Rating: 
Summary: refreshing, honest, encouraging
Review: This book may do more for marginal Christians than most works written by apologetics. Yancey takes us through his rejection of Christianity as he was presented with it as a child to his reclamation of it as an adult due to the solid, intelligent writings and mentorship of 13 various Christians that he devotes one chapter to apiece. Don't think Jerry Falwell, think C.S. Lewis.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Candid...
Review: I was immediately impressed by the sincerity, boldness, & honesty...and yet the author seems to maintain a fair criticism of society's "pitfalls" of organized religion.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book with a very misleading title
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Yancey writes in his usual conversational tone, with emotion and feeling. However, the book is nothing like what I expected. Frankly, I read it only on his reputation, and based on some of his excellent previous work. The title of the book is very misleading. In reality it is a series of essays on people who had an impact on his life including Martin Luther King, G.K. Chesterton, Paul Brand, Robert Coles, Leo Tolstoy & Feodor Dostoevsky, Gandhi, Everett Koop, John Donne, Annie Dillard, Frederick Buechner, Shusaku Endo and Henri Nouwen. After an initial discussion of his own Church experience in the South, and some honest, direct, and often disturbing revelations about racism and prejudice, he launches into the essays. Each section is written as a critique of the person's Faith and impact of Yancey and others. I found the sections on Paul Brand, Robert Coles and G.K. Chesterton, especially fascinating, as I had very little knowledge of their work prior to reading the book. I would recommend this book, simply ignore the title and enjoy some wonderful insights into the Faith of some very interesting people. While Yancy spends too little time on the effects of the Church to warrant the title of the book, the insights are worth the effort.
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Summary: Honest, intelligent, frank but ultimately hopeful.
Review: There are some books that, while I enjoy them or benefit from them, I really don't expect them to have a lasting impact. This is a book that I expect to see in reprints many years from now. The subtitle leads you to expect a linear autobiography, but instead, as you've already read, the book consists of profiles of those who shaped Yancey's life. These portraits aren't whitewashed, and what they reveal isn't some sort of simplistic, "feel-good" version of the Gospel. Instead, we see the highs and lows of Christian faith -- public sacrifice and private struggles. Yancey's subjects are relevant and his writing brings them to life; he's already inspired me to read more of G.K. Chesterton and Annie Dillard. This is an honest and important book for people who want to think more deeply about God and how He relates to their own lives.
Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I was expecting more horror stories from Yancey's past, but he pleasantly suprised me with compliation of stories about people that have positively effected his life. Being taken off guard, not expecting a history lesson, I was engrossed in his takes on Martin Luther King Jr, Gandi and others including some of people that he knows (or has known) as personal friends. This book is another must read for any Yancey fan, I am becoming a completist myself (as the wallet permits) and count him just under C.S. Lewis as a "you gotta read this book" kind of author.
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Summary: A Powerful Personal Journey
Review: SOUL SURVIVOR is a big departure from Philip Yancey's usual style of book. It reads more like a pseudo-biography -- both for him and for the thirteen people who have most influenced him in his walk of faith. Much of the territory here will be familiar to long-time readers of Yancey's, but it works because of the different way it is presented. Each chapter is devoted to an individual. Always readable, SOUL SURVIVOR reaches beyond that into more powerful air when the subject becomes more weighty (read: controversial). Chapters on Martin Luther King Jr., Paul Brandt, Mahatma Gandhi, and C. Everett Koop, in particular, I found the most enjoyable and enlightening. Yancey tells their tales in an honest manner, recognizing their shortcomings, and in doing so makes their examples all the more powerful. As I read his (and their) story, I had to marvel at the grace of God, because Yancey has come a long way. No other person, outside of my parents, has had a greater influence on my Christian walk than Philip Yancey. Realizing that this same man was once a blatant racist (among other flaws which he is open about) amazes me. It also gives me hope, as it should his other readers, for if God can take a man and change him this much (using the influence of various authors and historical figures) it should help us to see the possibilities of what God can do in our own lives, as well as recognize the effect that our lives can have upon others. SOUL SURVIVOR is not my favorite Philip Yancey book, nor is it his best (that title still belongs to WHAT'S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE). But it is a fantastic, personal journey that I am so pleased to have been allowed to be a part of. If you are disillusioned by the institution of the church here is a book that will help you to see past those flaws to recognize how God really works through individual men and women. And that is what the church is really all about. FOUR 1/2 STARS.
Rating: 
Summary: something missing
Review: Hinkle and NotATameLion say a lot of the things I have to say about Soul Survivor. This is a pretty good book. One of Yancey's best. Still, his books always lack something. It could be that Yancey lacks a little fire. Could just be his less than inspiring prose style. Whatever--something's missing here. As Emeril would say: "Let's kick it up a notch!"
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Summary: Another stellar offering from Philip Yancey
Review: I've come to realize that, while preachers and priests may do a lot of good for God's Kingdom while they are on this earth, it's the writers who really have lasting influence for generations to come. (Let's face it, C.S. Lewis has done infinitely more to shape Christian thinking than, say, Jerry Falwell). Philip Yancey is one of the great writers on the Christian scene today who I am sure will live on through his books for a long time after he's gone, and it has a lot to do with the fact that writing is his life, not just a sideline to some other career. It is significant that, while Yancey was becoming disillusioned with the institutional church (especially the racist Southern fundamentalist church he grew up in) there were people, both past and present, who were instrumental in keeping his faith alive, and many (though not all) of them were writers. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Donne, Dillard, Buechner, the list goes on. Yancey writes about these individuals and others who shaped his life through their writings and their lives. The first individual profiled is Martin Luther King Jr. Yancey paints an almost unbelievable but unflinchingly true protrait of the extreme racism of his Atlanta upbringing in the early '60s and the ungodly mistreatment of King and his followers during that time. While not glossing over deep flaws in King's character he portrays King as a deeply spiritual man of faith and edurance who never compromised his belief in nonviolent resistance, even when many of his kindred strayed from the standard of non-retaliation King preached and practiced. Yancey writes about thirteen individuals in all, and space does not permit a summary of each one here. The one thing they each have in common is that they had a profound effect on Yancey's life and faith. There are some interesting choices here, including one person, Mahatma Gandhi, who expressly declined to embrace the Christian faith even as he was following the teachings of Jesus more closely and seriously than perhaps 98% of all the Christians who ever lived. Some of the people profiled are fairly well known, like former Surgeon General C. Everaett Koop, and some are more obscure, at least to me, like Japanese author Shusaku Endo, but they are all worth getting to know, flaws and all. Who would make your list of thirteen influential people who have had a positive effect on your faith? Philip Yancey would certainly be a strong candidate to make my list.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Starting Point For Further Study
Review: Mr. Yancy, an excellent wordsmith and essayist, writes chapters about 13 people (Martin Luther King, G.K. Chesterton, Paul Brand, Robert Coles, Leo Tolstoy & Feodor Dostoevsky, Gandhi (a non-Christian), Everett Koop, John Donne, Annie Dillard, Frederick Buechner, Shusaku Endo and Henri Nouwen). Each of these people, none of whom are "professional Christians", exemplifies by their lives and achievements an application of Christian faith and principles that allowed them to make a difference in the world. All of them did so as individuals working outside the organized structure of the church. Their lives and comments provide inspiration to any Christian who would go beyond the faith as only a road to their personal salvation in the next world and toward applying their faith to creating a better life for people in this world. Soul Survivor is good starting point for further study because Yancy concludes each chapter with specific recommendations for further reading in the lives and writings of each subject. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Yancey - Never disappoints
Review: I just finished reading "What's so Amazing About Grace" and this book is a great follow up. I grew up in Alabama going to churches similar to those described by Yancey and I am still trying to recover. The 13 biographical sketches in this book present inspiring details about the subjects but also allow the reader to see their human flaws as well. Read this book and learn about history, faith, and struggles of extraordinary people trying to live up to God's purpose for their lives.
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