4.5

Surprisingly fascinating: knowing a lot about this remarkable story (the beginning and the end, at least, due to the movie) you suddenly find yourself not only really worrying and cheering for Aron, but even without any decent reason wanting to some of his unsuccessful tries to work. Remembering the movie quite in details (that, you know, THAT dramatic moment when he’s cutting the nerve) I was expecting everything but the exciting history of the greatest (and not so, embarrassing, even) life moments of a man who chose the danger and breathtaking beauty of nature instead of airless cubicles, who spent, like, half of a lifetime alone climbing and being outdoors but still can use almost the entire video-cassette by saying goodbye to the dearest people and remembering some special moments with them.
The meaningful thing is, you can include a little comparison with Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer), who, anxiously seeking loneliness, came to Tolstoy’s “happiness is only real when shared” some time close to his death. Same thing here: “One of the things I’m learning here is that I didn’t enjoy the people’s company that I was with enough, or as much as I could have. Very often I would tend to ignore or diminish [people] presence in seeking the essence of the experience.”
But even if their thoughts are pretty much the same, stories are different. And if the McCandless one surprisingly moves and motivates you “for each day to have a new and different sun”, Aron Ralston story is more about fighting for yourself every second possible with every chance available. “Saying farewell is also a bold and powerful beginning”, and your story is only over when it is really over.