Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Nando Parrado, one of the survivors of the crash, and found him to be one of the kindest people I have ever met. After meeting him and hearing his story, I immediately went home and read "Alive". The book was even more powerful after hearing a condensed version of the story directly from Nando. I encourage everyone to read this story of family, friends, courage and triumph. It will help you realize the truly important things in this life.
Rating:
Summary: an excellently well told storey that doesnt hold back
Review: this book is one of the best true storeys i have ever had the pleasure of reading, piers doesnt hold back and tell's it like it was, this book has you glued to it all the way through till the end a wonderfull ending even with the loss of life encountered truely an enjoyable read
Rating:
Summary: A surprising tapestry.
Review: Cold, starving, and trapped in the Andes, the survivors of a charted plane crash struggle to survive. Despairing, their families search for them. Read interweaves the stories of the survivors and their loved ones as they face insurmountable odds. A moving testimony to the power of faith -- in God and in the human spirit. The moment when Canessa's father learns that his son, whom he had given up for dead, is alive and waiting for him, is one of the greatest moments ever captured in words. Their Christmas reunion makes this a good Christmas tale.
Rating:
Summary: Can you survive?
Review: I was strongly impressed by this book more than you'll ever know. This is a non-fiction story of a party who met with an accident in wintry Andes. In plane there were some passengers, one football team, man and wife, an old lady, and so on.. The plane was so small that could contain about 40. They were flying over the Andes for each purpose and that's common for all people even in winter. When they had still about 20 minutes ride to an airport, suddenly the plane hit a summit of the Andes and was cut in half. The back half of it fell to the Andes with a few passengers. The other half of it leaned to the front and also started to fall. Some prayed, some screamed while they were coming to the ground of Andes. The plane was crashed in the Andes. Luckily they survived excepting some people with no luck. But it was never lucky accident for survivors. The outside of the plane was snowstorm and it was deadly freezing. The next day morning 6 were found dead of freezing. They also had another big problem. It was foods. They didn't have enough foods for them all to survive until a rescue corps come. A few days later they could hear a portable radio saying that no survivors at this accident and gave up the search for survivors. One night a man said "eat them.". Suddenly another said "No! Did you go mad?". Then others said "But it may be the only way to survive.". "Them" meant dead men bodies. Next day they made up their minds to eat them excepting a man who was against the opinion to the end. It was that night that he died. At last two strong men decided to cross over the wintry Andes to get rescue. They promised they got rescue for them all without fail. And they succeeded it. I don't remember in detail well, so I may make a few mistakes. But this is the approximate story of "Alive". How do you feel their connibalism? Do you think they went insane with hunger? I don't think so. I think they knew it was abnormal behavior but it was only way for them to survive. They couldn't help it. They had no choice. Maybe they are proud of it and their living now. I also respect it.
Rating:
Summary: "Alive" tells a gripping tale in wonderful narrative
Review: "Alive" portrays the Andes' survivors in a gripping and unbiased manner. Read's narrative is excellent and his character development is wonderful. Although the reader most likely knows the outcome of the story, each page reads like a suspense novel. The interplay of the characters is well depicted. Nothing seems overlooked. Overall, a truly memorable book that will keep you reading. I couldn't put it down
Rating:
Summary: What would you do if . . .
Review: What would you do if your plane crashed in the middle of the Andes Mountains in South America, where the remains of the 40 person
aircraft was your shelter? The 40 people who were traveling to Chile
for a 5 day vacation, never thought it would happen to them. They lived in the plane with their remaining friends, eating
the dead corpses for survival. At the end of their long "crisis", 16 people remained, who lived to tell their story
of their Andes survival, which cannot be put into words.
Rating:
Summary: the toughest choice one will ever have to make.......
Review: Amazing account of the story of the Andes survivors. It was so fascinating, I finished the book in one night. And those of you who seen the book know it is about two inch (more or less) thick.
Would you rather DIE, or EAT CORPSES of bodies once belonging to your dear friends? Tough choice to make, but the Uruguaian rugby team who's plane crushed in the Andes in 1972 had to make theirs.
Everyone who reads the book asks himself: what if I were in their situation? Would I have been brave enough to go on? Would I have been able to eat human flesh, even if it was the only mean of surviving?
It is really pretty powerful. It actually makes you think, this book. Makes you appreciate the bravery of Fernando Parrado and his fellow passengers, be it if they made it at the end, or not.
Piers Paul Read does a fabulous job of recounting it to those who haven't been there, makes it all come alive (what an ironic choice of a word) in front of our eyes.
Rating: 
Summary: An inspiring and thought-provoking true story
Review: I read this book many years ago, but the story has stuck with me all this time. It is both inspiring and thought-provoking. The reader is inspired by Nando Parrado who will do whatever it takes to escape the Andes to Chile (I still remember that name despite reading this so long ago). We are also inspired by other characters in the book who lend a part to the survival. But it is thought-provking as a character study as the reader wonders how they would react in that situation. As the group is short on supplies and definately not clothed to handle the temperatures they are facing, everyone reacts differently. The aspect of the book (and later the movie) that has gotten the most attention is the decision to eat the flesh of deceased passengers for survival. It is something every reader will consider - not only how far would you go to survive, but what would you want to be done with your body in that situation. Although you may know the basics of what happened, the reality of the situation will only sink in when you are wrapped in the story by the author. While he is able to make you feel like you are really there, then you will be able to feel truly inspired by Nando Parrado, and really think about the situation and the passengers' decisions. This book is still a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Addictive Read
Review: I read this book last night in 4 hours--absolutely couldn't put it down. The story is very suspenseful (mostly I think because the events themselves were so extreme and harrowing--the story can't help but be suspenseful!), and very clearly told. Read, the author, definitely tries to keep it objective, reporting the events rather than turning it into a character study. He lays out the facts for you, and it's up to you to do the judging.
Rating: 
Summary: Ahh.. Alive...
Review: I understand that what I say is going to be very offensive to the people who were in this position. I wish I could say that I understand what they went through, but there's no possible way save undergoing it myself. But, this is a book review, and not a review on the events that these people had to endure.
This is masterpiece. So full of detail, so full of in-your-face fact! Honest to god, this has to be more boring than a four hundred page technical manual on how to brush your teeth.
I had to read this piece of crap at school. I mean, the book is absoutely splattered with reviews saying how gripping it is. I myself, I just... wasn't hooked. I've never been forced to read a book I didn't like at school, and until now, I didn't think there was such thing as an intolerable required reading book but I guess I was wrong, huh?
Holly hell, let's see... the opening sentence? A real doozie, that one. Sure to grasp the attention of even the most ADHD affected kid out there. No bloody way anybody could put this one down.
I guess there was just something I was missing here. Maybe it would be my lack of belief in a deity, or the fact that I'm pro-cannibalism in the proper circumstances. Maybe it's just because I'm a twitty little fourteen year old, and therefore, stereotypically speaking, I hate reading.
But yeah, don't grab this book unless you're a non-fiction fanatic who can actually get into this kinda stuff...
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