A great read, at any time!

If you want to read a book that will capture your interest from page 1 and keep you reading day and night, I suggest that Touching the Void by Joe Simpson is the book for you. This book is action-packed with adventure, danger, and a story of friendship that survives life and the possibility of death. It is a story that will involve you with the lives of two mountain climbers in the Peruvian Andes. You will experience the intense emotions of these two young men as they climb through fear, physical trauma, depression, and hopelessness.
Joe Simpson and his partner Simon Yates successfully climb a 21,000 foot peak in the Andes mountains and on their decent they are faced with a serious accident as one falls and breaks his leg. The two continue to struggle down the mountain until they are separated as Joe falls into a crevasse. Fear and despair affect both of them. Joe awoke after a night in the crevasse, "All that sobbing and shouting had been too much. Acceptance seemed better. There was no trauma this way. I was certain then that Simon would leave me for dead." Simon also faced desperation the next day, "I had never felt so wretchedly alone. I could not have won, and began to understand the reason for my dreadful sense of condemnation in the snow cave."
The book is filled with incredible description and detail about mountain climbing and its effects on the human body. It is an adventure story not only about two men's struggle against the physical conditions but it is also about the inner struggle to somehow survive fear and desperation. Both men are required to use their internal strength to overcome the conditions in which they find themselves. This is a book that will engage you from the beginning and will take you on an amazing journey where you will experience excitement, fear, terror, sadness, and eventual relief. This is a story not to be missed.

EXTREME ADVENTURE IN THE PERUVIAN ANDES

An amazing tale of courage, fortitude, and a desire to live, despite dire circumstances. The author, Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, ascend a perilous section of the Peruvian Andes. Near the summit, tragedy strikes when Joe, up over 19,000 feet, falls and hits a slope at the base of a cliff, breaking his right leg, rupturing his right knee, and shattering his right heel. Beneath him is a seemingly endless fall to the bottom. Simon reaches him but knows that the chances for Joe to get off the mountain are virtually non-existent. Yet, they fashion a daring plan to to do just that.

For the next few hours, through a snow storm, they work in tandem, and manage a risky, yet effective way of trying to lower Joe down the mountain. About three thousand feet down, Joe who is still roped to Simon, drops off an edge, and finds himself now free hanging in space six feet away from an ice wall, unable to reach it with his axe. The edge is over hung about fifteen feet above him. The dark outline of a crevasse lies about a hundred feet directly below him.

Joe couln't get up, and Simon couldn't get down. In fact, Joe's weight began to pull Simon off the mountain. So, Simon was finally forced to do the only thing he could do under the circumstances. He cut the rope, believing that he was consigning his friend to certain death. Therein lies the tale.

What happens next is sure to make one believe in miracles.

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.