The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival

A Book Review of ‘Touching the Void’ by Joe Simpson

This book is about the story of Joe Simpson, along with Simon Yates, who climbed the 6344m Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. I didn’t know anything about the book before reading it, only being recommended to me as a great survival story.

Before you proceed, keep in mind that this review contains spoilers.

As I was reading it, I remembered a story I once heard, not sure where and a long time ago, of someone who managed to survive with broken legs by crawling for days. It’s a memory I didn’t even know I had, but I guess reading about the mountains revived it somehow. I thought that perhaps this was that story? I thought of it with great excitement, as it’s likely one of the most inspirational survival stories I have ever heard. But there were two people, and I knew that the story only had a single person, so I assumed it wasn’t this one.

In their journey, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates managed to climb the summit, but upon descent, Joe slipped down and had a heavy fall, breaking his leg. They were out of fuel, meaning they couldn’t heat up snow for drinking water, and dehydration was a fatal concern in their situation.

Later Joe fell yet again, this time from such a height that Simon could not see or hear him from above. He couldn’t climb back up. Simon thought he didn’t survive the fall, and he was in very real danger of dying himself due to bad weather and lack of water. So he cut the rope and began the descent alone.

The rest of the story is Joe’s journey to get back to base camp, in what seemed impossible odds. This is where I realized that indeed it was the story I initially thought of. He couldn’t walk, so he initially hopped, and eventually, even hopping was impossible. So he had to crawl. He was aided by a voice, which insisted that he kept moving, and he played games where he would try to reach a certain point within a specified time limit.

It was spectacular to read. Even in the beginning, I really enjoyed it with the spirit of companionship with Simon and the adventure of the climb. But of course, it peaked with Joe’s lonely journey, with endless suffering, both physically and mentally. In other survival stories I have read, people are usually with other survivors, but here Joe was completely alone. And he constantly struggled with his sanity. At some point, he even honestly believed that Simon was right behind him during a hallucination.

I also really enjoyed Simon’s perspective in the book. In fact, that’s why the book was written. When they returned to Britain, an article in a national newspaper led to Simon being criticized for having cut the rope. Joe wrote the book to clarify the story and clear Simon’s name. Cutting the rope was very reasonable under the circumstances, given that Simon’s life was in danger, and it was incredibly unlikely that Joe could have survived the fall. The book features the inner monologue Simon went through as he was descending alone and the guilt he experienced.

The only thing I disliked about the book was that it was really hard to visualize the descriptions of the climb and the mountains, especially in the beginning. Perhaps because I have no experience with climbing, or perhaps because English isn’t my mother tongue, but I struggled with it. There were also many terms I wasn’t familiar with; I sure as hell didn’t know what a belay plate is, and I doubt most people do if they don’t hike or climb. Nevertheless, the story was very enjoyable, and these more technical descriptions were only relevant in the first part of the book or so. It’s truly an amazing story, and I highly recommend it.

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