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Touching the Void: The True Story of One…
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Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival (original 1988; edition 2004)

by Joe Simpson

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2,626705,536 (4.15)90
The 25th Anniversary ebook, now with more than 50 images. 'Touching the Void' is the tale of two mountaineer's harrowing ordeal in the Peruvian Andes. In the summer of 1985, two young, headstrong mountaineers set off to conquer an unclimbed route. They had triumphantly reached the summit, when a horrific accident mid-descent forced one friend to leave another for dead. Ambition, morality, fear and camaraderie are explored in this electronic edition of the mountaineering classic, with never before seen colour photographs taken during the trip itself.… (more)
Member:pangoli
Title:Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival
Authors:Joe Simpson
Info:Perennial (2004), Edition: Revised, Paperback, 218 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****1/2
Tags:None

Work Information

Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson (1988)

Recently added byArtur-Bobinski, RuthInman123, rowgeek, CENlibrary, erix.73, private library, mfennn, jody.morrison
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» See also 90 mentions

English (67)  Dutch (2)  Polish (1)  All languages (70)
Showing 1-5 of 67 (next | show all)
And I think my fingers get cold carrying groceries home... ( )
  Local_Decoy | Jan 22, 2024 |
A gripping and horrifying mountaineering story, but there were a few things that didn't make it as exciting for me as [b:Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster|1898|Into Thin Air A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster|Jon Krakauer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1463384482l/1898._SX50_.jpg|1816662], 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.

However, there were a few things that kept this book from being five star worthy for me. First, Joe describes the terrain a lot, but he is using mountaineering terms to do so, and even after looking them up, I still had trouble picturing the issue some of the time. I think it would have been nice if he used some analogies or something to help me picture the daunting terrain.

Second, by virtue of the fact that the author is the protagonist, the suspense is somewhat lessened. We know he ends up at least okay because he lived to write the book. Into Thin Air was written by a journalist, so while you are reading, you aren't sure of the fate of the many climbers in the story, and that added suspense for me that this book couldn't really have in the same way.


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. ( )
  Anita_Pomerantz | Mar 23, 2023 |
Since I deliberately seek out books about mountaineering disasters and obssess about those just as much as the mountains themselves, I can hardly complain that in most of the those books, people die. It's my own damn fault.

Despite that it was so nice to read a book where, just this once, everybody lives! It's quite amazing in that way, but I guess with only three people around, one staying in base camp, the odds for everyone surviving was slightly highter than usual.

Except, the fact that Joe Simpson survive is seriously unbelievable. Since breaking my ankle last year I've become quite sensitive to reading descriptions about bones breaking and oh my gods, I can't believe he managed to do a single thing of what he did with a broken leg, nevermind all of them. It took two hours for me to get to a hospital and get some drugs, it took him well over a week. I can't even begin to understand the amount of pain one has to be in to survive that.

I also can't believe he went back to shoot the documentary and there was zero psychological help available to him? True, he doesn't seem like he believes in that kind of thing, but the film crew surely must have known better? No wonder he got panic attacks, especially when they LEFT HIM ALONE!? I liked the documentary, but that was pretty fucked up.

Anyway, this truly is an amazing story about survival at all odds and it's nice to see that sometimes, occassionally, people do manage to beat all the odds. ( )
  upontheforemostship | Feb 22, 2023 |
Superlative, engaging, and eminently readable. ( )
  ShelleyAlberta | Dec 13, 2022 |
Wow, this is a brutal story about one man's survival after a climbing accident where he is left for dead. It's grippingly written and reads amazingly authentically, and is both petrifying and an amazing testament to the human will to keep trying and live. ( )
  atreic | Sep 13, 2022 |
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» Add other authors (15 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Joe Simpsonprimary authorall editionscalculated
Darlow, DavidAuthorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bonington, ChrisForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
All men dream: but not equally.

Those who dream by night in the dusty
recesses of their minds wake in the day
to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers
of the day are dangerous men, for they may
act their dreams with open eyes, to make it
possible.
- T.E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Dedication
To Simon Yates for a debt I can never repay.
And to those friends who have gone to the mountains and have not returned.
First words
I was lying in my sleeping bag, staring at the light filtering through the red and green fabric of the dome tent.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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The 25th Anniversary ebook, now with more than 50 images. 'Touching the Void' is the tale of two mountaineer's harrowing ordeal in the Peruvian Andes. In the summer of 1985, two young, headstrong mountaineers set off to conquer an unclimbed route. They had triumphantly reached the summit, when a horrific accident mid-descent forced one friend to leave another for dead. Ambition, morality, fear and camaraderie are explored in this electronic edition of the mountaineering classic, with never before seen colour photographs taken during the trip itself.

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