inspiring story of the subconscious power of human survival and instinct (Touching the Void - Joe Simpson)

Member Name: MissTierney

Product:	Touching the Void - Joe Simpson
Date:	26/05/09 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gripping and inspiring

Disadvantages: some technical words used

I have just finished reading this book and feel its a good time to write a review about it.
I wasn't particularly excited about reading it when it was recommended to me as i have no interest in mountain climbing, but it was something different, so i bought it from Amazon anyway.

'Touching the void' is Joe Simpsons account of a climb he made with his friend Simon, in the Peruvian mountains in 1985.
Upon their early descent, Joe gets badly injured and tells of the fight him and his friend make to get back down the mountain, and at a point Simon has to make an instinctive decision which should have seen Joe plunge to his death. Believing his friend is dead, Simon carries on back down the mountain, and the book tells the story of Simons struggle with the guilt and knowledge of what he was forced to do to save himself.
Joe, still badly injured, somehow through luck manages to survive the fall. He battles with pain, fear, and the prospect of death constantly on the rest of his journey back down the mountain. He describes the emotions, the maddening effects of solitude, pain, dehydration, desperation, and the 'voices' inside willing him on to survive.

This book had me gripped from the start, and many a night i have fought desperately against my tired eyes to carry on reading!!
A surprise hit for me personally, i would never have seen this book in a shop and took a second glance.
It managed to take me on Joes journey and the emotional rollercoaster which varied from pure desperation to utter madness!
As someone who knows nothing about mountaineering, i still found it easy to follow, although i didn't know what some of the words meant, they weren't that hard to guess with the context.
A fantastic read, although i feel like i have been up there and done it myself now im exhausted !!

Summary: an inspiring story of the subconscious power of human survival and instinct