Touching the Void by Joe Simpson Reviewed by Steve Rudd

Autobiographical tales don't come much more nail-biting than this living nightmare, recalled by mountaineer Joe who was left for dead on a snow-riddled peak in Peru back in 1985.

After getting into trouble on the 21,000 ft Siula Grande with friend Simon Yates, Simon was forced to cut a rope that tethered them both together which resulted in Joe falling into a crevasse. If Simon hadn't cut the rope, it seemed certain that he would be dragged down with Joe. Amazingly though, Joe survived the fall and - over the course of a few days - miraculously managed to crawl back to their base camp where Simon was still winding down after the nightmare he had experienced up on the mountain, understandably racked with guilt over Joe's seemingly inevitable fate. It never really crossed Simon's mind that Joe might somehow still be alive..

Remarks Joe, when it came to literally digging his heels in to get off that mountain alone.. In a peculiar way it was refreshing to be faced with simple choices. It made me feel sharp and alert, and I looked ahead at the land stretching into distant haze and saw my part in it with greater clarity and honesty than I had ever experienced before.

This truly remarkable story isn't just told by Joe, as the narration of the events that transpired chop and change with both Joe and Simon taking it in turns with their side of things. Joe realises that Simon HAD TO cut the rope and doesn't feel in anyway mad at Simon; he did what he had to do at the time. Still, at the time there was allegedly a huge furore surrounding Simon's action, suggesting that the act of rope-cutting was in some ways selfish. But as you read more of Touching The Void you come to realise how Simon can't really be blamed for anything. Their misadventure took both of them by surprise and they acted appropriately given the life-or-death circumstances.

Such is the inspirational power of Joe's tale, Touching The Void has more recently been made into a movie (in which Joe actually appears), relating the story to more folk than ever. It's not just a story that will interest die-hard mountaineers. Far from it.. for Joe always writes from the heart and makes time to reflect on life in general. The seething survival ethic of this story could be applied to so many things in life, the major philosophy being ground hard into the fact that whatever one wants to achieve - don't give up, don't give up, don't give up.

Joe's strength of spirit should inspire even the most pessimistic and cynical of people. So take a chance yourself why don't you, and give this book a try. ISBN 0-099-45229-4 (Random House/ first published in GB in 1988) www.randomhouse.co.uk/vintage

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