I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS..., 2 Dec 2002
By Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)
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.

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.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

upstairs

I saw the film of the same name some years ago so am interested to see if the book can add to the drama of this story.

The story of the 'plane crash in the Andes and of the survivors realising their only hope of survival was to eat their dead companion is now well known. What the book highlights are the many other hardships they faced - such as the biting cold - and some of the mental hardship they had to go through - like when some of those who'd survived both the 'plane crash and an avalanche succumbed to the harsh conditions and died. Despite being an old story, it is still a remarkable tale of courage, perseverance and survival.

Taken to the meeting today.

Sorry, sorry, sorry for not journalling sooner!!! Your book is safe though; I picked it up at one of the few meets I've managed to get to in the past two years. (Yes, no prizes for guessing, that was the August 2010 Coffee Link meet.)

I enjoy survival type stories so picked this up even though my reading time is quite limited and my shelves are full. Hey, I must be a BookCrosser after all =;o)

(BookAmbler previously known as Pakasanelly :)

Wow, just spent an emotional afternoon reading the second half of this book! There's a lot to talk about - the moral dilemma of eating human flesh to survive, the team work (including exposing the shirkers and the workers), the resourcefulness, the waxing and waning of motivation, the 'expeditionists', the importance of their faith/ God to the group, the desperate circumstances etc etc.

The book was a bit hard going to start with, partly due to the many names the author throws at us but after a while it sinks in that he sometimes uses the survivor's first name and other times his surname! Also the style is a little dry at times. But he does get into the story pretty quickly with minimal build up. Apparently the author was criticised by the survivors for not portraying the 'faith and friendship which inspired them' well enough, but I think it would be impossible to satisfy those who actually lived it, and he has done a great job overall.

I found it interesting that the majority were smokers and yet by some quirk of fate they never ran out of cigarettes (allowing Zerbino to use his practiced reply to being offered a ciggie by the rescuers!). I felt sorry for the few non-smokers!

My other thought was that this happened in 1972... if it happened today, there would be no story thanks to the abundance of mobile phones/ 3G/ sat nav - though whether that would all work in the Andes I don't know.

Unfortunately this copy has started to split at the seams. I shall track down another copy and replace it. Thank you for sharing!

UPDATE: 09/12/2011 - Replacement book given original BCID.

The book will be left on the shelf if no takers at the meeting. Or possibly released anywhere in Ipswich town centre =:o)

Picked up at today's Ipswich meet up.