Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See: My Story
by Erik Weihenmayer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Erik WeihenmayerEdition: Paperback
Published: 2002-03-26
ISBN: 0452282942
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Plume
Book Reviews of Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See: My Story
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: My Story
"A vivid and compelling book." (Time magazine)Erik Weihenmayer was born with retinoscheses, a degenerative eye disorder that would leave him blind by the age of thirteen. But Erik was determined to rise above this devastating disability and lead a fulfilling and exciting life.
In this poignant and inspiring memoir, he shares his struggle to push past the limits imposed 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 and the father who encouraged him to strive for that distant mountaintop. And he tells the story of his dream to climb the world's Seven Summits, and how he is turning that dream into astonishing reality (something fewer than a hundred mountaineers have done).
From the snow-capped summit of McKinley to the towering peaks of Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro to the ultimate challenge, Mount Everest, this is a story about daring to dream in the face of impossible odds. It is about finding the courage to reach for that ultimate summit, and transforming your life into something truly miraculous.
"I admire you immensely. You are an inspiration to other blind people and plenty of folks who can see just fine." (Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air)
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