What would or could you do?
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It's every flier's worst nightmare. Surviving a plane crash but with little hope of survival.
This book is not easy reading because it doesn't draw simple conclusions. Written 30 odd years after the events some of the conversations Parrado describes are hard to believe as he glosses over conflict and doesn't want to besmirch anyone. It's understandable but Parrado feels an overwhelming need to present everyone in the same understanding accepting way which gives the book a distancing effect that can be at times frustrating. That minor niggle aside Parrado manages to tell the story honestly and with minimal shock tactics despite the massive press attention the story of the survivors' cannibalism has continued to generate throughout the years. He tells the story of everyone, especially those who didn't make it. It's a great legacy to the pragmatism of the group's decisions and the love they bore for those they walked out of the Andes to return to. The hardest thing to read about was the moment when they heard through a weak and intermittent radio signal that the search for them was being called off on Day 8 after the crash. It led to some very hard choices:
'I understood the magnitude of the taboo we had just broken, but if I felt any strong emotion at all, it was a sense of resentment that fate had forced us to choose between this horror and the horror of certain death. [...] There were no illusions now. We all knew our fight for survival would be uglier and more harrowing than we had imagined...'
Nando Parrado discussing the reality of resorting to cannabalism after 10 days of living in the wreck of half a plane at high altitude in light summer clothes surviving on a handful of chocolate squares.
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Amazing story fantastically well told
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This book was an absolute page turner. Even though I had read the book Alive, and knew how the story went, I just couldn't put the book down. Nando Parrado tells the story from a totally different perspective. He also manages to captivate the reader's imagination in such a way, that puts you right in on the scene.
It is a tale of what humans are able to withstand and achieve given the right state of mind and beliefs, whether religious or other, and how important family and friends are in all sorts of situations in life. Parrado manages to tell the story with both sadness and humour, which makes it a very humbling, yet totally enjoyable experience.
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TOTALLY ENGROSSING
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Amazing true story of the Uruguayan rugby team's long fight for survival following a plane crash in the high Andes.Even more detailed and captivating than the book ALIVE.
Nando writes with such detail and emotion that you feel like you're there with him enduring the bitter cold and starvation and debating what the best plan of action is to survive.
Totally engrossing and hard to put down.
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An amazing book.
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An incredible story, and so beautifully written. I could not put it down and read it within two days. A heart wrenching journey that will touch you in so many ways.
If you only read one book this year....make it this one.
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