Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read is about the traitorous journey and the mental and physical fight for the survivors of the plane crash in the Cordillera De Los Andes of South America during 1972. This book covers the whole ten week ordeal of their survival up to their lives after the disaster. The plane carried 40 team members, staff, family, and friends of a Uruguayan rugby team along with 5 crew members en route to Chile. The real tale starts when the plane smashes into a mountain in Argentina killing dozens aboard. There were 40 people in the plane and only two-dozen manage to survive the impact. On a patched up radio receiver they find out that the search for the plane has been called off; this forces the crash victims to rely on their own initiative and will to endure the harsh conditions at such a high altitude due to the fact they are landed upon the mountains. Several more die of injuries that were suffered in the crash, poor medical supplies, an unseen avalanche, and prolonged exposure; before sixteen fortunate individuals are rescued alive. When reading this book the average individual would first think under the circumstances they were faced upon, means of survival were minimal. Since they had no food, water or real means of shelter other than the remains of the plane survival wasn’t encouraging. The survivors ended up resorting to cannibalism as a means of food for survival. They fed off of their friends frozen corpses. The decision of cannibalism was not one they were pleased to make, but was their last chance of survival. After the individuals ate it gave them enough energy to look for help throughout the day. After 9 weeks of being stranded in the mountains two men had great fear that they would never be spotted. They hiked their way down to the valley that they had spotted before to seek help for their stranded peers still left on the mountains. Since the students that went on this trip were extremely religious they felt as if their friends bodies were there because god wanted the surviving individuals to feast on them. With this thought they made themselves feel morally right to save themselves. They believed god gave them choices to make with survival in his heart. This is a perfect example of how things can switch from great to terrible when one misfortune is faced upon an individual. This makes people want to sincerely enjoy the fun times they have because they can be easily taken away forever in a matter of time. The author, Piers Paul Read, shows the theme of survival or sacrifice vs. religion. Since all of the individuals on this trip are strict Catholics it is tough for them to do such a vulgar thing such as cannibalism. I found that the maps, pictures and sub chapters were great strengths for this book. The pictures showed the reader that the students were just average students which made the reader able to relate more with the individuals in the novel. The maps showed the reader where exactly the students were and what it looked like around them. The sub divided chapters helped the reader to allocate phrases or certain points within the novel. I didn’t understand why the chapters didn’t have titles. In conclusion, I found this story to be quite intriguing because as the reader we want to know how they are going to survive, and if they do. This is one of those stories where you can stop reading until you’ve finished the book. This is a great story of survival, so if you’re looking for a really interesting, intriguing read; here is your book.
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read is about the traitorous journey and the mental and physical fight for the survivors of the plane crash in the Cordillera De Los Andes of South America during 1972. This book covers the whole ten week ordeal of their survival up to their lives after the disaster. The plane carried 40 team members, staff, family, and friends of a Uruguayan rugby team along with 5 crew members en route to Chile.
ReplyDeleteThe real tale starts when the plane smashes into a mountain in Argentina killing dozens aboard. There were 40 people in the plane and only two-dozen manage to survive the impact. On a patched up radio receiver they find out that the search for the plane has been called off; this forces the crash victims to rely on their own initiative and will to endure the harsh conditions at such a high altitude due to the fact they are landed upon the mountains. Several more die of injuries that were suffered in the crash, poor medical supplies, an unseen avalanche, and prolonged exposure; before sixteen fortunate individuals are rescued alive.
When reading this book the average individual would first think under the circumstances they were faced upon, means of survival were minimal. Since they had no food, water or real means of shelter other than the remains of the plane survival wasn’t encouraging. The survivors ended up resorting to cannibalism as a means of food for survival. They fed off of their friends frozen corpses. The decision of cannibalism was not one they were pleased to make, but was their last chance of survival. After the individuals ate it gave them enough energy to look for help throughout the day. After 9 weeks of being stranded in the mountains two men had great fear that they would never be spotted. They hiked their way down to the valley that they had spotted before to seek help for their stranded peers still left on the mountains.
Since the students that went on this trip were extremely religious they felt as if their friends bodies were there because god wanted the surviving individuals to feast on them. With this thought they made themselves feel morally right to save themselves. They believed god gave them choices to make with survival in his heart.
This is a perfect example of how things can switch from great to terrible when one misfortune is faced upon an individual. This makes people want to sincerely enjoy the fun times they have because they can be easily taken away forever in a matter of time. The author, Piers Paul Read, shows the theme of survival or sacrifice vs. religion. Since all of the individuals on this trip are strict Catholics it is tough for them to do such a vulgar thing such as cannibalism.
I found that the maps, pictures and sub chapters were great strengths for this book. The pictures showed the reader that the students were just average students which made the reader able to relate more with the individuals in the novel. The maps showed the reader where exactly the students were and what it looked like around them. The sub divided chapters helped the reader to allocate phrases or certain points within the novel.
I didn’t understand why the chapters didn’t have titles.
In conclusion, I found this story to be quite intriguing because as the reader we want to know how they are going to survive, and if they do. This is one of those stories where you can stop reading until you’ve finished the book. This is a great story of survival, so if you’re looking for a really interesting, intriguing read; here is your book.