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Summary: Grisly Survival Tale
Review: By now, the story of "Alive" is well known. A plane carrying a group of Uruguayan rugby players crashed in the high Andes, leaving the survivors stranded for over two grueling months. They resort to cannibalizing those who were killed in the crash in order to survive. Eventually, several of the young men embarked on a desperate effort to reach civilization, succeeding just in time for the remaining survivors to be successfully rescued. It's a horrific tale, and one that is very well told by author Piers Paul Read. To his credit, Read avoids ...sensationalism. He lets the words and actions of the survivors speak for themselves. What ultimately emerges is a testament both to the survival instincts of the players and to their very humanity despite what they were forced to do. The descriptions of the trek out of the mountains is so well described that it reads like a fiction thriller. Overall, a well written and compassionate book that stands as a tribute both to the survivors and to those who died.
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Summary: epic story
Review: I've read this book several times over the years and it is remains a gripping story. This isn't a TV Survivor game where people compete in contests, eat rice and vote each other off until someone wins the jackpot. In "Alive" a group of students, their friends and family are trapped in some of the most inhospitable terrain and weather conditions in the world. Only a few scraps of food, nothing but snow surrounding them, many of them grievously injured and not one piece of survival equipment. And no one is "voted off". If you don't survive, you die there. One survivor sees his wife die in an avalanche, another loses his mother and sister, others lose cousins. The oldest survivor is only 33, the youngest is 19. Of 45 who left on the trip, only 16 survived and a few of them were close to dying when they were rescued. It is simply a fantasic story of ingenuity, faith, brotherhood, and courage. The struggle of Canessa and Parrado to climb the mountain with no mountaineering gear in a desperate bid to try and save the others is just amazing. There was an excellent companion documentary made in conjunction with the movie version of "Alive" and it is full of interviews with the survivors. I later read that several of the survivors made an emotional trip back to the crash site and to the mass grave of those who died. What a moment that must have been. "Alive" is an inspirational book and the story of the sixteen will remain with you forever.
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Summary: True Story of Miraculous Proportions
Review: I have had the triple pleasure of reading this thrilling account of survival, seeing the subsequent movie, and later meeting one of the survivors in person, Nando Parrado. Given the exceptional story telling skills of the author, I would recommend reading the account of this Uruguayan rugby team that becomes stranded deep in the interior region of the Andes mountains of South America during the middle of winter. Without the clothing, food, tools or skills to live, you will find extraordinary tales from the survivors of how they managed to live and tell this story. Be ready for some surprising and horrifying accounts of how they survived...but worthwhile to read to understand the rules of survival, both physically, emotionally and morally. Meeting and discussing the personal account of Nando Parrado brought my perspective into more inspirational level by finding the lives of many of the survivors to be positively transformed from this traumatic event. I easily count this as a recommeded book for any adventure book reader.
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Summary: Amazing chronicle of human survival
Review: A rugby team and their family and friends.. travelling together for a big match.. flying over the Andes mountains. Seems pretty regular I suppose, except that the plane crashes, and it can't be pinpointed. There is instant death and feelings of hopelessness, but there is also the spirit of life, and the desire to survive. I have read this book several times and each time I get the same emotions. It is a great book, but be warned, it is not for the weak of stomach! Still, Piers Paul Read does a wonderful job of telling the story of the Andes survivors. If you have not read it I highly recommend it. Yes, it's a little gross, but by the time you get to that part you are well immersed in the story.
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Summary: WOW!
Review: This book is the best book i have ever ever ever ever read! I feel that it has made me a better person by reading it. I now know what it is like to eat other humans. I hope you enjoy the book as much as i did.
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Summary: This Book Is NOT a Novel--It is a True Survival Story
Review: I was quite surprised to see some of the reviewers describing this book as a "novel." It is NOT a novel--it is a true-life survival story. It was required reading in my South American Geography class, at the University of Northern Colorado, about 1975. This book tells the story of a sports team flying from Argentina to Chile, whose plane went down in a snowstorm. It is the story of the survivors, and how they turned to cannablism of the dead frozen bodies for several months. A couple of them managed eventually, after several months, to get out and get help for the remaining survivors. They were quite scarred psychologically, and ended up being absolved by the Pope. After going through that experience, they don't keep in touch with one another. One of the most gripping survival experiences I have ever read, and I highly recommend it to everyone.
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Summary: A gripping tale of suspense..
Review: This book was truly the best novel I have ever read.I couldn't put it down.This book was written in such a way that it pulled you into the story. And made you feel for these brave heros that suffered, and survived a devistating plane crash.
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Summary: One of the Best True Adventures
Review: Like many, I bought this book shortly after seeing the film of the same title. After reading it twice, I'd rank it with Krakauer's Into Thin Air, and Junger's The Perfect Storm as one of the most interesting adventure-novels-that-actually-happened. Now, many years after having read the novel, I find myself remembering certain events in the book with remarkable clarity. For example, I like to backpack throughout the US. After a week of hiking through the Rocky Mountains eating nothing but camp fare, I could relate to the epiphany of tasting toothpaste. There are numerous little details in recollecting a story such as this, that make the novel so memorable.
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Summary: Krista's reveiw of Alive
Review: This book is absolutely amazing tale of the survivors of the Fairchild airplane that crashes in the Andy mountains.. It is incredibly descriptive, and full of emotion. It really helped me to relate with the survivors and their families. I can only imagine how difficult it must of been to suffer such physical and mental distress. I liked how the survivors kept faith in God and continued to pray every night. This book also really raised questions in myself about what I would do in such a situation. I would have to say that the worst part of the book was that it is so graphic, which I guess is neccessary to the plot itself. I would not recomend this book to anyone with a weak stomach, because many of the chapters are very discriptive of the extremely sick things the survivors were forced to do inlight of their situation. If you are able to deal with these parts, the rest is very informative and exciting to read.
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Summary: SOoooooo boring...
Review: I read this book with the hopes that it would be great, and i wouldn't be able to put it down. I wanted to read a gripping book, but i was terribly let down. After reading more than half of the book, i knew that they would get rescued, and i would have happily put down the book and never touched it again. The book gave way too many details and therefore it was unthinkably boring. I definately do not suggest reading this book.
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