The sequel to the award winning Touching the Void

A sequel to the award-winning "Touching the Void", in which Simpson described a fall in the Himalayas which crippled and almost broke him. This is a memoir of the signposts that have directed him since childhood to measure fear and embrace the unknown.

Joe Simpson is the author of several best-selling books, of which the first, Touching the Void, won both the NCR Award and the Boardman Tasker Award. Since its first publication in 1988, Touching the Void has become a classic and an international bestseller, translated into fourteen languages and made into an award-winning feature-length documentary film (winner of the Outstanding British Film of the Year BAFTA 2004). Joe currently lives in Sheffield.

2007-11-14 Compelling

I came to this book after reading Touching the Void and seeing Simpson in the film of the same name. He struck me as such an odd character, a literary man and an adventurer, quietly spoken but a thrill seeker. I was curious to know more. What fascinated me about this book was the fact that the majority of the stories he recounts are about his climbing experiences after the trauma of the episodes in Touching The Void. I remember thinking: 'surely he won't climb again'. How little I knew! Not only did he climb again, but managed to get himself into some comparatively horrible situations. This book doesn't have the narrative sweep of Touching the Void, being episodic in nature. It is however, a fascinating insight into the compulsion to climb and the psyche of the climber. Simpson is a good writer, which makes it all the more memorable and worthwhile a read.