
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson is a gripping non-fiction account of a disastrous mountaineering expedition in the Peruvian Andes. The book recounts the harrowing tale of two climbers, Simon Yates and Joe Simpson, who successfully summit Siula Grande but face a life-threatening situation on the descent when Simpson breaks his leg. The narrative is filled with suspense, personal willpower, and the sheer determination to survive against all odds. Simpson's writing style is described as immediate, truthful, and compelling, providing a detailed insight into the physical and emotional challenges faced during the expedition.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Triggers may include detailed descriptions of physical injury, extreme cold, and psychological trauma experienced during life-threatening situations.
From The Publisher:
Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, had just reached the top of a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes when disaster struck. Simpson plunged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg. In the hours that followed, darkness fell and a blizzard raged as Yates tried to lower his friend to safety. Finally, Yates was forced to cut the rope, moments before he would have been pulled to his own death.
The next three days were an impossibly grueling ordeal for both men. Yates, certain that Simpson was dead, returned to base camp consumed with grief and guilt over abandoning him. Miraculously, Simpson had survived the fall, but crippled, starving, and severely frostbitten was trapped in a deep crevasse. Summoning vast reserves of physical and spiritual strength, Simpson crawled over the cliffs and canyons of the Andes, reaching base camp hours before Yates had planned to leave.
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.
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About the Author:
Joe Simpson is the author of several bestselling books, of which the first, Touching the Void, won both the NCR Award and the Boardman Tasker Award. His later books are This Game of Ghosts, Storms of Silence, Dark Shadows Falling, The Beckoning Silence and a novel, The Water People.
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