Good evening.

Speaking quite literally, tonight's book is a real cliffhanger.

It is now time to go inside the cover.

Tonight's book is Touching the Void by Joe Simpson.

The hardcover editio was published in Great Britain in 1988.

The paperback was published in Great Britain in 2004.

The book has been translated into 23 languages and has sold almost 2 million copies worldwide.

The book was subsequentl adapted into a 2007 documentary film, and a 2018 stage play, both of the same name.

Subtitled The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival, it truly is a remarkable read.

Simpson was born on August 13th, 1960, to a Scottish father and an Irish mother in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where his father was with the British Army.

Simpson began rock climbing after being introduced to the sport on the Hamilto Hills in North-Eastern Yorkshire by a teacher at Ampleforth College.

In 1985, Simpson and his climbing partner Simon Yates made the first ascent of their previously unclimbed west face of Siula Grande in the Andes Mountains of Peru.

As I noted, this book tells an amazing and dramatic story and illustrated with a number of photographs.

When Simpson and Yate reached the top of the 21,000ft peak, disaster struck.

Simpson plunged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg.

In the hours that followed, darkness fell and a blizzard raged as Yates trie to lower his friend to safety.

Finally, Yates was forced to cut the rope moments before he would have been pulled to his own death.

The next three days were an impossibly grueling ordeal for both men.

Yates, certain that Simpson was dead, returned to base camp, consumed with grief and guilt over abandoning him.

Miraculously, Simpson had survived a fall, but crippled, starving and severely frostbitten, was trapped in a deep crevasse.

Summoning vast reserves o physical and spiritual strength, Simpson crawled over the cliffs and canyons of the Andes, reaching base camp just hours before Yates had planned to leave.

Simpson underwent six surgical operations as a result of the leg injuries sustained on the mountain.

Doctors told him he would never climb again, and that he would have trouble walking for the rest of his life.

In 1987, however, Simpso returned to mountain climbing.

Touching the Void is an epic tale of fear, suffering and survival, and a poignant testament to unshakable courage and friendship.

Let me leave you with these comments written by Simpson in August of 1997, ten years after the publication of Touching the Void.

‘Recovering from my injuries and getting back to the mountains were my priorities not vague speculation by others on what we should or should not have done.

90% of accidents are down to human error.

We are fallible and accidents will happen.

I suppose the trick is to anticipate all the possible consequences of what you set out to do, so that if things do go wrong, you're better able to stay in control.

I can add only that, however painful readers may think our experiences were, for me, this book still falls short of articulating just how dreadfu were some of those lonely days.

I simply could not find the words to express the utter desolation of the experience.

Tonight's book has been Touching the Void by Joe Simpson.

Another great find fro my little Free Public Library.

Good nigh and I look forward to our next seriously good book tal right here on Inside the Cover.

Keep reading.