Facinating
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I was drawn to this book and found it to be a compelling read. A lot of little things reveal themselve in the book - like how walking through Siberia as a guard can be more difficult in some ways than being a prisoner (read the book to find out why). It has its emotional moments and offered me a lot of food for thought about courage, compassion, and in some ways how life works through different circles of events all interplaying. For all of its sadness I found it to be a very inspiring book.
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Misleading
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This book is OK for what it is though rather dissapointing at times. This is mainly because it is supposed to be a true story rather than fiction. Dispite the fact that there is evidance to prove that Rawicz rejoined the Polish Army in Russia (look him up on the BBC web site) it was written 15 years after it happened. I can't remember what I did last year let alone 15 years ago. The level of detail is remakable for somebody writing a story from so long ago. 13 days without water in the Gobi desert - yeah, right. Seeing a pair of Yetis - ok then. If you read it for what it is - fiction - then it is rewarding & entertaining.
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Fiction not fact.
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There was a huge wave of disappointment when I realised that this story was pure fiction. I later read Anne Applebaum's Gulag where Slavomir's tale is exposed as being a rehash of Rudyard Kiplings short story The Man Who Was. The point I tumbled it was when the camp comandant's wife decided to aid our hero's escape, its 1941 and Stalins Great Terror was in full swing for goodness sake!not the time for helping out a bunch of prisoners and earning you and your husband a few grams of lead behind your ears. Then there was the incident of the elfin Polish girl bumps into them as they are wandering around Lake Baikal and joins their quest only to die in the Gobi desert after melting their hearts and becoming a mascot for them all. The group then miss out a desert and spot some yeti before arriving somewhat smaller in number into the hands of the British.
It is however a well written, gripping adventure of the Boys Own variety. Know it for what it is though, fiction.
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The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
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A lot of people say its far fetched and missing bits and bobs, but it is a true story as i have been told it first hand by my grandfather who was part of the party that escaped.
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Riveting
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An exceptional insight into man's inhumanity to man - and its converse in the assistance of the poorest. If this was fiction it would be described as "far-fetched". Endurance and determination that is on the edge of credibility. An epic, told completely without a hint of drama.
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