I hate this sort of story. It was beautifully written and powerfully moving. Listening to this story left me crying in impotent rage. It reminds me of Tears for Algernon or the Little Matchstick Girl. I don't mind stories where the hero dies, at least they get to die well, to go out swinging, to die trying. But in this story, its so frustrating and hopeless, and I'm left feeling utterly helpless.
I've spent years camping and hiking. I know how to survive in the conditions Soshi found herself in. I know how to use candles to heat a shelter, how to seal it to keep the cold out. I kept hoping she would know how to do any of those things. And then, when I recognized the signs of hypothermia, I wanted so much for something, anything, to save Soshi. Even when I was sure she was doomed, I had to keep listening, just in case.
And then, when we realize that not only is Jatar unable to do anything, but he's stuck in a loop, and every freaking time he answers the little voice on the radio, that's when I lost it. Because I know, if somehow I was Jatar, I would answer back every time. I'd embrace that feeling of a knife carving up my insides, that helplessness, just so some random little girl wouldn't die alone. Every damn time.
I cannot say I enjoyed this story. But it was masterfully written and narrated. I wanted to drive my truck to whatever mountain Soshi was dying on, and climb it, just to have a chance to save her. It takes an exquisitely skilled author to invoke that level of feeling.