Rating: 
Summary: A true story that makes you wonder:
Review: The book "Alive" is a well written story that takes you through the survival of 16 people in the Andes Mountains. The book while slow at times and very detailed, is very action-packed and graphic.
This story pushes it's readers to the edge in a new way. It has us asking ourselves how far we would go if it meant surviving. It's detail of injuries and survival tactics have us wondering how they had the courage and persistence to never give up faith.
It can be very gruesome in some parts, but it is needed to show its audience the pain and struggles that they encountered within the three months while on the Andes.
"Alive," is a reality check and it will make you think and pull you into it. It will amaze you and get you to think of life in a whole new way. I recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: a story that will make you think about what you eat
Review: I think that this book will open your eyes to new things. You see what people will do in order to survive. There was a plane crash in the Andes mountains and the survivors had to figure out how to get rescued and how to live until then. I give this book 3 stars, and not 5, because of one thing-it dragged on in some parts. The story would keep going on about what the families of the survivors were thinking and what they were doing to try and locate them. There was just too much detail about this when it could've been only a few paragraphs. It seemed to take forever to finish. I thought that this story was really good once I had finished it-it just took awhile to get there. It was nicely described with how the survivors were coming along. There were some nice details about how the people were dying and what was happening to them. They had run out of food and saw the only way to survive as to eat the dead. It was really hard for all of them to get used to that idea. It really makes you think about what you would do in that situation. It also talks about how people were getting frostbite and gangrene from the cold and from infectious injuries from the crash. This is a good book to read if you have a lot of time on your hands. If you don't, then you should see the movie because it really is a good story. Anyone that likes graphic non-fiction stories will like it.
Rating: 
Summary: A gripping true tale of survival
Review: It seems that the 1972 Andes crash will forever be associated with cannibalism. While it is certainly true that cannibalism was a factor in the survival of the 16 who came out of the mountains, it is only a fragment in a fascinating true story of survival and social dynamics.When the Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild crashed in October 1972, the survivors expected a quick rescue. When rescue didn't come, the survivors were faced with hard choices. Piers Paul Read does an excellent job showing how the old social structure began to break down, and a new one emerge. An up-and-coming "triumvirate" of three cousins eclipsed individuals who were deemed leaders prior to the crash. Nando Parrado, who was a quiet and introverted individual prior to the accident, became the determined leader of escape efforts. Roberto Canessa, a brilliant yet difficult medical student, served as both as a catalyst for survival and a self-centered burden. Read examines the personalities of the survivors, and depicts a broad spectrum of characters. There were those who immediately gave up all hope, and resigned themselves to their fate, while others were determined to survive at any cost and not give up. What emerges is a self-contained mini society under extreme stress. It was a real life "Lord of the Flies," without the anarchy. There is enough detail to make this book a true historical resource and more than just a retelling of the story, as it was related in the move of the same name. There are grisly accounts of eating the dead, and riveting details about the quest to find the plane's tail. There is also an examination of the religious conflicts that the boys faced during and after their ordeal. Read also examines, to a lesser degree, efforts by the families of those on the plane, to keep looking even after Chilean officials gave up the search. This book is a gripping read that works on many levels. On the surface, it is a story of survival (I wouldn't use the word "adventure") under the most brutal circumstances. It is also a study of group dynamics, which counters William Golding's social commentary in "Lord of the Flies". The book needs an index and better maps. Nevertheless, it is a story that is hard to put down - and is a story that is true.
Rating: 
Summary: too much details and a little bit boring
Review: We all know that it's a true story. The story itself is fascinating. But Piers Paul Read is not a good story teller. The book itself contains too much details and is a little bit boring.
Rating:
Summary: CAPTIVATING
Review: Although the subject matter was somewhat gruesome, it was handled with delicacy and morality. The survivors were creative, yet flawed. Their situation was tragic but they managed the best they could. The account of their final triumph was amazing.
Rating:
Summary: I just met Nando Parrado
Review: I met Nando Parrado during a conference last Friday and I spend a couple of hours talking to him yesterday as he came to present his story of survival to the executive team of the company I work for. Nando was one of the two boys who, after enduring 72 of the most horrible days imaginable, crossed the Andes Mountains on foot and with nothing more than their will to survive and their desire to reunite with their families once more.
I have to say that meeting Nando and listening to his personal perspective of the events was one of those life altering experiences I will never forget. Even more, spending an hour privately talking to him is a truly remarkable experience. yes, I'm a little starstrucked, I have to admit, but I kept wondering how many world personalities would have caused that effect on me.
I feel lucky to say my soon to be wife and I met him and got a chance to listen to his story. A story of Leadership, Teamwork, Courage, Creativity, Endurance, Fear, Adversity and Love.
I strongly recommend this book as a fair account of those events in 1972, and as a document of the human experience for generations to come.
Regards,
Ervin Rodriguez
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Rating:
Summary: What a Great Book!
Review: I loved this book. It was so great! There are no words to describe how much this bok means to me! It 1972 abut 40 soccer players' plains crashed into the Andes Mountains. They were stuck their for 70 days praying to get out ALIVE. They eat their friends to stay alive. It was great book about the power of God also. Read it!
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Summary: This book caused me to cherish life for the way that it is
Review: This was a truly amazing book that really made me cherish life. Being a survivor of a fatal car crash that put me into a coma for 4 days, I watched this movie over and over because of the effect that it had on me. However, I felt that there had to be more information than what was shown in the movie, so I decided to get the book. I found out that I was right.
The movie only showed you what the people in the crash were going through and nothing about their families and people back at home. People at home were doing so much and spending money and trying so hard to find their children and loved ones that everyone believed was dead.
Something else that I found interesting is that in order to survive, the people had to act as cannibals and eat the meat of the dead humans in order to survive. Although many other people felt that this was unjustified, including some of the people that were there at first, it was necessary in order to survive.
If they did not do that, they would have died very quickly. In my eyes, once a human dies, their body is just meat and their soul does go up to heaven. I truly do support everyone who did this and think they are great human beings for what they did.
In addition, I remember reading that one of the people actually met one of the survivers, and I have to say, considering the fact that I myself was in a situation sort of like this, a coma, I would truly love to meet one of them and compare our situations. I have a bit of an idea of what they went through. At the same time, I wouls also congratulate them and share my story, for this would really make me very happy.
Rating: 
Summary: Save time and watch the movie
Review: Um...yeah...the movie's better. If you wanna save time, just watch the movie
Rating:
Summary: Trapped Between Heaven & Hell
Review: Author Piers Paul Read does a superb job of narrating this awe inspiring, nightmarish tale of survival. A violent plane crash in the Andes leaves a team of young Rugby players to battle, sub-zero temperatures, avalanches, the death of friends and loved ones, hopelessness and eventually starvation. Their will to survive brings them to a horrible choice few ever have to make; resort to canabilism or die a painful death by starvation. What makes their decision even more heartbreaking and terrible is the fact that most of the bodies they must eat to live are friends, teammates, and/or relatives. For nearly 80 days we live through the waking nightmare via Read's narrative suffering unimaginable physical and incomprehensible mental trials, but in the end it is oddly a tale of hope, faith, love and the ultimate sacrafice.
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