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Through tons of consideration and overthinking, I have decided to read Aron Ralston's 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. First, I'd like to point out that in no way, shape, or form, will I have the stomach for this book- but I'm trying something new. I have not seen the movie, and I predict that the story will not only be intriguing, but also horrifying. Needless to say, I'm excited... and nervous.

Aron Ralston's Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    The well-known author, Ralston, wrote the book in 2004, after the tragic incident by which the book was inspired. Aron Ralston was hiking when his arm was caught under an 800-pound boulder, and there was no escaping it. Telling no one where he was headed, Ralston faces reality: there's one way to get out, and it will hurt. Personally, I am not too ecstatic for the gory details, but I have always been interested in the story ever since I had heard about it, but I never got around to learning about he sequence of events that this man suffered through. Luckily, Aron had a video camera on him to tape his dreadful six days, with little water, and almost no food. I chose this book because although it is a memoir, it is smaller-scoped because it will take place in a small amount of time, instead of over a lifetime.
    If I had to predict some strategies that Ralston will use to make his book interesting, two obvious candidates would be the appeal to pathos and ethos. Ralson has probably told his story over and over again, and because he suffered the pain and he wrote the book, it will be that much more believable. The emotional appeal is automatic. How can one not feel for a man who was closer to death every second? In my opinion, I guarantee some of the emotional appeal won't even be intentional, but through the plot line, it will just come. I also predict the use of similes and metaphors to express the pain he went through during his 127 hours. Last but not least, I can't even imagine the imagery that will be splattered on the pages of this book. This will be his most powerful tool. The imagery provokes the reader to react to the situation, and to imagine what it would be like to be there in the canyon- stuck between a rock and a hard place. I hope I am not let down by this book because I'm extremely excited (and nervous, of course) to read it!!