason he wrote this book, he insists, was to deflect the sharp blame that was hurled at Yates for having taken a knife to the sacrosanct rope. I must give Simpson credit for never downplaying the difficulties Yates faced, and for confessing, that having found himself in Yates’ position, he too would have cut the rope. I suspect you’ll appreciate Simpson’s honesty and the direct, artless style of his book as much as you’ll enjoy its precipitous pace.
May 21, 2019
“...[..]...Bottomless, I thought idly. No. They’re never bottomless. I wonder how deep I will go? To the bottom...to the water at the bottom? God ! I hope not!....
...The stars went out, and I fell. Like something come alive, the rope lashed violently against my face and I fell silently, endlessly into nothingness, as if dreaming of falling. I fell fast, faster than I thought, and my stomach protested at the swooping speed of it. I swept down, and from far above I saw myself falling and felt nothing. No thoughts, and all fears gone away. So this is it!
..Starlight and the moon glimmering through my entry hole in the roof above gave enough light for me to see the abysses on either side ....I could see grey-shadowed ice walls and the stark blackness of the drops, too deep for the light to penetrate...
I saw the rope flick down, and my hopes sank. I drew the slack rope to me, and stared at the frayed end. Cut! I couldn’t take my eyes from it. White and pink nylon filaments sprayed out from the end. I suppose I had known all long...[..]..I’ll die here after all that. Why bother trying?
I turned off the torch and sobbed quietly in the dark, feeling overwhelmed. I cried in bursts, and between them listen to the childlike sounds fade beneath me, then cried again...[..]... All that sobbing and shouting had been too much. Acceptance seemed better....[..]..I though carefully of the end. It wasn’t how I had ever imagined it. It seemed pretty sordid. I hadn’t expected a blaze of glory when it came, nor had I thought it would be like this slow pathetic fade into nothing. I didn’t want it to be like that.
[..]...Looking at the ice bridge, I felt disturbed at the memory of my time spent on. It was hard to believe how desperate I had been in the night and while abseiling now that I was reaching for the sun. That was the hardest thing I had ever done, and thinking about it I felt a surge of confidence build in me. There was still a lot to fight for....
[..]...The voice said I would lose my way, said I would never get through the crevasses without the prints, and told me to hurry on, but what I was really frightened of was losing a sign of life in the empty bowl of mountains surrounding me...”
...The stars went out, and I fell. Like something come alive, the rope lashed violently against my face and I fell silently, endlessly into nothingness, as if dreaming of falling. I fell fast, faster than I thought, and my stomach protested at the swooping speed of it. I swept down, and from far above I saw myself falling and felt nothing. No thoughts, and all fears gone away. So this is it!
..Starlight and the moon glimmering through my entry hole in the roof above gave enough light for me to see the abysses on either side ....I could see grey-shadowed ice walls and the stark blackness of the drops, too deep for the light to penetrate...
I saw the rope flick down, and my hopes sank. I drew the slack rope to me, and stared at the frayed end. Cut! I couldn’t take my eyes from it. White and pink nylon filaments sprayed out from the end. I suppose I had known all long...[..]..I’ll die here after all that. Why bother trying?
I turned off the torch and sobbed quietly in the dark, feeling overwhelmed. I cried in bursts, and between them listen to the childlike sounds fade beneath me, then cried again...[..]... All that sobbing and shouting had been too much. Acceptance seemed better....[..]..I though carefully of the end. It wasn’t how I had ever imagined it. It seemed pretty sordid. I hadn’t expected a blaze of glory when it came, nor had I thought it would be like this slow pathetic fade into nothing. I didn’t want it to be like that.
[..]...Looking at the ice bridge, I felt disturbed at the memory of my time spent on. It was hard to believe how desperate I had been in the night and while abseiling now that I was reaching for the sun. That was the hardest thing I had ever done, and thinking about it I felt a surge of confidence build in me. There was still a lot to fight for....
[..]...The voice said I would lose my way, said I would never get through the crevasses without the prints, and told me to hurry on, but what I was really frightened of was losing a sign of life in the empty bowl of mountains surrounding me...”
April 13, 2024
A gripping and horrifying mountaineering story, but there were a few things that didn't make it as exciting for me as Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster, which remains my favorite of the genre.
The best part of the writing in this particular book is how Joe relates his inner voice as he attempts to save himself from a desperate situation. At the end of the book, he states, " . . .however painful readers may think our experiences were, for me this book still falls short of articulating just how dreadful were some of those lonely days. I simply could not find the words to express the utter desolation of the experience." Well, he did a pretty good job. I don't know how he didn't just give up or go mad.
Once again, I marvel at how people are willing to risk their lives to attempt these challenges, and then return to mountain climbing after these near death experiences. I never get bored reading about this topic for whatever reason.
The best part of the writing in this particular book is how Joe relates his inner voice as he attempts to save himself from a desperate situation. At the end of the book, he states, " . . .however painful readers may think our experiences were, for me this book still falls short of articulating just how dreadful were some of those lonely days. I simply could not find the words to express the utter desolation of the experience." Well, he did a pretty good job. I don't know how he didn't just give up or go mad.
Once again, I marvel at how people are willing to risk their lives to attempt these challenges, and then return to mountain climbing after these near death experiences. I never get bored reading about this topic for whatever reason.
August 12, 2013
After ascending a 21,000 foot peak in the Andes, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates are on their way down when Joe falls and breaks his leg. Rather than leave his partner behind, Simon begins the arduous task of belaying Joe down the face of the mountain. Suddenly, as Simon is lowering Joe into the mists, all of Joe's weight pulls the rope taught. After several minutes, with no release of weight and his own position in serious danger, Simon makes the painful decision to cut the rope on his partner.
Unbeknownst to Simon, Joe has fallen off an ice cliff and is hanging in mid-air. When Simon cuts the rope, Joe falls into an ice-crevasse a hundred feet below him. Believing Joe to be dead, Simon must descend the mountain racked with guilt that tests his physical and spiritual strength. Joe, having survived the fall, must call upon every physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual reserve within him as he struggles to get down the mountain and back to base camp before it breaks.
After watching the movie and being astounded by the friendship, love, and loyalty of these climbers, I was not let down by the novel at all. Having a first person account from both climbers as each struggled with the horrific events that created an unfathomable circumstance for survival was a heartbreaking, yet brilliant glimpse into the heart of mankind and our will to overcome even the most dire of circumstance.
Unbeknownst to Simon, Joe has fallen off an ice cliff and is hanging in mid-air. When Simon cuts the rope, Joe falls into an ice-crevasse a hundred feet below him. Believing Joe to be dead, Simon must descend the mountain racked with guilt that tests his physical and spiritual strength. Joe, having survived the fall, must call upon every physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual reserve within him as he struggles to get down the mountain and back to base camp before it breaks.
After watching the movie and being astounded by the friendship, love, and loyalty of these climbers, I was not let down by the novel at all. Having a first person account from both climbers as each struggled with the horrific events that created an unfathomable circumstance for survival was a heartbreaking, yet brilliant glimpse into the heart of mankind and our will to overcome even the most dire of circumstance.
April 16, 2022
Rating is probably 2 / 2.5?
I love a mountain climbing book and was aware that this is one of the classics of the genre but I found the first half of this utterly boring and a slog to get through - so much awkward dialogue, climbing lingo and mundane details. The disaster/survival part was slightly more engaging but I’m afraid Simpson has written a really dry and dull book about what is a crazy and impressive survival story (which is actually kind of impressive if you think about it). I honestly felt like DNFing for most of the first half and probably would have had if a) I hadn’t asked my mum to go back to Oxfam to buy this copy I spotted and b) it wasn’t the only book I had to read on the train to Milan.
Not a patch on the likes of Jon Krakauer or Helen Mort who really capture the beauty, magic and danger of mountain climbing in their writing, with that extra detail about the human side of it all which makes what climbers do relatable and fascinating to non-climbers like myself. I never say this but watch the film adaptation instead!
I love a mountain climbing book and was aware that this is one of the classics of the genre but I found the first half of this utterly boring and a slog to get through - so much awkward dialogue, climbing lingo and mundane details. The disaster/survival part was slightly more engaging but I’m afraid Simpson has written a really dry and dull book about what is a crazy and impressive survival story (which is actually kind of impressive if you think about it). I honestly felt like DNFing for most of the first half and probably would have had if a) I hadn’t asked my mum to go back to Oxfam to buy this copy I spotted and b) it wasn’t the only book I had to read on the train to Milan.
Not a patch on the likes of Jon Krakauer or Helen Mort who really capture the beauty, magic and danger of mountain climbing in their writing, with that extra detail about the human side of it all which makes what climbers do relatable and fascinating to non-climbers like myself. I never say this but watch the film adaptation instead!
March 2, 2025
A story of survival against the odds in a harsh unforgiving environment, when they were faced with a catastrophic accident, Simon and Joe were put to the test, yet the test was different for each, for Simon the test was of sticking up to his friend, and risking his own survival chances by helping Joe to descend the mountain with a broken leg, a feat that is known in the mountaneering community as a suicide act for them both, the rule of norm was that he leave Joe behind and carry on alone, but he didn't find it in himself to leave his friend behind, yet the ordeal was stronger than his will, and he had to cut the rope in the end. As for Joe, his broken leg was supposed to be the end of the line for him, yet he did not give up, he kept pushing on after Simon cut the rope, fighting against the agony of having a broken leg day after day and hour after hour till he reached the camp.
The book was not about survival only, but also on how a catastrophe, or when you think you have reached the lowest point or even the end of your life, you might be amazed to see that it was the metamorphosis, the cocoon that you had to pass through to reach your potential, Joe discovered after his ordeal that he had motivational and literary talents that transformed him and put him on a totally different career track.
What was different in this book is that we had the opportunity to hear the story from the 2 sides of Joe and Simon, it was not a single account of what happened leaving us to wonder or doubt it's authenticity, or completeness.
Life is better understood by looking in the rear view mirror, when you can measure and see the future results of the present decisions and events, and how they shape your journey.
What doesn't break you, makes you stronger (or in Joe's case, what breaks you, makes you stronger).
MiM
The book was not about survival only, but also on how a catastrophe, or when you think you have reached the lowest point or even the end of your life, you might be amazed to see that it was the metamorphosis, the cocoon that you had to pass through to reach your potential, Joe discovered after his ordeal that he had motivational and literary talents that transformed him and put him on a totally different career track.
What was different in this book is that we had the opportunity to hear the story from the 2 sides of Joe and Simon, it was not a single account of what happened leaving us to wonder or doubt it's authenticity, or completeness.
Life is better understood by looking in the rear view mirror, when you can measure and see the future results of the present decisions and events, and how they shape your journey.
What doesn't break you, makes you stronger (or in Joe's case, what breaks you, makes you stronger).
MiM
June 11, 2020
I read this (listened actually) in three days, in long intense sections, feeling the cold bitter wind blow through my car in Covid Lock Down minor traffic. My hands feeling frostbitten as I washed dishes, and just sitting staring at my floor, as the moral calculus of Simon's decisions rang through my head. I immediately watched the movie with a climbing friend of mine. We paused often to discuss the realities of what these two men had survived.
I must also say the movie is very true to the book.
it's a gripping tale, told with rare candour by both parties. Giving incredible insight into dealing with harrowing accidents, and the terrible decisions they necessitate.
We went climbing today at a small rock face near my home, and Joe was close to my mind throughout the slow ascent of cold rock. I am deeply grateful to live in a country where snow is a rare novelty.
Highly recommend.
I must also say the movie is very true to the book.
it's a gripping tale, told with rare candour by both parties. Giving incredible insight into dealing with harrowing accidents, and the terrible decisions they necessitate.
We went climbing today at a small rock face near my home, and Joe was close to my mind throughout the slow ascent of cold rock. I am deeply grateful to live in a country where snow is a rare novelty.
Highly recommend.
October 3, 2024
Imagina que estás con un amigo en lo alto de un pico nevado de los Andes. Vais encordados, por seguridad. De repente, tu amigo, que además está severamente herido por una caída previa, y al que has estado ayudando a descender, resbala por un precipicio y queda colgando de la cuerda que lo une a ti, que caes e intentas sujetarte como puedes en la fuerte pendiente cubierta de nieve blanda. Él cuelga inerte incapaz de alcanzar la pared, y tú te sujetas precariamente, con frecuentes deslizamientos, sin tener dónde agarrarte en esa pendiente nevada, mientras el peso de tu amigo colgando del extremo de la cuerda te acerca también al borde del precipicio.
¿Qué haces?
Estamos ante el relato de una experiencia real, pero difícilmente una novela de acción y suspense puede superar la realidad narrada en este libro. Es un relato en primera persona de una experiencia al límite, bordeando la muerte, luchando contra los elementos y contra las ganas de rendirse, por la superviviencia, en soledad, herido e indefenso en medio de los Andes.
En 1995, Joe Simpson y Simon Yates se disponían a escalar el Siula Grande, en los Andes peruanos. Simon y Joe estaban completamente solos (bueno, acompañados por Richard, un mochilero sin experiencia en montaña que se les unió en la aventura y les esperaba en el campamento base) alejados de cualquier población, totalmente aislados entre los glaciares de los Andes.
El ascenso fue bien, pero todo se torció en el descenso. El mal tiempo y, sobre todo, la mala suerte, provocaron una primera caída de Joe que se tradujo en una horrible rotura de tibia y rodilla, terminando con una pierna absolutamente inservible, retorcida de formas inimaginables, y con dolores insoportables. Aquello prácticamente suponía su muerte, ante la práctica imposibilidad de que Simon solo pudiera ayudarlo a bajar de la montaña, sin poder contar con ninguna ayuda externa. Pese a todo, al borde del agotamiento y sufriendo Joe intensos dolores, estuvieron a punto de conseguirlo... hasta que la mala suerte terminó con Joe colgando de una cuerda en un desplome, sin forma alguna de alcanzar la pared de roca, mientras Simon luchaba por sujetar la cuerda, precariamente sujeto en una fuerte pendiente de nieve blanda, a punto de resbalar y despeñarse los dos en el vacío.
NOTA: el resto de esta reseña contiene spoilers... aunque el hecho de que el libro esté firmado por Joe Simpson debería indicarte algo, aparte de ser una historia real que puede consultarse en Google...
Durante una hora lo intentaron todo, sin éxito. Simon llegó a resbalar un par de veces, arrastrado por el peso de Joe, a punto de perecer ambos. Finalmente, agotado y sin alternativas, Simon decidió cortar la cuerda de la que colgaba Joe, dejándolo caer en el vacío para así poder al menos salvarse él. Solo pensar en cómo llegas a tomar una decisión así es prácticamente inimaginable.
Tras una noche horrible bajo la tormenta tras haber cortado la cuerda, Simon consiguió descender de la montaña y volver a las tiendas del campamento base. Al pasar junto al punto del que había colgado Joe, vio que éste habría caído en el interior de una profunda grieta del glaciar. No había nada que hacer, ni siquiera parecía posible que se pudiera rescatar el cuerpo.
Sin embargo, Joe había sobrevivido. Por pura suerte, de forma increíble para cualquiera, tras una primera caída en el vacío, su descenso había sido primero amortiguado por una masa de nieve, y luego, ya en el interior de la grieta del glaciar, había tenido la inmensa suerte de caer sobre un precario y estrecho puente de hielo formado entre las paredes de la grieta.
Lo que siguió es digno de las mayores epopeyas cinematográficas: sin comida, sin agua, con una sola pierna útil y sufriendo intensos dolores en la otra, Joe luchó durante más de dos días, arrastrándose, reptando, temiendo caer en el fondo de alguna de las innumerables grietas del glaciar, y después moviéndose a través de campos de rocas, hasta llegar al campamento base. Llegó exhausto, a punto de morir, cuando Simon y Richard estaban ya a punto de abandonar el campamento para volver a la civilización. No es ficción: fue la realidad. Y este libro lo narra en la voz en primera persona de los mismos Joe y Simon.
Muchas veces se dice que la realidad supera a la ficción. Este libro es la mejor prueba.
¿Qué haces?
Estamos ante el relato de una experiencia real, pero difícilmente una novela de acción y suspense puede superar la realidad narrada en este libro. Es un relato en primera persona de una experiencia al límite, bordeando la muerte, luchando contra los elementos y contra las ganas de rendirse, por la superviviencia, en soledad, herido e indefenso en medio de los Andes.
En 1995, Joe Simpson y Simon Yates se disponían a escalar el Siula Grande, en los Andes peruanos. Simon y Joe estaban completamente solos (bueno, acompañados por Richard, un mochilero sin experiencia en montaña que se les unió en la aventura y les esperaba en el campamento base) alejados de cualquier población, totalmente aislados entre los glaciares de los Andes.
El ascenso fue bien, pero todo se torció en el descenso. El mal tiempo y, sobre todo, la mala suerte, provocaron una primera caída de Joe que se tradujo en una horrible rotura de tibia y rodilla, terminando con una pierna absolutamente inservible, retorcida de formas inimaginables, y con dolores insoportables. Aquello prácticamente suponía su muerte, ante la práctica imposibilidad de que Simon solo pudiera ayudarlo a bajar de la montaña, sin poder contar con ninguna ayuda externa. Pese a todo, al borde del agotamiento y sufriendo Joe intensos dolores, estuvieron a punto de conseguirlo... hasta que la mala suerte terminó con Joe colgando de una cuerda en un desplome, sin forma alguna de alcanzar la pared de roca, mientras Simon luchaba por sujetar la cuerda, precariamente sujeto en una fuerte pendiente de nieve blanda, a punto de resbalar y despeñarse los dos en el vacío.
NOTA: el resto de esta reseña contiene spoilers... aunque el hecho de que el libro esté firmado por Joe Simpson debería indicarte algo, aparte de ser una historia real que puede consultarse en Google...
Durante una hora lo intentaron todo, sin éxito. Simon llegó a resbalar un par de veces, arrastrado por el peso de Joe, a punto de perecer ambos. Finalmente, agotado y sin alternativas, Simon decidió cortar la cuerda de la que colgaba Joe, dejándolo caer en el vacío para así poder al menos salvarse él. Solo pensar en cómo llegas a tomar una decisión así es prácticamente inimaginable.
Tras una noche horrible bajo la tormenta tras haber cortado la cuerda, Simon consiguió descender de la montaña y volver a las tiendas del campamento base. Al pasar junto al punto del que había colgado Joe, vio que éste habría caído en el interior de una profunda grieta del glaciar. No había nada que hacer, ni siquiera parecía posible que se pudiera rescatar el cuerpo.
Sin embargo, Joe había sobrevivido. Por pura suerte, de forma increíble para cualquiera, tras una primera caída en el vacío, su descenso había sido primero amortiguado por una masa de nieve, y luego, ya en el interior de la grieta del glaciar, había tenido la inmensa suerte de caer sobre un precario y estrecho puente de hielo formado entre las paredes de la grieta.
Lo que siguió es digno de las mayores epopeyas cinematográficas: sin comida, sin agua, con una sola pierna útil y sufriendo intensos dolores en la otra, Joe luchó durante más de dos días, arrastrándose, reptando, temiendo caer en el fondo de alguna de las innumerables grietas del glaciar, y después moviéndose a través de campos de rocas, hasta llegar al campamento base. Llegó exhausto, a punto de morir, cuando Simon y Richard estaban ya a punto de abandonar el campamento para volver a la civilización. No es ficción: fue la realidad. Y este libro lo narra en la voz en primera persona de los mismos Joe y Simon.
Muchas veces se dice que la realidad supera a la ficción. Este libro es la mejor prueba.
April 2, 2024
Amazing true story of climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates and their horrifying ordeal on Siula Grande in 1985 in the Peruvian Andes. After reaching the summit via the previously unclimbed west face, they ran into trouble on the descent. Joe Simpson takes the reader through his near-death experience on the mountain. During the critical segments of the climb, Simon Yates’s perspective is included. The writing is wonderful, especially considering Simpson never set out to be a writer. It is filled with vivid descriptions of the terrain as well as the details of mountaineering techniques. I felt fully immersed in the narrative. Simpson has a knack for conveying his innermost thoughts and emotions in a relatable manner. It is intense and engrossing. It is a story of physical and psychological trauma, as well as one of friendship. I have always been fascinated by those who take extreme risks to accomplish a self-imposed goal, and especially if they involve activities in an exceptionally cold environment. Highly recommended to those who enjoy true stories of survival, mountaineering, or extremely perilous adventures.
February 23, 2019
This is a classic among mountain climbing memoirs. A terrible climbing accident on a particularly dangerous mountain leads to an extraordinary story of survival. The writing was stellar, creating an immediacy to each scene with such power that, despite knowing the outcome, I was on the edge of my seat throughout. In any other book, this would easily gain four stars from me. However, this book also made me so angry. I don’t understand the impetus to engage in such highly risky activities just for the thrill of it. Had this extraordinary effort for survival occurred as a result of natural disaster or war or of the effort to rescue another person, my reaction would have been much different. But, knowing people who are doing everything they can to survive disease or violence or poverty, I am enraged by anyone who deliberately puts their own life in peril. 3.5 stars
November 21, 2018
Estos libros de supervivencia en situaciones extremas siempre gustan y enganchan. Solo le sobran algunas páginas y que no fuera tan detallado para ser redondo.
January 12, 2023
I listened to the audiobook of this as a book club challenge - story of survival. I think I'd seen ads for the docudrama movie but never seen the whole thing.
Anyway I know nothing about mountaineering (although I did meet Chris Bonington on a plane many years ago - does that count? No? Ok). I was completely lost as to pretty much all the terminology but you get used to it after a while and a bit of Googling was all I required to understand.
It's an amazing tale of how Joe Simpson and Simon Yates (not the cyclist) managed to scale the west face of Siula Grande and return despite Joe having broken his leg and fallen hundreds of feet through a crevasse after Simon cut the rope from which he was dangling (thereby saving both their lives).
It's fascinating to hear how they both did extraordinary things during the climb and the utter desolation they must have felt after Joe broke his leg. At first Simon makes a superhuman effort to help his friend down the mountain but after another fall over the edge of the mountain there seems to be no choice but to cut the rope.
I found the epilogue most interesting written, as it was, years after the incident. A truly remarkable survival story. Well written and clearly narrated. You don't need to know anything about mountaineering to enjoy it. I didn't.
Anyway I know nothing about mountaineering (although I did meet Chris Bonington on a plane many years ago - does that count? No? Ok). I was completely lost as to pretty much all the terminology but you get used to it after a while and a bit of Googling was all I required to understand.
It's an amazing tale of how Joe Simpson and Simon Yates (not the cyclist) managed to scale the west face of Siula Grande and return despite Joe having broken his leg and fallen hundreds of feet through a crevasse after Simon cut the rope from which he was dangling (thereby saving both their lives).
It's fascinating to hear how they both did extraordinary things during the climb and the utter desolation they must have felt after Joe broke his leg. At first Simon makes a superhuman effort to help his friend down the mountain but after another fall over the edge of the mountain there seems to be no choice but to cut the rope.
I found the epilogue most interesting written, as it was, years after the incident. A truly remarkable survival story. Well written and clearly narrated. You don't need to know anything about mountaineering to enjoy it. I didn't.
January 17, 2015
This is the story of young mountaineer Joe Simpson. Along with his friend Simon Yates, he is attempting to climb a mountain in Peru, Siula Grande by a route that had never been climbed before. During their time in the mountains, however, disaster strikes. First a fall leaves Joe with a serious injury and while they are trying to get back down the mountain, another fall results in Simon having to cut the rope joining them together to save his own life and effectively condemning Joe to die on Siula Grande.
This is where the real point of the story begins. We follow Simon as he returns to their camp, hampered by frostbite and burdened with the guilt of what he has done, believing that he has effectively murdered his friend and wondering how to break the new to their other friend, who didn’t climb with them. We also follow Joe, battling to get down the mountain before the mountain gets him down, battling against the elements as well as a badly injured leg and being barely able to stand, yet alone walk.
This splits the book into two distinct parts. The first is the mountaineering part, where it’s two men against a mountain. The second is the descent, where there are two individual stories of men battling the circumstances as well as the elements. As the author and, in fairness, the one with the larger obstacles, the majority of this second part of the book focuses on Joe Simpson as his battle for survival against the odds.
Unfortunately, although it’s an amazing story, it’s not one that’s terribly well told. The first section is full of technical language, used to describe the hazards of the mountain and the tools they use in their attempts to defeat it. If you’re not used to climbing mountains, this section is likely to leave you largely confused, as it did me. I had no idea what a cornice or a spindrift was before reading the book and only the vaguest idea of what a crampon does and my knowledge has not been improved in the slightest by reading it.
It is clear that climbing mountains is a dangerous business, but Joe Simpson fails to express this in terms of how dangerous it could really be. I also have little doubt from the photos in the book that climbing can put you in a position to see beautiful sights and scenery lost to most of us, but his descriptions didn’t once leave me feeling that it was something I wanted to see. It feels as if this book might have been a chance to bring mountaineering to a wider audience, but it is an opportunity missed as the language used could be beyond the understanding of that audience, much as it was beyond mine.
The second part, the descent, is better in terms of the language, but the emotional distance I felt from the events described was greater. This part should have been a moving story of Joe’s battle against everything to get down the mountain, in agony from a broken leg and feeling that he was about to die at any moment. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel any of this. The way Joe describes his battle for survival seemed dry and mechanical. He frequently reminds us of the agony he is in thanks to his injured leg, but I didn’t feel able to share that pain with him. He may have been close to death on any number of fronts, but in many ways he sounded like a machine recounting the story. Where I was expecting to be sucked into a tale of danger and wondering if he would survive, I felt more like a detached observer, completely uninvolved and having no great desire to become so. Similarly, I felt unable to share the guilt which we are told was Simon’s constant companion on his descent back to their base camp.
It’s a great pity, as I have little doubt that this is a great survival story. My mind tells me that Joe was in great pain and in great danger. My mind tells me that Simon was suffering emotionally from loss and the consequences of his actions. But no matter how often my mind tells me this, I am still unable to become emotionally involved in the events described. Sadly, this makes the whole experience feel like a badly told story, rather than an actual experience that the author went through.
If you’re a mountaineer yourself, I suspect you’ll get a lot more out of the book than I did. You’ll know exactly what Joe is talking about with all the technical terms he uses in the first part of the book. If you’ve been in any kind of danger or injured on a mountain, you’ll have much more of an idea of what both men were feeling in the second part.
Ultimately, “Touching the Void” failed miserably at expressing those emotions and the end result was like a field after a snowstorm; although you know that underneath the surface there may be something more meaningful, all you can see is the unbroken surface, bland and featureless.
This review may also appear under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
This is where the real point of the story begins. We follow Simon as he returns to their camp, hampered by frostbite and burdened with the guilt of what he has done, believing that he has effectively murdered his friend and wondering how to break the new to their other friend, who didn’t climb with them. We also follow Joe, battling to get down the mountain before the mountain gets him down, battling against the elements as well as a badly injured leg and being barely able to stand, yet alone walk.
This splits the book into two distinct parts. The first is the mountaineering part, where it’s two men against a mountain. The second is the descent, where there are two individual stories of men battling the circumstances as well as the elements. As the author and, in fairness, the one with the larger obstacles, the majority of this second part of the book focuses on Joe Simpson as his battle for survival against the odds.
Unfortunately, although it’s an amazing story, it’s not one that’s terribly well told. The first section is full of technical language, used to describe the hazards of the mountain and the tools they use in their attempts to defeat it. If you’re not used to climbing mountains, this section is likely to leave you largely confused, as it did me. I had no idea what a cornice or a spindrift was before reading the book and only the vaguest idea of what a crampon does and my knowledge has not been improved in the slightest by reading it.
It is clear that climbing mountains is a dangerous business, but Joe Simpson fails to express this in terms of how dangerous it could really be. I also have little doubt from the photos in the book that climbing can put you in a position to see beautiful sights and scenery lost to most of us, but his descriptions didn’t once leave me feeling that it was something I wanted to see. It feels as if this book might have been a chance to bring mountaineering to a wider audience, but it is an opportunity missed as the language used could be beyond the understanding of that audience, much as it was beyond mine.
The second part, the descent, is better in terms of the language, but the emotional distance I felt from the events described was greater. This part should have been a moving story of Joe’s battle against everything to get down the mountain, in agony from a broken leg and feeling that he was about to die at any moment. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel any of this. The way Joe describes his battle for survival seemed dry and mechanical. He frequently reminds us of the agony he is in thanks to his injured leg, but I didn’t feel able to share that pain with him. He may have been close to death on any number of fronts, but in many ways he sounded like a machine recounting the story. Where I was expecting to be sucked into a tale of danger and wondering if he would survive, I felt more like a detached observer, completely uninvolved and having no great desire to become so. Similarly, I felt unable to share the guilt which we are told was Simon’s constant companion on his descent back to their base camp.
It’s a great pity, as I have little doubt that this is a great survival story. My mind tells me that Joe was in great pain and in great danger. My mind tells me that Simon was suffering emotionally from loss and the consequences of his actions. But no matter how often my mind tells me this, I am still unable to become emotionally involved in the events described. Sadly, this makes the whole experience feel like a badly told story, rather than an actual experience that the author went through.
If you’re a mountaineer yourself, I suspect you’ll get a lot more out of the book than I did. You’ll know exactly what Joe is talking about with all the technical terms he uses in the first part of the book. If you’ve been in any kind of danger or injured on a mountain, you’ll have much more of an idea of what both men were feeling in the second part.
Ultimately, “Touching the Void” failed miserably at expressing those emotions and the end result was like a field after a snowstorm; although you know that underneath the surface there may be something more meaningful, all you can see is the unbroken surface, bland and featureless.
This review may also appear under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
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