Vs. 127 Hours
Book Vs. Movie
Aron Ralston is a canyoneer, mountaineer, and an adventurer. He’s very experienced, but that doesn’t mean that makes him fool proof. While canyoneering in Blue John Canyon, Aron is faced with a huge challenge; trying to get unstuck from his deadly fate. When lowering himself off of a boulder to get to the lower canyon, the rock becomes dislodged and comes crashing down pinning Aron’s hand between the boulder and the canyon wall. He ends up with only a few liters of water and only two pre-cooked burritos. He’s stuck in that position for 127 Hours, only to escape with little time to live. The book takes you on the journey from when he gets stuck until he gets rescued. Throughout the book, he talks about his other adventures and other dangers he comes across. In one part, he got stuck in an avalanche and survived. He must be a tough SOB, because most people die from that. He also got chased by a bear for miles. There’s plenty more stories about hiking with his friends and talking about his family, so your mind gets a break from what’s happening at the moment.
There aren’t many differences between the movie and the book. I have always tried to read the books before the movie, but I never got a chance to get the book before actually going to see it. With the movie, it shows him in the canyon most of the time, with very few flashbacks. The movie actually stayed pretty true to the book. The book has some pictures of Aron hiking and being stuck. Everything Aron had in the book, what he was carrying or what he was wearing was in the movie. They stuck to a tee with that and the video content was also what Aron actually filmed himself. The movie doesn’t portray as well of the time period it took for him to escape his clutches to being actually rescued. It took nearly two hours for him to be rescued; one more hour, and he’d be dead.
This is the most inspiring book that I’ve ever read (even more than First Person Plural). This guy gets stuck, gets out of the situation and survives to tell the tale. He’s been close to death more than this time and I can’t fathom that. I don’t want to ruin anything if you haven’t read the book. I tried to picture myself in that situation and thought, could I do what he did? Everyone can say they could, but until you’re in that situation you can’t say for sure. Even with all the people in my life, could they somehow affect my outcome? Aron hallucinated seeing his unborn child and that’s what gave him the strength. The most awe-inspiring thing is that he still climbs mountains and goes through canyons. If I escaped, it would probably be the last time I ever did that, but he has the strength and courage. Usually with books everything is left up to your imagination. When I watched the movie first, reading the book at the part where he successfully escapes, the movie scene is etched into my head. I don’t think it would make me cringe as much if I didn’t see the movie first. I bawled at the movie, but the book I did not. I don’t cry at that many books, (besides Harry Potter) so it wasn’t a huge surprise that I didn’t with this.
I would read this book over and over again. It made me think of how lucky I am with my life and realize that it could be just as bad. Aron was very lucky. The book was easy to understand, even though it had some technical talk in it. There is also a glossary of the words you may not know, so you can understand what you don’t know. I felt bad for him through out the book, nobody around to help; not seeing anyone until he’s walking to get help. The book makes you wonder if he’s going to survive at all. The pictures were great; they showed pictures from his other trips and also of his accident. The accident pictures were good also, except two gross pictures of his arm. I’ve never heard of a ton of people helping out in trying to find Aron. Which makes him all that more special. He’s impacted so many lives throughout his life.
9/10
