Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye Can See
by Erik Weihenmayer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Erik WeihenmayerEdition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2001-02
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 304
Book Reviews of Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye Can See
Book Review: It's the little details that make this book really helpful.
Summary: 5 Stars
About eight months ago (from the time of writing this review) my wife lost her eyesight. Knowing about Erik Weihenmayer from a Travel Channel special that included a segment about his leading the Global Explorers annual trek to Machu Picchu, I actually wrote his website in the hopes of getting someone there to give me ideas about how to help my wife enjoy the outdoors again. Little did I know I'd be hearing from Mr. Weihenmayer himself. He was truly gracious and helpful, and both he and some other folks from his site and Global Explorers suggested I give this book a look.
I purchased this along with Sabriye Tenberken's "My Path Leads to Tibet." What I was hoping for was not so much the usual "inspirational" stories that make soccer moms cry when Oprah tells them to read this book but the day-to-day details that would give me insights into what my wife was experiencing and what I could do to help. "Tibet" provided some details, but didn't really cover a lot about how a person deals with losing their eyesight or what they learn about to adapt.
Mr. Weihenmayer's book, however, provides a LOT of details about how he felt as he lost his sight and some decent information about how he learned t adapt. In fact, I used several of the things he mentions in his book to help my wife start adjusting. For example, he describes how his mother would make him put away the groceries that he liked (fruit, cereal, cookies, etc.) so he knew exactly where they were. On our next grocery trip, I laid out all of the foods that were mostly hers, or that she used a lot, and let her put them away. Those of us that have family and friends that have lost their eyesight, there can be a line to walk between wanting to limit their challenges as they adapt and thrusting challenges upon them so that they CAN adapt. This book provides enough insight into some of the challenges that can be helpful that it can give the reader ideas about how to help their blind friends and/or family.
Likewise, Mr. Weihenmayer describes his adjustment to losing his eyesight with a combination of humor and bluntness that people who have lost their eyesight can sympathize one moment and laugh the next. I tracked down a copy on tape for my wife, and we actually listened to it while driving back and forth from the school for the blind she will be attending to learn the adaptive skills and technologies needed to get back into her career. It helped provide her with the understanding that her feelings, frustration, anger, and such were normal - that she was not the only one that had had these thoughts or moments. We're so inundated with mental pablum from the Lifetime and Hallmark channels' made-for-TV-movies about such things that many think they're supposed to face loosing their eyesight with the quiet, southern-belleesque dignity of Scarlet O'Hara or some garbage. No. There's times you want to bawl your eyes out and yell, "This sucks!!!! Why me!!?!?!!?!?" And that's okay.
Mr. Weihenmayer's book helps show that such moments are perfectly normal. But he also shows how people eventually move on and learn to reclaim their lives. It should be noted, however, that the American Foundation for the Blind's credo mentions in part that, while there are exceptional people like Mr. Weihenmayer, the accomplishments of "normal" blind people are no less extraordinary. You don't have to climb Mt. Everest to be exceptional or inspirational as a blind person. Simply reclaiming your life as a human being in a world that is still rather unfriendly to blind people (seriously... you're set for life if your 400lbs and need a scooter, but you're still pretty much on your own if your blind) is no less awe-inspiring than climbing a mountain.
If you know someone that has gone blind, or if you yourself have gone blind, pick up this book. Honestly I found the day-to-day details more interesting and helpful than the latter one-third that focused mostly on his climbing. But, that's because the first half to two-thirds focused more on the stuff I was actually reading it for.
Summary of Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye Can See
The incredible, inspiring story of world-class climber Erik Weihenmayer, from the terrible diagnosis that foretold of the loss of his eyesight, to his dream to climb mountains, and finally his quest to reach each of the Seven Summits.Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder that would progressively unravel his retinas. Erik learned from doctors that he was destined to lose his sight by age thirteen. Yet from early on, he was determined to rise above this devastating disability and lead a fulfilling, exciting life. In Touch the Top of the World, Erik recalls his struggle to push past the limits placed on him by his visual impairment-and by a seeing world. He speaks movingly of the role his family played in his battle to break through the barriers of blindness: the mother who prayed for the miracle that would restore her son's sight; the father who encouraged him to strive for that unreachable mountaintop.
Erik was the first blind man to summit McKinley. Soon he became the first blind person to scale the infamous 3000-foot rock wall of El Capitan and then Argentina's Aconcagua, the highest peak outside of Asia. He was married to his longtime sweetheart at 13,000 feet on the Shira Plateau on his way to Kilimanjaro's summit, and recently Erik scaled Polar Circus, the 30,000-foot vertical ice wall in Alberta, Canada. Erik's story is about having the vision to dream big; the courage to reach for near impossible goals; and the grit, determination, and ingenuity to transform our lives into "something miraculous."
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