In "Storms of Silence", Joe Simpson recalls the severe snowstorm which put an end to an attempt with four others on Gangchempo and the infection which forced him to abandon the climb on Cho Oyu in tibet. During that expedition, he has a disturbing encounter with a party of political refugees and a 4-year-old boy fleeing across the Tibetan border. He becomes obsessed with stories of Chinese brutality in the old world Tibet they overran by force 40 years ago. He also begins to question the ethic of playing rich men's games in Third World countries, contributing little to the local people who endure a fearful struggle to survive. Oppression abroad makes him see mindless violence in his home town of Sheffield in a new light. The books ends with his first trip to the Andes in Peru since "Touching the Void".

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. 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.

2008-05-04 an honest man

I was touched by his honesty, the explorations into his motivations for climbing, for pushing himself, and also the things that drive his companions. As more and more of them are taken by the mountains...
Harrowing eye-opener about the plight of the people in Tibet. He writes with a passion and strange detachment when he encounters the boys along the paths.
This book made me look at how much we all are compatmentalising the plight of the people in far away countries. How much can we do just by raising the awarenss? Thanks very much to Joe for including his personal reactions to the political events.
It also cleared up some misconceptions I had about mountaineering. I thought that you would get all mushy about the closeness to nature, and the quiet and feel the awsome wonder of it all, hone your instincts etc, instead they are unaware of approaching avalances because the walkman is blaring out "White wedding...or some such stuff"