Customer Reviews

Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther Than the Eye Can See

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are few books which really change the way you think about how you approach your life. This is definitely one. In his youth, Erik encountered two losses which would devastate most of us, gradually losing his sight and, just when he seemed to be starting to fight his way through that trauma, losing his mom to a car accident.

Amazingly, he collected himself, with the help of his teachers and school counselors, and the very strong support of his family. His dad encouraged him to join the wrestling team, and a blindness school offered up a program in rock climbing, and Erik was on his way. He began to shape a vision for his life which would guide him to this day. He wanted to live an independent life, live by his own rules. He wanted to cast aside the limitations which others imposed on him, and rise to the level of his own God-given potential. And he wanted to live an extraordinary life, not just an ordinary one.

He lives with this uplifting view of life. The glass is always half full. Blindness is just a nuisance. He can't play baseball, but he can climb, so it doesn't matter. When he cannot do something at first, he doesn't attribute his failure to blindness, but to the fact that he hasn't discovered YET the secret system which will help him accomplish his goal.

These uplifting messages are told through his unbelievable and sometimes outragous tales, with humor that has you laughing out loud, even if you're in a crowd; and with both victories and defeats which keep your emotions on a rollercoaster ride. Keep a handerchief handy. This is one of the best books I have ever read, and it has encouraged me to live my life with even more zest and adventure. Once you start, you won't be able to put it down. Wow!

This is just a terrific book, filled with humor, wisdom, pathos and adventure. The author poignantly describes his childhood descent into blindness, his efforts to ignore it, his initial rebelliousness, and his gradual coming to terms with his handicap. Before long, the reader, like Erik, no longer sees blindness as a handicap, but as one of many hurdles life tosses in our way. It is certainly less of a burden to him than was the sudden, tragic death of his mother, which he movingly addresses and comes to terms with. He finds purpose to his life, he finds love, and he finds friendship and adventure on the mountains that he climbs. Buy this book and give it to any friend who has an inclination toward self-pity, and it may change their life. Read it and be inspired by the resiliency and strength of the human spirit.

Ok, that's not true. But Erik Weihenmayer has gone where no blind man has gone before and very few men and women with 20/20 vision will be able to follow his footsteps.
This is more than a mountaineering book: it's the life story about a child who had to grow up with a visual handicap that put him more and more in the dark. First unwilling to accept this fact, but later unwilling to accept society's view of blind people.

Being a good climber he just didn't quit because of his blindness, but found new ways of reaching the top, culminating in climbing the top of the world, Mt Everest and becoming one of the few people who have climbed the "7 summits".

This is an amazing story about courage, and vision in more meanings of the word. Erik has climbed Denali, Aconcagua, El Capitan and Everest amongst others. But he also moved to a new state whilst being completely blind, trained his dog, fell in love, got married on the top of a continent, led a fellow climber through the dark woods and many other things you might not expect from a blind man.

Although a close relative of mine has a blinding eye disease as well, this book inspired myself personally to just go out and do it, whatever 'it' is for me. Great inspiration and entertainingly written.

This new edition contains a new part about the Everest climb which was not included in the older editions.

This is an ease read but surprisingly soul-awakening book for me. There are statements on life lessons strung together like jewels hidden everywhere in this book, from the start to finish, mostly on self-assumed constraints that are common to everyone, sighted or not. I found vicariously the family love, friendship, and community support invigorating. I sensed the humor, strength, commitment, and perseverance Erik W carries with him daily, not just to the mountain top, which makes this book an absolute page-turner. Thanks Erik W for writing this book and share intimately with the readers the details of your journeys and the poeple in your life, we all have a lot to learn and draw from your experiences touched by the top of the world.

The author is a young, totally blind man who has climbed many of the world's tallest peaks, and in May of 2001 conquered Everest. This is quite an extraordinary story of his life thus far, and he tells the tale with wit, power, and insight way beyond his years. I especially liked his delightful treatment of his first experience in mingling with other blind youngsters; he shares both his painful and joyful moments with frankness and insight. His account of getting to know a pretty girl in the group and coming to understand her beauty as a thing of many dimensions, far beyond vision is so richly evocative and moving it'll bring tears to your eyes. Give yourself a treat and get this book.

I am the director of the blind program Erik attended at age 16(chapter three). I was impressed with the quality of the writing but even more so with the maturity of the man that shines through -- the touching passages about his mother and the relationships drawn so vividly between himself and the other climbers, his thoughtful reflections on life, his feelings for his grandparents, for his wife Ellie - his joy at Emma's birth. It is much more a coming of age book than a climbing book and as such will appeal to a much wider audience. Congratultions to Erik for taking the risks and showing us the possibilities.

What Erik has accomplished is an inspiration and a very important lesson for us all. He takes us from his childhood to his status as a world reknowned climber, telling us all the steps and stops in between. This isn't a book written by some blind guy bragging (or feeling sorry for himself) and wanting recognition. It is written by a man who is as in awe as we are as we read of what he has done. It is about a boy who grows up to to what he sets out to do. He has many problems along the way, but we learn from him that the only way to do it is to do it AND HE JUST HAPPENS TO BE BLIND. Don't just read the book; visit the website and learn more about this young man and the contributions he is making to help others reach their potential. He doesn't just climb mountains. I wish nothing but the best for Erik, Ellie, and Emma in everything they set out to do.

The author, who is totally blind, gives the reader his life story. Told with humor, he regales the reader with insights into his early life, when he could still see, and describes how his gradual loss of sight impacted on how the world perceived him. Fighting all his life against stereotypic notions that the sighted population has about those who are blind, the author has proven that those who are blind can do just about anything a sighted person can do. They just go about doing it in a slightly different way.

It is truly amazing that the author climbs mountains, because in order for him to do so, he must climb with others in whom he can place his complete and absolute trust. To some extent, he must rely upon them for precise descriptions of the terrain which lies before him. He also sometimes requires them to direct him accurately. Often, accurate directions and descriptions of the terrain are all that lies between the author and a precipitous drop of several thousand feet. I marvel that anyone would dare to venture up a mountain they cannot see in the traditional sense. The author has nerves of steel and is blessed with a very supportive and loving family.

Yet, he climbs, not for the visual beauty of the mountains, but for the sense of freedom that it gives. For him, the mountains he climbs are a reassurance that he is just like everyone else. They are also trophies. He is working on climbing the seven summits, the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. At present, he has reached the summit of four of them. I hope that he will reach his goal.

The author is a very handsome, athletic and driven young man, and I give him a lot of credit for that drive and athleticism. When one reads his book, the reader realizes just how much it took for him to be able to do what he has done. What he has accomplished has flown into the face of conventional wisdom and traditional expectations of one who is blind. His story is unique in that he alone has made it so. He is a shining example of a person who will not let others dictate the parameters of his life. Yet, at the same time, he occasionally comes across as somewhat unfeeling of others and a bit shallow. Those who read the book will, undoubtedly, know what I mean. Nonetheless, he is certainly to be credited for expanding common perceptions of what the blind are capable of achieving.

Good luck, Erik, on all your future endeavors!

For anyone who has climbed or trekked, this is a fantastic book that will remind you of the pain, strife and ultimate joy of having endured on the mountain. Of course, the mountains are simply the vehicle for the story to entice people to read an inspiring tale of a blind man and how he deals with what life has thrown at him. Humility, humor and inspiration abound! You'll be touched by Erik and wish all your friends were as solid a teammate as he is. I loved it.
Jason Jones, author of NOMAD: Letters from a Westward Lap of the World

This is a fabulous book. One minute you are laughing out loud and the next, tears are pouring down your face. The tears are not of sadness but of joy for all the wonderful experiences Erik has had; his relationships with friends and family, his adventures among the cracks and crevices. With great wit, Erik expresses his triumphs along with his challenges. My son has been blind for two years. He lost his sight to genetics, but we had no cue that the family had the gene until his sight started going three weeks before his nineteenth birthday, it only took those three weeks. He just turned 21 on August 2. Unlike Erik, Larry does have the talent of music and travels with his band, Jepetto, around the East Coast. He even has gone back to taking Classical piano lessons. Like Erik he found no encouragement in what his abilities would do for him. TOUCH THE TOP OF THE WORLD really helps you understand the the feeling of blindness, not of the limitations the world puts on you, but of the heights to which you can arise. Please read it, you will not be sorry you did, only sorry if you hadn't read it. I am donating a copy to each of my son's schools.