Touching the Void |
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Joe Simpson
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Pages: 176 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0099771012
Pub: Vintage
Pub date: 1998-01-01
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1462
Reader Reviews:
Better than the film! (0/0 people found this helpful)
Still immensely powerful 21 years after the event. I read this book 10 years ago and it inspired me to walk the Huayhuash Circuit last year
A testimony of supreme endurance (0/0 people found this helpful)
Upon completion of this book you'll still be wondering just how Joe Simpson survived this terrible ordeal. All the odds were against him. And after receiving his injury at such a hazardous stage of the decent, it's all too easy to think that Simpson should have gone down in the history books as just another victim of mountaineering disaster. Death defying is the only way to summarize this journey that Simpson eloquently depicts. No review can do justice to this great story that must be read first hand. It's one of my favourites. And you'll be hard-pressed to put this book down once you've picked it up.
Gut wrenching (1/1 people found this helpful)
I don't know much about climbing and never wanted to. I read this book because I was dragged to see the film Touching the Void by a friend, and came out exhilarated and traumatised in equal measure. The book, which came first, is very similar. It's a total roller coaster ride, telling a true story of a horrific climbing disaster in such a way as to make it the most compelling thing you can imagine, even if, like me, true stories and sporting tales are not your thing. Joe Simpson and his friend and climbing partner tackle a terrifically difficult mountain in the Himalayas. Used only to European mountains, they wildly underestimate their ability and their experience and things go badly wrong. That they survive is clear. Simpson writes his own story. How they survive is part of what makes the story so miraculous.
just read it (0/0 people found this helpful)
This book is the only book I have read in less than 36 hours. Not for its simplicity as its wonderfully crafted. It is so compelling, I could do nothing else until I finished it!
The story of Joe's brush with death and Simon's fear of leaving him is a miraculous tale of human endeavor, courage, compassion, skill and bravery. It points out that being brave isn't about not getting scared, but doing it anyway.
... a dangerous book for anyone who has plans for the day after you start reading it! (2/2 people found this helpful)
This is a dangerous book for anyone who has plans for the day after you start reading it. The chances are that you will be exhausted. I sat up until 3am to finish it. Having lent it to my mum, friends etc. they had similar experiences. It is much, much, better than the fairly anodyne film made several years later. This book is vibrant and compelling and holds you totally captivated, as the author battles through unbelievable conditions to escape the icy tomb into which he has fallen. I am now on my third copy; others have not been returned!
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Sports, Hobbies & Games -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Sports, Hobbies & Games -> Climbing & Mountaineering
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback