Review of Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I finished reading Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Basis of the Motion Picture 127 Hours by Aron Ralston.📚

An experienced outdoorsman goes on a solo canyoning adventure in a rural area and gets stuck. This book tells how he survived multiple days in the desert without enough water to drink.

Opinion

Please note that from here on out, the text can contain spoilers of the book.

I found this book in the vacation home I spent my extended weekend. I was interested in the movie for a long time but never dared to watch it. But seeing the book I fought, it will be easier to swallow. And I was not disappointed. The text reads surprisingly easy when thinking about what is happening to Aron. But just the fact that you know how it goes out helps reading it.

I like the structure of the book, with chapters playing in the now – which gets worse by the hour and flashbacks to his past explaining how he, in the end, came to this canyon in the desert.

What surprised me the most was how small the rock is. In my imagination, I always had the picture of rock as big as a wardrobe.

The last part of the book nearly got me crying, just the description of the rescue operation and the persons’ reaction. The book is a rollercoaster and takes you on an emotional journey to how far a human can go when his survival is at stake.

On a side note, this was the first paper-based book I’ve read in ages. And I like digital books better. A fact which I find surprising. Holding open the book causes pain in my hand, and I don’t need to hold the phone constantly, which relaxes my hands.

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