Joe Simpson is the acclaimed author of the bestselling Touching the Void, alongside four other compelling non-fiction works. His writing delves into the extreme challenges and profound psychological impacts faced by individuals pushed to their limits. Simpson's narrative style is characterized by its raw honesty and insightful exploration of human resilience against overwhelming odds. His storytelling immerses readers in the heart of adventure, examining the very boundaries of human will.
When Simon Yates cut the rope and sent his friend plummeting to an ordeal few mountaineers can have contemplated, the outcome was totally unpredictable. That Joe Simpson survived is a revelation of the power of the human spirit to overcome fear, pain and deprivation of almost unimaginable intensity.
Joe Simpson, with just his partner Simon Yates, tackled the unclimbed West Face of the remote 21,000 foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in June 1995. But before they reached the summit, disaster struck. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frostbitten, to tell their non-climbing companion that Joe was dead. For three days he wrestled with guilt as they prepared to return home. Then a cry in the night took them out with torches, where they found Joe, badly injured, crawling through the snowstorm in a delirium. Far from causing Joe's death, Simon had paradoxically saved his friend's life. What happened, and how they 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.
Harper holds the Gift of Divination. Red is the infamous Reynard the Fox, fugitive shapeshifter. When the past finds Red, they are both taken to the Kingdom of Vale within Underneath so Red can pay for his crimes. With the Rot drawing on the hatred of all, Harper and Red realize they must reconcile and work together to save Vale.
“I had to stand there and watch while the rest of my life was determined by the shaky adhesion of a few millimetres of fractured ice…” Marking the climax of his climbing career, Joe Simpson confronts his fears and mountaineering history in an assault on the North Face of the Eiger. Since his epic battle for survival in the Andes, he has lived a life filled with adventure but marred by the deaths of climbing friends in tragic accidents that challenge the exhilarating activity he has devoted himself to. The loss of a close friend prompts a momentous decision: to turn his back on the mountains he loves. Despite feeling most alive when at risk, he views this final climb on the Eiger as a cathartic end to his climbing journey. Through extreme experiences, including an avalanche in Bolivia, ice-climbing in the Alps and Colorado, and paragliding in Spain, Simpson reveals the inner truth of climbing. He explores the power of the mind and the frailties of the body through intensely lived accounts of exhilaration and despair. The focus of his narrative is the siren song of fear and his struggle to come to terms with it.
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.
This concise and objective account delves into the 1996 Everest tragedy, highlighting one of Simpson's most controversial works, which was shortlisted for the 1997 Boardman Tasker Award. In 1992, an Indian climber was left to die on the South Col of Mount Everest, with other climbers witnessing his plight from the safety of their tents. The sight of his feebly waving hand and subsequent footage of his corpse raised troubling ethical questions that haunt Simpson, who had his own near-death experience in 1985. As he attempts a challenging new route on Pumori, he reflects on the changing nature of mountaineering, now dominated by commercial operators offering guided tours amidst the remnants of past climbers. Simpson grapples with whether the noble instincts that once defined the sport have been lost to modern society's self-interest. His investigation reveals a complex moral landscape, challenging the initial black-and-white perceptions of the climbing community. Simpson's empathy for those who succumb to the mountain's dangers is continually tested as he engages in conversations with his companions, exploring the evolving moral climate of mountaineering in the 1990s. "I shall never forget the horror of dying alone," he reflects, underscoring the profound loneliness faced by those who perish in the pursuit of adventure.
The extraordinary testimony of OJ Simpson about the murder of his wife Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman that became an Oscar-winning Netflix series.
A dark witch seeking vengeance, a kidnapped prince seeking redemption. Summoned to an underground kingdom, they must set aside personal desires as they learn the nightmare denizens of the fey are bringing an ancient source of magic, long dormant, back to life. If they cannot halt the rise of the old magic, it will tear apart the Riven Isles.
In Discarded, one becomes the broken, the rejected, the outcast. With little choice, BJ, a young teenager who never fit in, found himself alone and vulnerable to others. He discovered other broken hearts, albeit well- camouflaged. With no boundaries, BJ trusted and became truly one of the discarded. Abhorrent rituals in tent cities almost destroyed him. Mental illness screamed at him. Ex-cons did their best to crush him. Public service was a gift that gave BJ an opportunity to reflect. There were others the truly desperate. Kindness burst from unexpected places. BJs heart almost thawed. BJ found himself in a rehab unit that told him
True Accounts of Rescue from the Brink of Death
Caught way up on the mountain, no one is safe. This collection includes some of the brightest stars of mountaineering and mountain rescue: Joe Simpson, Doug Scott, Pete Sinclair, Milos Vrbe, Paul Nunn, Ludwig Gramminger, Karen Glazley, Ken Phillips and Blaise Agresti.
