Ralston's Living Epitaph (Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston)

Member Name: Puggers

Product:	Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston
Date:	14/02/09 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Changes of topic move the book along nicely, an incredible story to tell

Disadvantages: Some sections drag a bit

In May 2003, Aron Ralston carved the date of his death into the wall of Blue John canyon, Utah. That this book was published is an indication of the fact that this was, with hindsight, somewhat premature - although given the circumstances, probably entirely understandable. Like just about everything else he did at that time, etching those words and numbers into the face of the rock would have been a long, tiring task. Five days prior to this, whilst on a routine hike through an isolated canyon, Ralston slipped, and in a freak turn of events, became trapped. A large boulder became dislodged beneath his feet and tumbled down after him, coming to rest between the canyon wall and his right arm.

Ralston was well and truly trapped. He couldn't release his arm, nor could he shift the boulder even a fraction of an inch. With little food and water, his arm mangled and the chance of rescue offered by civilisation miles away, his situation looked dire. He battled on for several days, trying a series of attacks and approaches upon the boulder with varied success, but ultimately no release. Although the blurb on the rear of the book rather carelessly gives away how he eventually frees himself, I won't mention that here - I understand it's part of the appeal of the account, and doubtless included so as to shift a few extra copies, but I didn't really want to read a full synopsis of the book on the back cover. I suppose it'd be harsh to criticise the book itself for this - I don't suppose the author had anything to do with the content of the blurb, but it did slightly impair my enjoyment of the story.

In a similar vein, although not a negative one, I was somewhat surprised by how early in the story Ralston relates the happening of his accident. Although everyone who picks up the book quickly learns what occurred before getting to that part of the narrative, I had assumed that the author would hold it back a bit; make the reader wait a little for the big event. However, Ralston's focus is more on his survival than what led to it - he relates the accident as it must have happened - quick, unexpected and rather hard to follow. I'm not sure whether it is an intentional decision on his part to make it difficult to picture exactly what happened or simply clumsy writing, but I suppose it does give an insight into his situation - one moment you're climbing over some rocks pincered between tight canyon walls, the next you're head over heels, falling and tumbling, unable to help yourself.

So then, Ralston goes about telling the story of how he coped with the five days he spent trapped in Blue John Canyon. He discusses the physical; the pain, descriptions of the relative positions of all the significant pieces, how he tried to liberate himself - but he also goes into the mental processes he went through. Here he opens himself up and is strikingly frank and honest about what he went through in his mind - after all, though low on plenty of things, one thing he had plenty of at the bottom of that canyon was time to think. These two focuses provide quite a nice counterbalance to each other, although Ralston does go a little overboard on discussing the minutiae of the movements of his mind, breaking it all down to a level of detail that isn't as interesting and engaging to the reader as he must have imagined it might be. Obviously, one's mind would run over the same things again and again and labour over the important things in life in such a situation - but this doesn't translate terribly well to the page, and these are the weakest points of the book.

Pleasingly, the account of his experience in the canyon is not the only topic of the book. Ralston was (and, impressively, still is) an extremely active outdoorsman, frequently pushing himself, especially in terms of pursuing the conquering of Colorado's many mountain peaks. He provides here a number of tales of his journeys in the great outdoors, discussing solo climbing attempts and team excursions, and manages to bring through his great love of mountains and enthusiasm for his efforts in his writing. These sections, while mixed in quality, do provide a refreshing contrast from the canyon diary and give the book a renewed sense of pace and energy.

Ralston is not a natural writer; he doesn't seem to have a great instinct for creating pace and maintaining momentum in his storytelling, although he does a good job of conveying the emotions and struggles he experienced, and manages to put together a broadly engaging story. For any weaknesses he may have technically, though - and these aren't especially major - he does have a great tale to tell. His is a story of admirable courage and enormous endurance, and though you wouldn't want to power through it in one or two sittings, as a week or two's reading, especially if you have an interest in outdoor pursuits and chronicles of survival, is a strong prospect.

Summary: An adventurer's tale of a great escape.