Alive : The Story of the Andes Survivors

Rating:
Summary: A Great "Read"
Review: I found myself admiring the choices Read makes as a writer; the story is purposefully understated, and all the more powerful as a result. He probes deeply into the motivations and decisions of the survivors, and we must admire their intelligence, resourcefulness and, above all, their courage. We who have the luxory of access to the Internet no doubt take the basics of survival for granted--we know where our next meal is coming from. But anyone who reads this book will never take food or the smallest creature comforts for granted again. Read writes that after the experience the survivors disdained all superficiality and learned what was they truly valued in their lives. The gift of the survivors to the world is their own story, which wakes us up to this reality without having to go through such a harrowing experience ourselves. Of course no written account can accurately reflect what they went through, but in Read the Andes survivors have found a master storyteller. Thi! s book has been read by millions and should continue to be read for generations to come.

Rating:
Summary: UNBELIEVABLE
Review: I know it is true but I find it quite hard to believe that they would have the strentgh to live through the ordeal. Go to the bookstore and buy the book, NOW NOW NOW NWO NOW NOW NWO NOW NOW

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Summary: Nando
Review: If I met someone who had read this book, I would only need to say one word, "Nando." Sometimes I just say the name to myself, "Nando." Then it all comes back to me so powerfully.

Rating:
Summary: An extremely moving book. My view on life has changed since
Review: THis is literally the BEST book I have ever read. I respect life and all of the people that survived the experience. I think about the experience every day and all the people that experienced it.

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Summary: I am a 15 year old girl and will never forget this book
Review: This is the most shoking, tragic book ever. I will never forget it because it is life. It is what happens. A story so god awful could never be fiction. No writer could have poured the emotions through these pages as Read did. God is in these pages. It makes you think about the meaning of life and the way you live it. There is so much more that you can descover about life after reading this book.

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Summary: A book to never be forgotten . . .
Review: This book was amazing. There's really no other way to describe it. Read captures magnificently the true story of a rugby team from Uruguay, along with a few relatives and close friends, whose plane crashed in the Andes Mountains on the way to Chile, where the boys were to play against another rugby team. Amidst a sea of death and horror, the people who survived the initial plane crash are forced to take immediate action in order to preserve their lives and the lives of others around them. Only the hope of a rescue that never comes carries the boys through their first few days on the mountain. When they realize that the rescue has been called off, their adventure truly begins. This is a story of brotherhood in the purest sense. Stranded in the freezing Andes, cold, hungry, weak and desperate, the survivors struggle against all odds to remain alive. They prove to be quite inventive and ingenious, using what remains of the plane to create a better world for themselves in the Andes. They maintain hope even as their friends continue to die and in their extreme hunger they are forced to consume the flesh of the corpses. It is their optimism and brightness of spirit that carries the final sixteen through to the end. In the meantime, their parents and families continue to search for the boys even when the countries of Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina abandon the search. Although many don't see how the boys could still be alive, they do not give up hope. At the end of the book, to see each boy reunited with his family is quite amazing. Words cannot express the depth of feeling that emerges from these pages. The story of the Andes survivors and their families is one that begs to be told. No work of fiction could compare to the inspirational quality of this work. It's a "must read," and once it has been read, it cannot easily be forgotten. This book will haunt your dreams and find its way back to your thoughts time and time again. More than anything it will allow you to project yourself ! into the conditions endured by the boys and ask yourself, "What would I have done?" Would you have been strong and believed you would be saved up until the end? Would you be destroyed by the absolute desperation of the situation? In truth you could not know until it happened to you. And it could happen to you. Perhaps the very knowledge of this is what makes the story of the Andes survivors shine. Their strength and will to live is extraordinary. It must be read to be believed.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent story of human survival
Review: This book shows the power of the human spirit and the strength of the will at its absolute best. People who lived for 10 weeks under incredibly inhuman conditions survived. Through cold, wind, and avalanches, the survivors lived on, until their ultimate rescue. This story was an excellent narrative (the movie is much like the book) and I would recommend it to anyone. This should be required reading in schools.

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary people battle extraordinary odds.
Review: Wonderful and inspiring book by a great author at the top of his form.These ordinary people are so real, you can imagine yourself there having the same hopes, fears and arguments.The decision to eat human flesh was made after much soul-searching, and with great morality, it was really the only way to go. The escape, despite the power of the environment,was heroic. Anyone who has been lost while bushwalking can strongly identify with this. The reunion was deeply moving, also tragic for many relatives. The irony of narrowly surviving, then being manipulated by some Press people, was extraordinary but unfortunately realistic. Overall a wonderful human story.

Rating:
Summary: Review of Alive
Review: This book by Piers Paul Read is one of the best books I have ever read. It is powerful, moving and easy to read. The Uruguayan rugby team in the novel were confronted wth the choice of just sitting there and dying, or taking to eat the corpses of their dead friends and families. Tough decision to make, and one we wouldn't be faced with in our normal lives. Their emotional and physical struggle to live tests the extreme of human spirit and nature. About the controversy about cannibalism and all the making-up business of the press after the crash, I agree totally with the survivors: they made the right choice.

Rating:
Summary: the best book i have read involing human endurance
Review: This book is the story of human triumph over nature's harshness. The writing of Piers Paul Read is supreme. He tells the story wholly. His magnificant style brings out the heroes in this epic saga challanging modern ideas. This is the best nonfiction book I have ever read.