And I Alone Survived
10 journalers for this copy...
"My gut hurts something fierce," he said. "I think the seatbelt gouged me."
On another note, so good to see you again, Lib! The woman consistently voted the sexiest in BookCrossing. Had to laugh that there was a mural of Marilyn Monroe behind you - she was a frump compared to you. It was a hot day and you were cool.
We know the ending - from the title - but along the way the reader can only gasp at the fortitude of this woman, clad in light clothing, heels and no underpants, making a journey that experienced hikers and climbers would think twice about.
While shocked, injured, freezing cold and disoriented. She had a broken arm and a deep leg wound, among other injuries, but still she managed to make it out alive from one of the highest, most inaccessible of California's mountains, where the light plane in which she was a passenger crashed in turbulence.
Cleverly told, with "cutaways" to relatives and searchers, the story is incredible, and inspirational. How many of us, i wonder, would react in exactly the right way to survive such a calamity? She made the most of her limited resources, used common sense to make decisions, and endured what had to be endured, going from a comfortable Oakland home to a howling wilderness in an hour or two - and then out again on foot in a far longer time. Bleeding, shredded, aching and frostbitten feet.
How little separates us from disaster. In this case, a mere five metres higher and the plane would have crossed the ridgeline unharmed, those inside whooping with the thrill and the view. And then, life was on a razor's edge, with death from exposure or falling moments or millimetres away.
Until she found help, in one of the more surreal moments of the book.
I was glued to the pages.
Not a great literary effort, to be sure, but what a story! The crafting of the narrative echoes the practical, level-headed qualities of the woman who tells it. This is deathless prose, in a different and more literal sense.
Released 13 yrs ago (9/2/2010 UTC) at Deakin, Australian Capital Territory Australia
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Passing this onto Goldenwattle.
The true survival story of a remarkable escape from an aeroplane crash high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the US. Lauren Elder was determined to survive and despite the insanity of hallucinations she made it. The other two people in the plane were not so lucky, one dying of head injuries and the other of internal bleeding. I was surprised though that Lauren did not suspect Jay had internal bleeding – abdominal pain – cold limbs. However even if she had she could have done nothing to help. She walked out of the mountains into the small desert town of Independence, after clambering down almost vertical cliffs, through snow, over rocks, down a dry waterfall. Then she had to try and convince a suspicious community she needed help.
The writing is fast moving, it’s a page turner.
Passed to a non-BookCrosser and then Kermit58 has it, before it returns to me.
No undies!!!
Returned the book.
Released 12 yrs ago (9/24/2011 UTC) at Parkes, Australian Capital Territory Australia
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Hotfrog (back to camera on right) picked it up.
Floriade
This book is released for:
2011 Keep Them Moving Challenge
Taking it on the release walk at UnCANvention today.
Released 9 yrs ago (10/25/2014 UTC) at King O'Malley's Pub, Garema Place in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
*waves hi to Libertine!*
Thanks Skyring, will add this to Mt TBR
Released 7 yrs ago (8/28/2016 UTC) at State Library of Queensland OBCZ in Brisbane, Queensland Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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I brought this book over to Germany