Made into a huge success of a motion-picture last year, there was renewed interest for many in reading the book that the story originally came from, I am sure. I was one of those who wanted to read the book first, but I don’t know if I wish to see the movie now. And that is not because of any lack of interest in the story, or any disappointment in it; on the contrary, so graphic were the descriptions of this phenomenal story of a young man so filled with adventure but even more so with courage, that the images of his terrifying hiking accident and his escape are already vividly implanted in my mind’s eye! Thanks to the almost-unbelievable story and the very good story-telling skills by Aron Ralston, the author of this book, 127 Hours: Between A Rock And A Hard Place is an excellent read.
This is an autobiography of a twenty-seven year old young man who experienced so freakish an accident while hiking the canyons of Utah that it is almost impossible to imagine how he could have endured what he did– and survived in order to tell this tale. Surely, it must have been God’s will to allow him the courage of body and mind to hold on for as long as he does, viz. 127 hours before he comes to the conclusion that he must amputate himself with the crudest of a pocket-knife before he is able to free himself from between a rock and a hard place!
Ralston does a fine job in telling his story– not just of his ordeal but of his entire life, and the one recurring place that he dwells on is his sweet relationships with his family and friends, especially, his immediate family of mother, father and sister. The early influences of his parents, we learn, determined his own life-choices of career and vocation, and the great strength that he has gained from them is clearly evident in the manner in which he talks about them and to them– this, by way of video-recording himself while trapped under the boulder.
This is a story that will reaffirm, and if need be, even restore your faith in the awesome power of the human spirit to persevere against all the odds. And of how miracles never cease to exist.
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