Alive : The Story of the Andes Survivors

Rating:
Summary: Alive by Piers Paul Read
Review: This is one of the best books that I have ever read, and is hands down the best story that I have ever heard. It is a book that you will have fun reading and not be able to go to sleep until you find a good spot to stop at. Pick it up, read it twice, and give it to someone that you think would enjoy it. It will make you believe in the unbelieveable, and actually feel better as a person.

Rating:
Summary: The reality drives it home
Review: This is the original action-adventure survival tale, and far better than the self-gratifying Into Thin Air or the generic Perfect Storm. For one, the soccer players stranded in the Andes really didn't do anything to put themselves in that situation other than getting on the airplane. They didn't pay untold thousands to climb a mountain they had no business being on or pilot their fishing boat into a hurricane out of sheer stupidity. In that, it's much easier to feel for the victims and marvel at their ordeal. You will constantly find yourself thinking about the gravity of their situation and at what point you yourself would begin devouring human flesh. It's a story that could be great as a work of fiction, but being that it really happened, it's transformed into something amazing and grotesque at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS...
Review: Time has not diminished the drama of the tale of the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains. Of the forty five people on the plane at the time of the crash, sixteen came down from the mountain about seventy days later with a saga of survival not easily forgotten.

Theirs is a journey born of tragedy and human endurance. The author unfolds a tale that is gripping in the telling, as enthralling as it is almost unbelievable. It is investigative reporting at its best, because it does not fail to convey the human drama and pathos behind the story of this remarkable struggle for survival high up in the Andes mountains. Masterfully written, it is a well balanced narrative that takes great pains to ground the experience of the survivors in the context out of which it arose. ... . Thus, begins this epic tale of survival.

The plane had crashed in the Andes mountains on Argentinian territory. It was an exercise in terror for those on the plane, as it barreled down the mountain, before finally coming to rest in a valley of snow high up in the Andes. Of the forty five persons on board, thirty two had initially survived the crash. Some, however, had sustained serious injuries. Time would not be their friend. Moreover, with little warm clothing (keep in mind that October is springtime in South America), the survivors were exposed to the extreme cold of the night air, high up in the Andes mountains. Though spring, this still meant temperatures well below freezing. Damp, cold, and hungry, amid the anguished cries of the injured, thus began the first of many such nights.

By their tenth day in the Andes, the limited food supplies, which they had rationed with all the care of a miser, had virtually run out. Starving and ravenously hungry, they voiced what they all knew to be true, but had not dared to voice before. They must eat, or they would die. The only thing left for them to eat, however, was abhorrent and deeply repugnant to them. Digging deep into their conservative, religious souls, they found a way to justify actions that would have them transcend a new reality. Their fallen comrades would now provide the means of their sustenance. All eventually succumbed to this only means of survival.

This, while one of the most dramatic parts of their story, is just that, a part. Their survival entailed much more. They had to endure other deprivations. They had to survive the elements. They had to overcome a profound despair over being seemingly forgotten by the outside world. Ultimately, only sixteen were able to do so. How they did so will fascinate all readers of adventure literature. The means that they took to let the world know that they were still alive will astound even the most jaded of readers. It is an account of human endurance that is thought provoking and compelling, a quest to reconcile physical needs with the spiritual. It is, above all, a riveting testament to life.

Rating:
Summary: Curt's opinion on the book "Alive"
Review: This is the story of the Survivors of a plane crash in the Andes Mountains. They had to learn how to survive and ration their food. The ones that survived the crash unhurt had to tend to the injured. As the food started to lessen and the chance of rescue is a thing of the past, they begin trying to get off the mountain. They have to result to cannibalism to survive. They consider taking meat off of the pilot for food so they can survive the trip. As they try to get up the mountain to look for any nearby villages, they began to tire and sink in the deep powdery snow. As the trip gets protracted and the numbers of people begin to lessen. Their chance of survival is getting cut short. They finally find a farmer and they are saved, but only sixteen of the thirty-two survivors made it out alive.

Rating:
Summary: A tale of survival that will stun and inspire you.
Review: At the beginning of his book author Piers Paul Read informs his readers that he decided not to fictionalize any events, instead he chose to let the narrative of the interviews flow freely and speak for themselves. It was the wisest choice he could have made. Although stomach churningly graphic a moments there are many others that let you feel the spiritual nature of the ordeal these young men faced for seventy-two days in the Andes. In its documentary fashion the book perfectly communicates the "Christmas Miracle" that is the story of the Andes Survivors. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ
Review: Ever scince a friend recomended the book to me and I started to read the story, I was immediatley glued to the pages. This story about the plane that went down in the Andes Mountians is truly an invigorating narritve. I felt true sense of brotherhood among the group. As the number of survivors slowly decreased, the bond between those remaining grew stonger. You really have no idea what it was like to survive over seventy days in the Andes until you have read this story of those brave men whose will to survive was stonger than the pesimistic attitude that clenched them in the beginning. It may seem somewhat disturbing what these boys had to resort to, you can't deny the courage that would forever change them.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: After seeing the movie, I always meant to read the book. I wish I read it a long time ago. Although, the book reads a little slow at times, it provides such a detailed account of what the survivors endured. The book does not read like a fiction where most of the events lead up to the conclusion. The author detailed the families seach for the boys but this had little on the conclusion except that the families kept looking for them, albiet in the wrong place. Towards the end of the book, I found myself skimming paragraphs which didn't involve the survivors. Sorry, but some of it seemed just like filler.

However, this book is still worth a 5 star since the author did detail the survivors account and this book will make you think what you would do given the same circumstances.

Having finished this book, I still find myself thinking about it. Read this book. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Stuff that'll send chill down your Spine on a Summer Day!!!
Review: Havent read a better Real Life incident. It doesnt come better than this. The narration is powerful, yet sensitive. You almost feel as if you were there among the crash survivors all thru the story. If ever there was a "CANT-PUT-DOWN" book then this is it. I had read this book long time back(I cant even put years to it) but still it stays imprint in my memory. Those 16 survivors of the Uruguayan team. All heroes in their own right and two really determined young man who dragged on those mountains, despite despair, their will to survive. KUDOS TO THEM!!!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing story of survival, must be read to be believed
Review: This book is a great tale of the human spirit overcoming all. Despite numerous hardships there are survivors of a plane crash in the Andes mountains. The methods of survival are told in great detail (not for the faint of heart). While the book is very insightful and amazing, there are many characters and to keep track of them all is difficult, however the important message comes from the group overall.

Rating:
Summary: Heart -rending story
Review: While giving this book 5 stars, I'll admit that "Alive" was very difficult reading. No one can help but be moved by the tragic plight of the survivors of the crash of the Fairchild, with its 45 passengers aboard. Although their ultimate solution for surviving is well known- consuming the remains of the dead- what moves more is their resolve to live, their courage, and their problem-solving. One wonders how they are doing today, after living through such a harrowing experience. Ultimately, what we have in "Alive" is a picture of people going instantly from a 20th century, technological community (i.e. being in an airplane) to a stone-age, tribalistic one. Amazing story.