Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.77 You Save: $6.18 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.33 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival
Book Review: Even better than the movie
Summary: 4 Stars
As good as the movie was this was even better. (saw the movie first) An amazing story of survival as well as a glimpse into the mindset and mental and physical toughness of alpine mountaineers. Anyone who wanders into the back country, regardless of experience, could end up facing a similar situation as recent events attest. Book Review: A hard act to follow
Summary: 5 Stars
Where could Simpson go from here? Hardly almost kill himself again & write another! Well it could be worse, making a living being a guest speaker at business functions. His grain of wisdom seems to be that if you want to succeed, (or get out!)then you have to get in deeper.Book Review: EXTREME ADVENTURE IN THE PERUVIAN ANDES...
Summary: 4 Stars
This book recounts an amazing tale of courage, fortitude, and the will to live, despite dire circumstances. The author, Joe Simpson, and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, attempted to ascend a perilous section of the Peruvian Andes. Near the summit, tragedy struck when Joe, up over 19,000 feet, fell and hit a slope at the base of a cliff, breaking his right leg, rupturing his right knee, and shattering his right heel. Beneath him was a seemingly endless fall to the bottom.
When Simon reached him, they both knew that the chances for getting Joe off the mountain were virtually non-existent. Yet, they fashioned a daring plan to do just that. For the next few hours, they worked in tandem through a snowstorm, and managed a risky, yet effective way of trying to lower Joe down the mountain.
About three thousand feet down, Joe, who was still roped to Simon, dropped off an edge and found himself now free hanging in space six feet away from an ice wall, unable to reach it with his axe. The edge was over hung about fifteen feet above him. The dark outline of a crevasse lay about a hundred feet directly below him.
Joe could not get up, and Simon could not get down. In fact, Joe's weight began to pull Simon off the mountain. So, Simon was finally forced to do the only thing he could do under the circumstances. He cut the rope, believing that he was consigning his friend to certain death. Therein lies the tale.
What happens next is sure to make one believe in miracles. This is an absorbing read and one of the great stories in mountaineering literature.
Book Review: Touching the Void
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a real page-turner. Despite the fact that you know the outcome of this story, Joe Simpson takes you with him on the impossible journey. You'll have no trouble making time to read right through this exciting book. Book Review: Success through Failure
Summary: 5 Stars
A Riveting, captivating, and intense story of luck, survival, and clever thought keeping the reader glued too the book until it is finished. Here are my thoughts: 1. The climb to the summit is dangerous, but the descent to the bottom is more deadly. 2. The dream of reaching the summit invokes massive adrenalin surges and intense God-like visions of grandeur. Joe and Simon got caught up in the moment of glory at the top causing them to dream of more daring feats and adventures. The day-dream was potential distractive because it detoured them from realizing they need to start focusing and preparing for the descent down. 3. Joe and Simon were equally fit and Joe envied Simon climbing skill and pose in danger. Joe and Simon both experience near fatal slides through snowy powder, collision with falling rocks, floods of small avalanche snow slides, and intense fear relating to the possibility of step into the void and falling 4,500 onto the glacier below. 4. Joe and Simon narrative include discussion of how they control strong emotional fear perceptions by returning to rationale and objective thought. Thought and belief lead to action. Action practiced and understood through years of experience climbing mountains. However, action often leads to failure, but as long as the failure was not fatal, the climbers learned and kept moving. 5. Action required life and death decisions by Simon. Simon and Jeo reach the west side of the mountain which is a safer descent down and this gives them hope they will get off the mountain. Simon sits on a seat cut out in the snow and lowers Joe and Joe then builds the next seat as Simon climbs down to the next seat; they repeat the process rapidly until Joe falls over an ice cliff hundreds of feet above the glacier bottom. Simon can't hold the weight and Simon must cut the rope holding Joe suspending in a crevice. Simon thinks he has killed Joe. Simon had to act and if Simon didn't cut the rope, he believed he too would be pulled over the ice cliff.
Success through failure is the central theme of this book. Both Joe and Simon had to act and too not act meant freezing to death on the mountain. Acting meant possible falling through the snow into the void, but the failures were usually mitigated by the equipment and safety procedures preventing fatal failure. Miscalculation seems to have been the cause of the serious judgments in error: 1. Joe admits too the lack of study about the path for descent 2. Joe removes the safety line and then the accident occurs, an accident that leaves his leg useless, pain filled, and jeopardizes his chances of survival. 3. Joe and Simon miscalculate the amount of petro they needed for the descent down. They didn't carry tents and reduce weight, but they did carry extra oxygen for the climb to the top and both Jeo and Simon's focus was on reaching the summit and not on getting back to base camp. 4. Simon could have abandon Jeo after his accident. Jeo realized any attempt to save him could mean death for both of them. Simon failure of not abandoning Jeo turned into a success, as he managed to lower Jeo over 3,000 feet, 150 feet at a time. Jeo and Simon defied odds and turn the odds in their favor giving them increased confidence to survive.
Luck favored Jeo. Jeo managed to lowered himself on a snow crust at the bottom of the crevice and navigate himself to the surface into the sunlight. The element of luck seemed to favor Jeo. Jeo reflected on the death of two Japanese climbers, whose line failed them and they fell to their deaths, as they crashed and slide down the glacier 4,500 feet below. Jeo commented how they seemed to defy the odds of failure that did not spare the Japanese climbers.
I also recommend reading "Into the Thin blue Air" and "Success through failure"