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2 out of 5
by
Michael
from
Brooklyn, NY | Sep 9, 2008
There is only one character in this book, and that character is, you guessed it, Aron Ralston. Between a Rock and a Hard Place is Ralston's account of his ordeal pinned to a canyon wall by a half-ton chockstone in Blue John Canyon. He alternates between chapters telling of the delirium of those five days and the choices he must make, and a sort of "how I came to be the way I am" recounting of his life story. The irony of the book reveals itself to the reading pretty early on. A seemingly random accident, with a one-in-a-million rescue, has been fated for this kid his whole damn life. I call Ralston a "kid" (even though he was my age when he had this accident) because he shows time and time again that he has learned very few lessons from his great experience of the world.
Let me get some of the problems with the book and Ralston out of the way, so I can eventually say something nice. Aron's a bit of a 90s douche of the highest order. He loves Phish and String Cheese Incident. He quotes the Matrix movies and Fight Club and Eastern philosophy. He writes from a thoroughly egotistical point of view - not spending enough timing concerned with anything but his own enjoyment of the world and his own survival. I mean, I can relate to that, but it's not intriguing to read Ralston's account of his search and rescue when he often uses hyperbole to express other people's emotions and actions. Come on, man. We know your mom was really worried, but you sound a little silly trying to explain just how much she cared and how scared she was. I believe you.
When writing about his winter fourteener project - an attempt to solo climb all of the mountains 14000 feet or higher in Colorado - he sounds like a typical priveleged mountaineer, full of bravado with no reason to risk his life. He's a bored child in a huge playground. I guess I should reserve judgement on that particular matter, but I can't overlook his reckless endangerment of friends and strangers alike on some of his outings. While on a hike with two guys he meets south of the Grand Canyon, he jumps foolhardy into the ragin Colorado River and nearly kills himself and endangers his two companions who save him from the current. Later on, the same year of his accident, 2003, he skis down a slope in Colorado against the better judgement of himself and his friends and then beckons them to follow. When the avalanche nearly kills one of his friends - Mark, a search and rescue expert, who expressed his ambivalence about Aron's fourteener project - Aron admits that he's done wrong and acted foolishly, but we're not convinced that he'd do it any differently if given the chance.
So, I don't especially like the guy, but I did find some redeemed bits in his book. I found his detailed account of the ordeal in the canyon to particularly revelatory about the decay of the human mind and body in such situations. Ralston is intuitive and highly resourceful as a survivalist (if not as a writer) and his very specific descriptions of his attempts to break the chockstone or lift it from his arm are intriguing. His intensity and will to live shine through in his observations. This is a man who wants to live, but knows he will, in all likelihood, die if not for a great amount of skill and luck. For most of the time of his entrapment - 5 days - he plans calmly and conserves energy and water and uses his obviously futile activities as ways of distracting himself from his misery, or warming his body against the cold nights. He tries, but fails to amputate his forearm. It is only in an act of desperation, an upsurge of primal energy that he realizes the only way he can free himself, to break his own bones with a rock, that he is able to survive. What does this say about man, and nature? We must be beasts, in order to live, sometimes.
We feel Aron's thirst, his need for a margarita, his revulsion at drinking his own piss. What is not convincing is his final assertion that this ordeal was all for the best, in the end. Did he learn a deep lesson about appreciating his friends and family or, like so many other mountaineers and extreme sport enthusiasts, has he just garnered another scar, another tick on his record, another bragging right, another brutal scrape with death?
10 people found this review helpful
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4 out of 5
by
Elaine
from
| Jun 9, 2008
In Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Aron Ralston tells his true and amazing survival story. Hiking in Blue John Canyon one Saturday afternoon (April 26, 2003 to be exact), Aron, an experienced mountaineer, got trapped when a 800lb boulder came loose and pined his right hand to the canyon wall. Aron usually left a detailed map of where he was going with someone so that, if the need came, they would be able to find him quickly. On this trip, however, he did not, as it was suppose to be a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands. Nobody knew where he was and no one would realize he's missing until he didn't show up at work that Monday. This meant that he would not be rescued until late the next week, and with his little amount of food and very little water, this meant almost certain death. Mr. Ralston does not only go into detail about how he managed to keep himself alive for 6 days, he also goes into his history and tells how he got to this point and how he knows how to do certain things that help him. He also describes what happens out of the canyon when his colleagues, friends, and family realize he is missing and the rescue process. He has both a video recorder and a camera with him, so he tapes messages to his family and friends, and takes pictures of his smashed hand and himself. By Wednesday evening he was amazed that he has lived that long and taped his last goodbye and dying instructions on the video camera. He then carved his name, birth date, that day's date (which he was sure was his last), and RIP into the canyon wall above him. That night he has a divine inspiration where he sees himself lifting who he knows is going to be his son into his arms, he had only his left hand as his right arm was a stump. He had considered amputation from the start, but had thought that there was no way of doing it as his multi-tool knife would not be strong enough to cut through his bones. Thursday morning he knew he had to get his hand off of him to escape (he had tried many other ways of escaping already), so he broke both his arm bones below the elbow and used the knife to amputate his wrist and hand. This is not the end however, Aron also tells how he managed to get out of the canyons and how he was flown to a hospital and then how he and his family had to deal with the media. He also describes how he learned to cope with one hand.
I listened to the CD formate of this book, which is read by Aron himself, and it was very interesting. His story is truly awesome and inspiring! I was sad when, at the end, they said that it had been abridged for CD, because now I want to get the book to see what they left out. Aron Ralston is still an outdoors man and uses his different prosthetic arms to climb rock, ice, etc. Aron has amazing will to live!
Warnings: There is some swearing in this book (understandable, considering the situation), especially when he first gets trapped and at certain points when his frustration and depression peak. It is also a little gruesome, and perhaps not for the squeamish, but in the context of the story it is not that disturbing.
1 people found this review helpful
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1 out of 5
by
Forest
from
Cedar Falls, IA | Feb 4, 2008
I have read a few Mountaineering books, and as a climber/surfer/diver/backpacker/paddler/all around wilderness junkie, I was quite unsettled by this book. Aaron Ralston obviously has one-upmanship syndrome. The book should be a guide to avoiding wedging your arm between stones in desolate wilderness. Rather it is a distasteful brag-fest of Ralston's overambitious adventure practices. Events like this close recreation areas every year in suit-happy America. I would further critique Ralston's wilderness appreciation by the fact he had headphones on. He should have carried an emergency locater beacon instead of and auditory inhibitor. On the contrary, I have yet to speak with Ralston about the book or events.
In place of this book, please read anything by Ed Viesturs, who sets an excellent example of the way in which people should behave in extreme wilderness settings.
1 people found this review helpful
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3 out of 5
by
Ryan
from
The United States | Mar 11, 2009
This is Aron Ralston's own story of how, while hiking alone in the remote Utah desert, his hand became trapped under a boulder for five days, and how he finally escaped by cutting off his arm. Ralston was a twenty-something retired mechanical engineer turned full time alpinist/adventurer when this accident occurred.
I think the story was well written. Ralston dealt with more fatigue, pain, hunger, and (most of all) thirst than I can imagine, and I rejoiced with him when he finally reached that little puddle of nasty water he drank from.
It's an interesting read, but I think it would have been better without the "filler" chapters about his background. I skipped the last couple of these because they were starting to drive me crazy. In my opinion, they have little value, except to show that he did LOTS of dumb things before he did this PARTICULAR dumb thing. Also, some of Ralston's descriptions of rock faces, etc, were too lengthy for me.
For such a smart guy, Ralston did a lot of foolish things during his ordeal. I was amazed at how long he kept trying to chip away at that rock with a Leatherman. It was clear to me when he started doing it, that even if he COULD chip away a chunk of rock from the edge, it would only cause the boulder to slide down a little, taking his hand with it.
I was also surprised that he didn't have the presence of mind to save his urine the first time he had to go. I said "What are you doing? That's as good as it's going to get!" when I read that part.
While I was impressed that he was able to rig up any kind of pulley system at all to try and lift the rock, I was 100% certain it wouldn't work: there's way too much friction. In fact, I don't think that idea would have worked even if he'd had real pulleys with him. Possibly, if the rock had weighed only 200 pounds like he thought, real pulleys would have enabled him to lift it, but again, it should have been obvious that the rock weighed far more than 200 pounds. It was to me.
Lastly, why did it take him so long to figure out that breaking his arm was infinitely easier than cutting through it? He'd given up on escaping on Tuesday, thinking he would probably die there, or by some miracle be rescued. It took him two full days beyond that point - two days of terrible suffering - to finally think of trying to break his arm bones instead of cutting through them. It's not like he was busy on Tuesday and Wednesday trying out other escape methods: he was waiting to die.
Surely, his mental capacity had been inhibited somewhat by fatigue and all the other privations he was enduring, but I'm surprised that a mechanical engineer wouldn't immediately rule out trying to lift the rock and also that he wouldn't think of trying to break his arm instead of cut through it. He should have escaped at least two full days earlier than he did.
Although my review has a critical tone, I did enjoy this book. I admire Ralston's courage and will to live, and I'm glad he survived to tell this story.
1 people found this review helpful
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3 out of 5
by
Jason
from
Saint Paul, MN | Dec 10, 2008
Ralston became a media sensation due to his dramatic accident, and his dynamic charisma. Ralston had an interesting perspective on the world before he was forced to sever his arm to save his life. Trapped in a slot canyon in a Utah desert for five nights and six days gives him a sense of clairity that he compares to a second adolescence. His life after the accident became somewhat of a circus, and this story is not only about the accident, but his thougths on why it occurred, and how his life has changed. This unexpected, and often unwanted, popularity gave him the opportunity to write a book about his life, and he manages to avoid being trite or sensational, even after he was featured on Letterman, and in GQ and Vanity Fair.
Ralston epitomizes the modern transcendentalist, and begs his readers to live life to the fullest, stop doing things that are benign, and make your life extraordinary. Good advice. A compelling and thought provoking read about the human spirit, the drive to survive, and a will to live life to the fullest.