Humanities Council Book Discussion

"Then, what I had waited for pounced on me. The stars went out, and I
fell. Like something come alive, the rope lashed violently against my face
and I fell silently, endlessly into nothingness, as if dreaming of falling. I fell fast, faster than thought, and my stomach protested at the swooping speed of it. I swept down, and from far above I saw myself falling and felt nothing. No thoughts, and all fears gone away. So this is it!"

These are the words of Joe Simpson in his book Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival. Simpson's book recounts the hiking expedition he took with his partner Simon Yates. They had just reached the top of a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes when 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 tried 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. Can you imagine having to make the decision to cut the rope? Is this just part of the climbing life that one must be prepared for? Join us at the Dover Public Library on Monday, May 7th to discuss these and other questions surrounding Simpson's book Touching the Void.