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Between a Rock and a Hard Place
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Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2010) (edit title/settings)

by Aron Ralston (Author) (edit contributors)

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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... read more

Summary edit see section history

Aron Ralston is the narrator and is the main character that goes through a lot of pain in his six days of being trapt by a eight hundred pound boulder. He describes all the events from when he left his truck that morning to the final hours before his amputation to his final escape from Blue... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Aron Ralston is the narrator and is the main character that goes through a lot of pain in his six days of being trapt by a eight hundred pound boulder. He describes all the events from when he left his truck that morning to the final hours before his amputation to his final escape from Blue John Canyon. He is found by a family rock climbing. When Aron is found he is bloody and dehydrated the family gives him food and water then they go and find park rangers to help Aron get medical attention. Hours later park rangers and emergency medical staff recovered Aron's right arm and cremated it. Aron had the arm delievered to him in a jar. Aron keeps the jar so that it reminds him of the events he went through that day.

Characters/People edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “We are not grand because we are at the top of the food chain or because we can alter our environment--the environment will outlast us with its unfathomable forces and unyielding powers. But rather than be bound and defeated by our insignificance, we are bold because we exercise our will anyway, despite the ephemeral and delicate presence we have in this desert, on this planet, in this universe.”
  • “I found that I could not set out with the intent of having a particular experience--safety precautions and risk management aside--my goal instead was to be open to what that day was giving me and accept it. Expectations generally led to disappointment, but being open to whatever was there for me to discover led to awareness and delight, even when conditions were rough.”
  • “We create our lives.”
  • “You'll never find your limits until you've gone too far.”
  • “..our purpose as spiritual beings is to follow our bliss, seek our passions, and live our lives as inspirations to each other. Everything else flows from that. When we find inspiration, we need to take action for ourselves and for our communities. Even if it means making a hard choice, or cutting out something and leaving it in your past.”
  • “Saying farewell is also a bold and powerful beginning.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.
    Highlighted by 73 Kindle customers
  • The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.
    Highlighted by 70 Kindle customers
  • “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
    Highlighted by 57 Kindle customers
  • We are not grand because we are at the top of the food chain or because we can alter our environment—the environment will outlast us with its unfathomable forces and unyielding powers. But rather than be bound and defeated by our insignificance, we are bold because we exercise our will anyway, despite the ephemeral and delicate presence we have in this desert, on this planet, in this universe.
    Highlighted by 55 Kindle customers
  • A sense of mindless happiness—not being happy because of something in particular but being happy because I’m happy—is one of the reasons why I go to the lengths I do to have some focused time to myself.
    Highlighted by 45 Kindle customers
  • There’s a mostly unspoken acknowledgment among the voluntarily impoverished dues-payers of our towns that it’s better to be fiscally poor yet rich in experience—living the dream—than to be traditionally wealthy but live separate from one’s passions.
    Highlighted by 38 Kindle customers
  • We go through life ignoring these subtleties because there are a million things we survive every day without recognizing we were ever at risk. Then we have a close call, and we become acutely aware of what that fraction of an inch or that split second means.
    Highlighted by 37 Kindle customers
  • Eventually, I sickened of people, myself included, who didn’t think enough of themselves to make something of themselves—people who did only what they had to and never what they could have done. I learned from them the infected loneliness that comes at the end of every misspent day. I knew I could do better. —MARK TWIGHT, “I Hurt, Therefore I Am”
    Highlighted by 33 Kindle customers
  • Expectations generally led to disappointment, but being open to whatever was there for me to discover led to awareness and delight, even when conditions were rough.
    Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers
  • Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. —HORACE
    Highlighted by 27 Kindle customers
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

Utah
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First Sentence edit see section history

FRAYING CONTRAILS STREAK another bluebird sky above the red desert plateau, and I wonder how many sunburnt days these badlands have seen since their creation.

Table of Contents edit see section history

"Geologic Time Includes Now"
Beginnings
The Night Shift
How to Become a Retired Engineer in Just Five Short Years
Day Two: Failing Options
Winter Rhapsody
Day Three: "Push on Till the Day"
"I'm Goin' to Utah"
Day Four: Out of Food and Water
Stirrings of a Rescue
Day Five: Trance Sanctuary
Firestorm
Day Six: Enlightenment and Euphoria
Homing In: "We Have His Truck"
A Date with Destiny
Epilogue: A Farewell to Arm

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • not giving up: Not giving up describes Aron's character because while he was trapt he was always thinking about all the possibilities and the ways he could get himself out of the entraptment and save his hand as well.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Memoirs: Life changing events. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Aron Ralston (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Baker and Taylor
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: 9780743492829
Page Count: 342

Classification edit see section history

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