Short description
Joe Simpson has experienced a life filled with adventure but marred by death. In a narrative which takes the reader through extreme experiences from an avalanche in Bolivia, ice-climbing in the Alps and Colorado and paragliding in Spain before his final confrontation with the Eiger, Simpson reveals the inner truth of climbing.
Long description
Joe Simpson has experienced a life filled with adventure but marred by death. He has endured the painful attrition of climbing friends in accidents, calling into question the perilously exhilarating activity to which he has devoted his life. Probability is inexorably closing in. The tragic loss of a close friend forces a momentous decision upon him. It is time to turn his back on the mountains that he has loved. Never more alive than when most at risk, he has come to see a last climb on the hooded, mile-high North Face of the Eiger as the cathartic finale. In a narrative which takes the reader through extreme experiences from an avalanche in Bolivia, ice-climbing in the Alps and Colorado and paragliding in Spain before his final confrontation with the Eiger, Simpson reveals the inner truth of climbing, exploring both the power of the mind and the frailties of the body. The subject of his new book is the siren song of fear and his struggle to come to terms with it.
Review
Simpson writes better on the darker side of mountaineering than any man alive. -- The Times
Grippingly told...there is no question Simpson is a brilliant adventure writer. There are passages that had my heart racing...his descriptions of the inner uncertainties that dog the climber are among the most convincing I have ever read. -- Observer
The thrilling way in which Simpson recounts the storm that hits them and the difficult aftermath is as racy as any adventure novel. -- Sunday Express
Praise for Touching the Void :
Not just a book about mountaineering... It is about the spirit of man and the life force that drives us all. -- Magnus Magnusson, presenting the NCR Award
On every level... an outstanding literary achievement. -- Jim Perrin, Independent
Simpson writes better on the darker side of mountaineering than any man alive. -- The Times