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Loading... Between a Rock and a Hard Placeby Aron Ralston
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Aron Ralston is a expert mountaineer, who takes incredibly dangerous risks with his life. His experiences give him the critical training and survival skills necessary to survive his horrible accident. He's also a brilliant writer, making his book suspenseful and riveting even when the reader knows the outcome. He puts the reader right beside him in the canyon, so much so that I laid awake at night fretting about his situation, six years after it occurred. I'm reading selected parts aloud to my sophomore classes, and they are equally as interested--a tall order successfully filled. This book has led me to investigate other successful survivors, and will allow them to be inspired by real-life situations in which people triumph over situations. Non-fiction is generally not my interest, but this one is! Aron, I'm so sorry you had to go through this terribly painful experience, but thank you for this book!  chuffman | Oct 24, 2009 |  It always amazes me when I read an autobiography and I come away thinking how utterly unlikeable the author is. You'd think they'd make more of an effort to put themselves across in a better way. Still, it's honest I guess and this author certainly got a cross his personal recklessness and also the way he endangered others. The book was nicely written with chapters alternating between the author's life before the event the actual event itself. Having not read anything about the incident before the lightbulb moment when the author finally works out how he can free himself is brilliant. I hope I am right in that the book shows a person growing up and that extreme sports doesn't have to mean acting stupid as well. Definitely a book to read, as a cautionary tale with some very useful survival hints! (  ) JulietLegg | Feb 16, 2009 | I wasn't sure what I was going to think or feel about this book although just reading the back of the book astounded me. The strength of the human spirit and the will to survive are things we don't often think about until it looks us right in the face. This book is about that strength and will and what one person can do when faced with the ultimate need. Aron has a history of facing challenges and throughout this book he illustrates this for us, along with the fact that he is accomplished in survival skills as well. He seems to live for the challenge of conquering mountains, snow and ice, the weather, and even whitewater. Some of us wouldn't even think of going there and don't even understand the need that mountain climbers or whitewater rafters feel. We have no desire to expose ourselves to the elements in this way. Some of us would call him crazy. Some would admire his courage to face these challenges. All of his training and experience comes into play when he finds himself in a most unpredictable situation and realizes that he is now totally on his own, dependent on himself for survival. I read this book with a sense of envy for the ability to climb mountain peaks and be rewarded with magnificent views and a sense of accomplishment. With a sense of admiration for the bravery to do this in sub-zero weather facing the elements, and also the challenges of whitewater rafting. Yet also with a feeling of amazement at Aron's survivor skills. I have to say that I really don't think I could have survived had I found myself in the same place. I have to respect someone who can so courageously and honorably survive what Aron has been through and still come out of the experience with his spirit intact and continue on with his goals. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story of survival. If books like 'Alive' are up your alley, then I feel certain that you will enjoy 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place'. ( ) Neverwithoutabook | Jan 28, 2009 | I liked the way Ralston wove the story into slowly revealing his ordeal in the canyon with accounts of his journey to that place and time. The story definitely held my attention and even though the outcome was known. You were still moved to follow the event as it unfolded. ( ) debhall | Sep 12, 2008 | Boktips.net | Oct 22, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 074349282X, Paperback)One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told -- Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought him home.It started out as a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands on a warm Saturday afternoon. For Aron Ralston, a twenty-seven-year-old mountaineer and outdoorsman, a walk into the remote Blue John Canyon was a chance to get a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorado's highest and toughest peaks. He'd earned this weekend vacation, and though he met two charming women along the way, by early afternoon he finally found himself in his element: alone, with just the beauty of the natural world all around him. It was 2:41 P.M. Eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, Aron was climbing down off a wedged boulder when the rock suddenly, and terrifyingly, came loose. Before he could get out of the way, the falling stone pinned his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. And so began six days of hell for Aron Ralston. With scant water and little food, no jacket for the painfully cold nights, and the terrible knowledge that he'd told no one where he was headed, he found himself facing a lingering death -- trapped by an 800-pound boulder 100 feet down in the bottom of a canyon. As he eliminated his escape options one by one through the days, Aron faced the full horror of his predicament: By the time any possible search and rescue effort would begin, he'd most probably have died of dehydration, if a flash flood didn't drown him before that. What does one do in the face of almost certain death? Using the video camera from his pack, Aron began recording his grateful good-byes to his family and friends all over the country, thinking back over a life filled with adventure, and documenting a last will and testament with the hope that someone would find it. (For their part, his family and friends had instigated a major search for Aron, the amazing details of which are also documented here for the first time.) The knowledge of their love kept Aron Ralston alive, until a divine inspiration on Thursday morning solved the riddle of the boulder. Aron then committed the most extreme act imaginable to save himself. Between a Rock and a Hard Place -- a brilliantly written, funny, honest, inspiring, and downright astonishing report from the line where death meets life -- will surely take its place in the annals of classic adventure stories. (retrieved from Amazon Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:46:46 -0500) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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