??.the?readers?transmit all the terror and death-defying relief associated with the story.?

"Touching the Void" is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson's terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1995. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that Joe was dead. What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship.

This book is an illustrated account of the ascent of the west face of the 21,000ft peak, Siula Grande, in the Peruvian Andes. The author and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, achieved the summit in June 1985 before disaster struck. A few days later, Yates staggered into base camp, exhausted and frostbitten, to tell their non-climbing companion that Joe was dead. For three days Simon Yates, believing that he had caused his friend's death, suffered torment and guilt. However, a cry in the night led them to Joe, badly injured and delirious, crawling through the snow. Far from causing his friend's death, Simon had paradoxically saved his life when he cut the rope. What happened and how they dealt with the resulting psychological trauma is the subject of this book.

Joe Simpson won the Boardman Tasker Award and the prestigious NCR Award for his first book Touching the Void, which received universal applause and was published in thirteen languages. Touching the Void was Joe's fourth book. Earlier titles include The Water People and This Game of Ghosts.

2008-05-04 a page turner

I caught half the documentary on the BBC, and was captivated, until I finally got hold of the book. I could not put it down until the last page was read at 2 in the morning.
There is not much which has not been said most eloquently in some of the other reviews, so I wont try it. But for me the fascinating thing was the nature of the voice which kept on pushing him to continue against all odds. Where do these phenomena come from, when we go beyond convention and conception? He never questions it, but in a matter of fact tells the story of a most extraordinary defiance of death. He was truly touched by grace and I love to buy him a pint if ever I get up to Sheffield....
Truly inspirational, I recomend this as imperative reading for anybody who is dealing with a life threatening disease or other circumstances. Such a fountain of inspiration to not give up...whatever