Reviews

Sentence Synopsis: Joe Simpson and his climbing partner Simon Yates embark on an ambitious climb of the Peruvian Andes west face of Siula Grande, but when things go horribly wrong, they both are faced with making life-altering decisions.

I read this book as a buddy read with a fellow Bookstagrammer. I first want to acknowledge that Joe’s story is completely, irrefutably incredible. To say otherwise would be asinine. Against all odds, Joe fought tooth and nail for his life and (obviously) lived to tell the tale. I’m glad to have read this book, because I think a lot can be gathered from it about the human spirit/experience and the intense survival instincts we possess. Joe did do well in covering these topics, as well as showing the strength of friendship.

With that said, I personally found it overall difficult to read. There are several reasons for this: I found that the first and second halves of the book were completely different – the voice and writing style particularly stuck out to me. I also felt that Joe was trying to over describe everything that was going on, which left me feeling confused and needing to read backwards; I don’t need to know the exact latitude and longitude of where every ice screw was placed. I also felt confused by how Simon’s previous climbing experiences were interspersed in the chapters, with no separation or indication of the story going that way. I found myself skimming a bit due to these aspects.

I’m also sure part of why I struggled with this book is simply the relatability aspect. I’m (obviously) not a mountain climber and very likely never will be. There is also a lot of technical climbing terminology, which had me near-constantly having to remind myself of what said term was. There were pictures for me to look at, which did help with this a bit. I feel like the people that would enjoy this book are more into climbing than I am, and therefore can relate more.

I felt that the book would have been better as a short story. As I said before, Joe's story is 100% incredible. He defied the odds, conquering adverse conditions that not many can say they have. For that, I commend Joe (and Simon) so much. Something in the overall storytelling just didn't work for me.

chaghi's review

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4.0

Impressive story of survival and how the desire to live can push the body beyond its limits.

Looking forward to reading some of the others books by Joe Simpson. He share with Jon Krakauer this combination of having interesting first-hand experiences to write about, and the ability to do it with a good mix of suspense, emotions and clarity.