Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors

This was a good story and put together the narrative of what happened clearly. Unfortunately there was too much detail about each of the persons, which dragged at times. I skimmed through much of it, stopping at the main points of action. I didn't feel I missed anything.

The definitive account of the crash in the Andes of the Uruguayan rugby team in which those who survived had done so by eating the dead bodies of their comrades. A terrible choice, but one which the Church condones: to survive is the highest commandment, and nobody was killed to provide meat. These religious boys worked it all out for themselves.

Most individuals, in their wildest imaginations, would never fathom the task or insurmountable odds encountered by the rugby team from Uruguay when their plane inexplicably crashed in a remote and isolated region of the Andes Mountains. In serious peril, with no means of sustenance, in bitter cold, it became a life or death struggle from the first moments after the crash. Alive details this harrowing journey, both spiritual and physical.

I found Read’s book Alive to be quite uncomfortable to read in its subject matter, yet vastly powerful and moving. I think there is so much to the testament of survival and hope that is encompassed in this book.

I think there are so many moments that we can take a step back and ask “what if?” in this book. What if this was us? What would we do? How could we possibly react sensibly to such a horrific and catastrophic situation? Would we, in fact, take the same course of action? How would we survive?

There’s a certain level of strong faith projected by Nando and some of the survivors that I find so redeeming and remarkable. While this book is very difficult subject matter to read about, I’m very glad I finally got a chance to read this book. It is about the testament to the human spirit, it is about survival against all odds, and it is about determination amid horrible conditions.

Alive is a very inspiring story, one that teaches us that there is always hope in the face of dire circumstances.

There is also a remarkable documentary, “I am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash” which I believe aired in 2010 on the History channel. I think this is a fantastic companion piece to this great book.

In 1974 Piers Paul Read authored Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, based on interviews with the boys that survived the Fairchild F-227 crash on Friday, October 13, 1972, parents, officials, and the Dutch clairvoyant Gerard Croiset Jr. At that time I was a toddler, I must have seen the movie version (1993) sometime. Now, in 2016 with the publication of the e-book version of this #1 New York Times bestseller, I had the chance to dig into this miracle come true in a 5+ hours read.

Only sixteen of the original forty-five passengers on the F-227 survived. Shocking is the pace in which one turned to cannibalism, and yes the described cruel details may not be the best chapter to read before sleeping. Intriguing is the psychology of the Uruguayan amateur rugby team, their friends, and family involved in attempts to make a safe place for their own, share warmth and ration food. Brave the efforts to search the harsh mountain area to look for food, human habitation, and use everything available from the wreckage. Inspiring is their faith in God.

10 weeks after the crash, two of the survivors attempted an all-or-nothing descend and discovery of a Chilean peasant. Read could use the bare facts to sustain the narrative of the days before the crash, its aftermath, as well as the reception of the survivors by family, journalists, and church officials.

The Miracle of the Andes is what the South Americans called it. In 1972 a group of forty-five passengers, including a number of young rugby players, chartered a flight from Uruguay to Chile, only the plane never made it to its destination. It crashed in the heart of the Andes mountains and all were feared lost. Rescuers didn't even know where to start looking.

Ten weeks later a lone farmer in the remote foothills on the Chilean side of the Andes mountain valley encountered two of the survivors, both exhausted and half-starved from their arduous ten-day hike through the high-altitude snowy terrain. They were desperately seeking help for themselves and the fourteen who were still alive up on the mountain.

Alive by Piers Paul Read is the authorized, true account of how a group of mostly young men, some of them barely adults, were confronted with a terrible tragedy and subsequently forced to choose between death and survival at a great cost. This is one of my favorite books of all-time and a must-read if you're interested in human vs. nature survival stories.

Piers Paul Read's true account of the Uruguayan survivors of the plane crash in the Andes Mountains in October 1972 is a brilliant fast paced read about individuals who did the unthinkable in order to survive. I had always avoided the film until now. The book is a very detailed account and compilation of the survivors' words and memories. The plane crashed in the mountains and they survived for weeks in dealing with deadly avalanches and starvation.

The survivors felt that they had no choice but to do it. Eat their friends and fellow players who had perished in the crash! After reading this book, I began to understand the dire situation and the choices to make there and then. There was no joy in doing so. The survivors felt that their friends would want them to survive until they were rescued. While they waited for help and rescue, they spent weeks aboard a fuselage in the mountains. They had to deal with each other and their situation.

The book is a very well-written read and you can't but help get to understand each and everyone of the survivors and those who perished whether by avalanche and crash. I now understand why they did the unthinkable. This book helps readers understand what the survivors went through in the Andes. I also understood why it took so long to get rescued as well. The relatives and friends fought hard to get answers and assistance in finding the passengers. People had given up hope on ever finding them alive much less looking in the Andes.

This book is about survival even in the worst of circumstances. None of the survivors were ever the same again. The families of those who perished understood their dire situation in the Andes. You wonder what else could they have done differently? Really, they wouldn't have survived without doing it.

"[The survivors] had neither sensationalized nor sentimentalized their own experience and it seemed important for me to tell the reader what they had told me in the same 'matter-of-fact' manner." –Piers Paul Read

I remember watching the film adaptation of this book when I was quite young, and being so impressed with the resilience of the human spirit, and the desire to live. This book surpassed the film, because Read did such a great job of involving the reader in the whole ordeal, including the plane crash survivors, their families, and the efforts others made to keep searching for the victims even when the odds of survival were dismal.

This edition had interviews with the author and two survivors thirty years after the publication of the book. It's really hard for me to believe that Read was only thirty-one years old when he was selected for this great project, even though he'd previously only written fictional novels. I also love that it was extremely fact based. Nowhere in this book is the reader told what they should feel about sensitive subject matter, and yet it was told in such a way that I felt involved–a spectator and visitor to the stranded fuselage that served as home to the survivors. I'm glad I read this before I read Nando Parrado's personal memoir about the ordeal, Survival in the Andes, although it will probably be some time before I can recircle this event. It really moved me to the core. Definitely a compelling read. Inspirational and gut wrenching.

"We all have our own mountains, and it's important to remember that no matter how bad things are, one can always overcome them and more so, one must never forget that they can always be worse. It's important to value the small things in life" –Alvaro Mangino, one of the sixteen survivors

On vacation in Montevideo, Uruguay I was so inspired by the Museo Andes 1972 museum about the plane crash in the Andes that I picked up the book, ALIVE, about the 16 Uruguayan men who survived. It's an inspiring story of how sixteen young men survived 72 infernal days under the worst imaginable conditions including temperatures of -22 degrees, high altitude of about 12,000 feet, avalanches, neither appropriate clothing nor food. It is an unbelievable tale of not only how they were forced to make a very tough and controversial decision (for example, to use the bodies of their dead mates as food else face death, as there were no other available food sources) but also a story of teamwork.

I was entranced by how they helped the weak, struggled between optimistic and pessimistic thinking, and was brought to tears with how one father, also known as the crazy one for never giving up hope and just kept looking for his son. But his crazy optimism was rewarded with his son being one of the survivors. Alive reminded me of the importance of both optimism and pessimism. I tend to be more of a pessimist while my husband counterbalances me by being an optimist. Too much optimism such as one of the survivors wanted to start hiking to find help in the deep snow was tempered by pessimists who said that the hike was too deadly and they needed to wait until the snow started to melt saved their lives.

I also recommend donating or going to museum, where I met the director, Jorg P. A. Thomsen; his enthusiasm for keeping this small private museum alive for future generations is infectious! Jorg also organizes team building events which includes having members of the survivors speak and lead events around the world. I believe this could be energizing for some groups and companies who want to create or build a stronger team oriented climate. I highly recommend both book and museum!

In 1972 an airplane carrying forty-five people crashed into the Andes. The search was called off after eight days, only a handful of family members had any hope that they were alive. With strength, determination, and will, the survivors worked together to combat the cold, starvation, and hopelessness they all felt.

This was an amazing book. I knew nothing about the Andes survivors before reading this book. I just couldn’t put it down! The author treated the individuals in a humane and fair way, describing both the strengths and weaknesses of each. I thought he did an excellent job on giving the survivors view points and bringing their story to life. Overall, highly recommended.

'Alive' and 'Miracle in the Andres' relate a fascinating true story.

It is amazing that even one person survived the plane crash, and even more amazing that anyone could survive sleeping their first night in extreme cold, not having proper coats or sleeping bags. The fascination continues as they continue to survive 70 days with almost no food, although at high altitudes humans need double caloric intake. The struggle was just as much psychological as it was physical.

Then, for one man who had been starving for 70 days to climb out of those mountains to save himself and the friends he left behind, having no mountain climbing equipment, well, the story is unbelievable and inspirational.

Warning: The descriptions of cannibalism are sparse and sporadic, but sickening evenso.

Seriously, someone should do a modern televised miniseries on this.

`Alive' is the profoundly moving story of the survivors of an air crash in the Andes in 1972.

A true story, this book recounts how the plane crashed and the things the survivors had to do to survive. From building hammocks and working out methods of melting snow for water high in the mountains, to sewing makeshift sleeping bags to the ultimate decision to eat their dead companions, the levels of courage and bravery are staggering to read of. You also read of the lengths they went to to be rescued and some of the aftermath on their return home.

The struggles the survivors went through are incredible to read of and the moral dilemmas around their decision to resort to cannibalism elevate this above other survival stories. I have read many other books of this type and this book was gripping, at times harrowing and ultimately inspiring.

This book has two photo plate sections which show some of the conditions and the people involved. They are a little blurry, as is expected of the period, but they give some indication of the conditions on the mountainside.

The events on the inhospitable mountain profoundly changed all of the people involved and by reading their story you too will be changed and affected by their experiences. Highly recommended indeed.

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When these men were finally rescued, my eyes were damp. It was, however, a sobering realization to know that the parents of the boys who had died then had to live with the knowledge that their sons were eaten in order that the others could survive. How hard that must be. To read that their skulls were split open to eat the brains. It's one thing to carve up a leg. Another entirely to split the face of someone you know.

A good book to read in summer's horrendous heat and humidity. I cannot help but admire those boys who did what they had to do to survive. How they managed to stay warm enough was a miracle. But the book never did address what exactly made the pilot go so wrong in his direction. Perhaps they didn't know. What courage they all showed in getting on a plane again to go home. In the beginning there were 32 survivors; in the end. 16. And no women. I am glad to have read it. A true epic of human endurance in the face of unbelievable catastrophe.

Read this instead of Laura Hillenbrand"s "Unbroken" if you want some real human resilience and survival.

This is a classic book on winter survival, detailing the survival of 16 Uruguayan rugby players for 10 weeks after their plane crashed in the Andes Mountains on October 12, 1972. As is well known, these men survived by eating from the bodies of the victims that died in the crash or died afterwards. We learn of their physical and mental hardships and the group dynamics that arose during their ordeal, and how the survivors came to make the choices they made.

A movie was made about these events, and at least one survivor has written of his experiences on the mountain. The movie, which I haven't seen, is Alive. The memoir, which I haven't read, is Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home.

Gruesome details of their cannibalism are rare in the book. One passage is quoted below.

"The last discovery in their search for new tastes and new sources of food were the brains of the bodies which they had hitherto discarded. Canessa ... had been the first to take a head, cut the skin across the forehead, pull back the scalp, and crack open the skull with an ax. The brains were then either divided up and eaten while still frozen or used to make the sauce for a stew; the liver, intestine, muscle, fat, heart and kidneys, either cooked or uncooked, were cut up into little pieces and mixed with the brains. ... For the stew Inciarte used a shaving bowl, while others used the top halves of skulls." (p 216)

The book is a factual report of what occurred on the mountain among the survivors and what efforts were made by their families, friends, and government officials to find the lost plane. The author limits himself to a dispassionate, careful telling of the events and does not abstractly discuss the psychology of survival or speculate on what a descent into cannibalism might imply about human nature or our conventional principles of morality. Do extreme situations loosen moral strictures or do such situations merely loosen moral restraint? The author does not raise these questions. The Roman Catholic survivors found moral support for their choice through believing they had a moral obligation to survive if it were physically possible, and therefore to act in accordance with that obligation, and then by using Christ's words at the Last Supper, they arrived at an analogy of a sacrifice of the dead for the living.

Wrong place at the wrong time. Imagine being thrusted into a situation so dire and miserable, that it's easier to die than it is to live.

Snapshot: Survival stories such as Shipwrecked sailors, lost souls in the desert or even Robinson Crusoe have always been a popular read because they celebrate the triumph of the human spirit. Alive-The true story of the Andes Survivors redefined the genre of Survival due to the horrific circumstances. You become attached to the story because of it's strong narrative and readable prose that keeps you turning the page.
In 1972, 45 passengers boarded Flight 571 destined for Chile. Andes serves as a challenging test to any pilot due its high altitude and legendary turbulence. Due to the high cloud cover along with low visibility, the pilot miscalculates the route. Instead of flying through a pass, the Pilot makes the perilous mistake of going into the Andes. Clipped by the peaks, the plane splinters in half with the fuselage sliding down the glaciated valley like a luge before crashing into a snowbank. Luckily there were 33 survivors. Or were they? Everybody is in shock, some were severely injured and a few were just hours away from death. Days later, there would be 27 survivors and then...

Insight: Play well or die. You have no other options. The rules are unforgiving when you are against Mother Nature at her worst. Piers Paul Read does a skillful job in transplanting the reader into their world with utter agony upon all your five senses. There are no embellishments. You get to experience the 72 days of 24/7 uncertainty which will grip you even after you finished the story. From the tragedy of the incidents to false triumphs forces the question- "What would you do?

Message: Food shortage, Subzero temperature, Desolation, High Altitude and no chance of a Rescue Mission are just a few of the obstacles. Adversity reveals character. What do you do when you don't have proper tools, communication, snowshoes or even winter clothes? You improvise by the seat of your pants. Fear is a great motivator but it can also cripple you. The shell shocking of the reality that awaits before you really makes you believe that going forward is futile. That's why this Book is titled Alive because it constantly deals with death.

Appeal: Everybody wants to read a book that reverberates something within them and "Alive" is one of those stories. The survivors whom were the members of the Uruguay Rugby team used concepts of their victories on the Rugby field when taking on survival. Hesitation, Indecision and Confusion can cost you the game. In the Andes, those same mistakes can make you pay dearly for the slightest mistake. Stay organized, have a routine and anticipate whats coming next.
These were ordinary people out of their element who had no climbing experience, cold weather training, or navigational savvy and had to muster up the courageous decision that they will at least die trying. Also you learn that all you need is the simple things in life to make you happy such as; the smell of flowers, the green grass and the taste of actual food. If you liked "The Perfect Storm" or "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer then you will absolutely love this Book.

Alive
Piers Paul Read

In 1972 a group of rugby players from Uruguay boarded a plane to take them to Chile for a game. Unexpectedly, they had to make stop in Mendoza, Argentina because of bad weather in the Andes Mountains. Everything went downhill from there, for as they set out across the Andes, one of the planes wings broke, causing the plane to fall at a catastrophic speed. More than ten of the passengers died in the crash and most were severely injured. They were trying to survive in below zero temperatures with nothing but bits of chocolate and rugby clothes. Many of the injuries proved to be fatal, ranging from parts of the plane sticking through stomachs to crushed femurs and frostbite. As everyone struggles to survive, more and more people die. There is virtually no food and to top it all off, an avalanche kills even more people. As everyone continues to grow weaker they are faced with a major dilemma: in order to survive they must eat their dead teammates flesh. But who could eat his best friend, who was alive and talking only hours before? This incredible non-fiction tale is enough to get anyone crying. This book deserves a 4 star rating because of the excellent description and the amazing adventure itself. This book is like something people have nightmares about and I have never read a book that is so intense. A number one best seller and "thunderous entertainment ... a classic human adventure... a narrative of terrific and enduring significance" (The New York Times.) It's easy to see why this amazing book stayed on the New York Times best seller list for over seven months. It's an absolute must read.

On October 12th, 1972, a small plane carring 45 rugby players and their families crashed in the Andes, after their pilot made a wrong tuirn in the Andes.
In the begining there where 45, and their story has gone down in history as one of the most unique and terrifying stories ever told. In the mountaisn slowly, accident, lack of food, avalanches and other un-foreseen causes destroy the men. But, their faith in God and their faith in their remaining families to find them and save them remains.
Horrifying problems arise, such as what to do for food. the common idea is to eat the dead, and the survivors remain alive off their loving and caring friends who have already passed. Cannibalism.
Soon, the men releize that no one is coming for them and they are going to have to get out by themself. And they do. In the middle of nowwhere, 2 of the survivors stuggle to civlization and save them all.
This book tells the truth of their survival and portrays the truth of what these men had to endure to stay alive. A story of truth, endurance, honesty, faith and wonderous and undying belief in surviving against the odds, 16 men survive for more than 2 months in the Andes, while the world around them slowly for gets them.
My favoriate part is when, the father of a rugby player whom has never stopped trying to search for his son, is reading the list of the survivors. He only knows that there are 16 survivors and he doesn't know if his son is one of they remaining, it is his job to read the list on-air to the family members listening to the radio to tell them of the survivors. He has been deticated to finding his son and never gave up, even when the Government refused to fund his searches anymore. He found help from strangers who had heard about the plane crash and had planes of their own, and were willing to help.
" "Fernando Parrado," he said, "Fernando Parrado." he pulled the paper a little further. "Jose Luis Inciarte...Jose Luis Inciarte," Then a little further: "Danial Fernandez ...Danial Fernandez." Then a little further: "Carlos Paez...Carlos Paez." Whereupon tears choked his voice, and for a moment he could read no more."
-Alive, Piers Paul Read
The book is an amazing story of endurance and anyone and everyone should read this story of real survivors.

It seems that the 1972 Andes crash will forever be associated with cannibalism. While it is certainly true that cannibalism was a factor in the survival of the 16 who came out of the mountains, it is only a fragment in a fascinating true story of survival and social dynamics.
When the Uruguayan Air Force Fairchild crashed in October 1972, the survivors expected a quick rescue. When rescue didn't come, the survivors were faced with hard choices. Piers Paul Read does an excellent job showing how the old social structure began to break down, and a new one emerge. An up-and-coming "triumvirate" of three cousins eclipsed individuals who were deemed leaders prior to the crash. Nando Parrado, who was a quiet and introverted individual prior to the accident, became the determined leader of escape efforts. Roberto Canessa, a brilliant yet difficult medical student, served as both as a catalyst for survival and a self-centered burden.
Read examines the personalities of the survivors, and depicts a broad spectrum of characters. There were those who immediately gave up all hope, and resigned themselves to their fate, while others were determined to survive at any cost and not give up. What emerges is a self-contained mini society under extreme stress. It was a real life "Lord of the Flies," without the anarchy.
There is enough detail to make this book a true historical resource and more than just a retelling of the story, as it was related in the move of the same name. There are grisly accounts of eating the dead, and riveting details about the quest to find the plane's tail. There is also an examination of the religious conflicts that the boys faced during and after their ordeal. Read also examines, to a lesser degree, efforts by the families of those on the plane, to keep looking even after Chilean officials gave up the search.
This book is a gripping read that works on many levels. On the surface, it is a story of survival (I wouldn't use the word "adventure") under the most brutal circumstances. It is also a study of group dynamics, which counters William Golding's social commentary in "Lord of the Flies". The book needs an index and better maps. Nevertheless, it is a story that is hard to put down - and is a story that is true.

"Alive" is a fascinating tale of survival that has acquired a notoriety because of something that happened during that period of survival. That notoriety is a shame because it detracts from the greater story of how so many individuals could have made through what had happened to them. For those totally uninitiated to the story, a plane load of Uruguayan rugby players (and family members) goes down in the mountains of the Andes en route to their game in Chile. All efforts to locate the downed plane were unsuccessful and the search eventually is called off. However, many of the passengers have survived and are essentially, in good health. They gather together their resources which were limited because the flight was relatively short and thus the on-board supplies were short as well. Things happen as the survivors await the rescue that doesn't come and the most infamous thing that happens is that many of the survivors take to eating flesh of their departed. Ultimately, in what is the most spectacular event of the book, a couple of men decide to reach civiliztion on their own (scenes from "Lost Horizon" come to mind) and they actually succeed. This leads to the resue of the others as the whole world discovers their amazing survival. They also discover one of the not-so-secret means of their survival; their canabalism. A variety of sleazy accounts in print and film sought to depict that shocking aspect of an otherwise amazing survival story. Fortunately "Alive" (both the book and, later, the film) rise above that to bring the real story. This account is one you won't be able to put down until you've turned the last page.

One of the most striking things to me, while reading this book, was that the author devoted only the barest minimum of text to the actual crash of the plane... barely a third of a page. This alone should illuminate the style in which this book is written. It is not gratuitous, nor fictionalized. Everything is laid out in a straightforward, almost documentary fashion. This approach to telling such an indescribable tale actually serves the story well. The experience of these young men over the 71 days they were lost in the Andes Mountains is simply unfathomable. To cloak the telling of the story in a barrage of parables and adverbs and overwrought descriptions would, I think, diminish the power of its truth: The will of these 16 human beings to survive at all costs rose above every brutal reality thrown at them on a sustained basis for 10 weeks. Truly, it's hard to imagine their plight being much worse. It's equally hard to read this book without being consumed by the question of "What if that was me?" We each doubtlessly like to think that we'd have been one of the 16 survivors, but as each chapter unfolds, I couldn't help but wonder to what extremes could I be pushed before succumbing? Having seen the movie and read the book, I can't help but think that the movie cheated the audience somewhat, first by sanitizing the eating of the dead. For the most part, the survivors were only shown peeling back strips of muscle tissue which looked an awful lot like chicken. I don't think it should have been a major focus in the film, but the reality of cannibalism in the extreme was what enabled these men to survive and cannot be overlooked or brushed aside with only a perfunctory acknowledgement. The book was not remotely indulgent or gratuitous on this issue, but no details were spared. The corpses were scavenged, skulls were split with axes to get to the brains, strips of fat were laid on the plane's roof to dry in the sun, the men endured horrible bouts of diarrhea and other maladies, on and on... there is nothing pleasant about this kind of survival. The matter-of-fact writing style simply laid it all out and yes, it's disturbing and quite difficult to read. Very little of the dead's remains were not used as food and the author presents it plainly, but it's no less graphic for the telling. The second aspect in which the movie cheated on the storytelling was the final expedition of Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa which facilitated the rescue of the 14 men who remained on the mountain. This was a 10-day journey of profound difficulty, the last few days of which, in the film, were condensed to a 30-second montage. The book also goes into quite a lot of detail on the searching efforts of the parents, as well (completely omitted in the movie). This slows down the story noticeably, but is a necessary part of its telling. ALIVE is a gripping tale of harrowing survival in one of cruelest set of circumstances imaginable. The book is well-written, utterly compelling and I highly recommend reading it if for no other reason than to inspire a profound appreciation for one's own life.

I recently just finished reading a great novel: Alive - the Story of the Andes Survivors written by Piers Paul Read. This is a well-written novel about a team of strong rugby players and their loyal fans and family who crash on a plane in the high Andes Mountains. Their only shelter was the plane's shattered fuselage and their only supplies consisted of wine, marmalade, and a few candy bars. This story captures this horrific catastrophe and the amazing survival of the original thirty-two survivors to the final sixteen that actually made it out alive after they resorted to canabalism. I loved this novel and believe it is the best non-fiction adventure ever written. As I read about their story, I felt as though I knew the characters personally and began to truly feel emotions and troubles they were experiencing. Alive is very realistic and captures the hopelessness of the situation and the special bonds between the survivors. After reading Alive, absolutely no one will underestimate their will to survive.
Alive is especially appealing to those people who enjoy suspenseful adventures novels. Anyone who loves detailed accounts of nature and its landscape will enjoy it thoroughly. I would venture to guess that a wide range of people would love it and would never want to set this great novel down including; health professionals, athletes and outdoor enthusiasts.

A story told without sympathetic or judgemental tones ... I couldn't help but feel like I was with these poor sufferers on the mountain. It unravelled as though right before my eyes.

And there was so much heart told in such a matter-of-fact way. So much courage. And honesty. It was a lot brutal there for much of their time being lost. But I feel like a better person for having read this story. It is just *something else*, put simply.

I remember in college reading about these plane crash survivors who walked out of the Andes after having been stranded for several weeks... So when the book came out a few years later, I read it in one sitting. Well, actually, when I started to fall asleep I put it down, but as soon as I woke up started again until I finished. It is still one of the most compelling books I've ever read and in discussions with people on favorite books, it is at the top of my list. The other reviews describe the story, but what is so compelling is how this survival situation brought out the true characters of the teammates--which ones got hysterical, which ones turned to mush, which ones became the leaders--and how ultimately heroic they all were. What the reader keeps asking oneself is, "What would I have done in that situation?" How would I have handled the extreme situation these mostly upper-class boys found themselves in? The author does not spare the reader the grisly details of the crash and its aftermath. I did not find it boring in the least. I relished all the details--the descriptions about their lives before the crash, their families' annguished search for them... It is truly a heart-rending--and triumphant--story. Also, the movie of this event done in the 1990s is surprisingly good. I recommend that, too. The decpiction of the plane crash in the mountain is particulary jarring. But, the book is stunning. Read it!

"Finally, Canessa brought it out to the open. He argued forcefully that they were not going to be rescued; they would have to escape themselves, but nothing could be done without food; and that the only food was human flesh." (page 78) This is an important quote from the book Alive by Piers Paul Read. Alive is about a Catholic rugby team called the Old Christians that got in a plane crash over the Ande Mountains. The people who survived the crash have to make the decision to eat human flesh or not since they are Catholic. I think it would be alright because, "They believe that virtue lay in survival and that eating their dead friends would in no way endanger their souls..." (page 80-81) Another opinion I have is that the victims used teamwork, encouragement, and sacrifice. I think this because, (on page 79) Zerbino said, "'...that if my dead body could help you stay alive, then I'd certainly want you to use it...'" Though this book may be intense, I recommend it to everyone because, people think they have it rough when little things go wrong. These people survived a plane crash and had to convert to cannibalism in an attempt to survive.

Live or die. This is the question that the survivors of the horrible 1972 plane crash in the Andes had to ask themselves. When rescue was out of the question, they were given the terrible choice of either eating their deceased friends or perishing from starvation and malnutrition. The disaster began when a Uruguayan airplane set out from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile. While flying over the Andes, the copilot brought the plane down too early. The plane crashed, and for around ten weeks the survivors had to live in the middle of a valley in the Andes. At one point an avalanche goes into the plane and kills eight survivors. The book also follows the valiant quest of the parents to find their missing children. Throughout the book, most keep the hope that their sons are still alive. Do the 18 remaining survivors live or die? To answer this question, read Alive, by Piers Paul Read.

There are many characters in this book, and Read does an excellent job of portraying each one's personality. Since there are so many, I'll only discuss the main ones. These are Fernando Parrado, Roberto Cansessa, Vizintin, Eduardo and Fito Strauch, and Daniel Fernadez. Parrado, Cansessa, and Vizintin are the of the group, and they have to try to find their way out of the cordillera (elevated valley in a between high mountains) to civilization. All of them are strong of heart and mind, and their fellow hold them in high regard. Over the course of the book they go on two substantial expeditions. The Strauch cousins (Daniel, Eduardo, and Fito) are the other powerful group amongst the survivors. Although physical ailments keep them from going on expeditions, the take the gruesome job of cutting up the human flesh and are united by their family bonds. Fito is the inventor of the group, as he devised a water making device. All these people were real, and these things really happened. There are many more survivors that each did their best to help the group, but those six are the main ones. The only thing bad about them is the similarity of their names.

This was one of my favorite books, especially out of nonfiction stories. It is amazing to think that these brave boys survived the bitter cold, near starvation, and the mental breakdown that often occurred when away from family, friends, and just plain people for so long. I myself would find it so hard to eat the flesh of my friends, but when you think about it is just a silly taboo. I really enjoyed the authors style of writing. At times, I felt as though I was up in the Andes myself, enduring all of their hardships. There were also two stories going on, one about the parents and the other about the survivors. Three adjectives I'd use to describe this book are interesting, inspiring, and informational. Alive was a thrilling story of human adaptability, ingenuity, and courage. Get a copy today!

What would it be like being stranded in the Andes with very little food or water? Well Alive by Piers Paul Read might give you an idea. This emotional, and yet exciting non fiction book accurately depicts the terrible seventy-two days a team of Uruguayan rugby players and their relatives experience. The setting of the book is in the Andes Mountains, Uruguay, Chili, and takes place in 1972. The theme of this book is man's will to survive is more powerful than anything. The main characters of this moderately paced book would be the last sixteen survivors, the two strongest of them being Fernando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, who play a big role in the survival of them all. After being stranded for seventy-two days in the Andes Mountains this small rugby team forms a special bond and learns the true meanings of life. I think this is a very exciting, but gory book and would recommend it to anybody but only if you have a strong stomach because there are many references to dead bodies and eating human flesh. These rugby players show us that with faith and a strong will to survive we can overcome large obstacles.

The overall tale of the plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and their friends which crashed into the Andes and how in order to survive at all they ended up eating their comrades and other fellow passengers is a tale so well known as to not really require any synopsis here. So I'll confine myself to a few points about the way the author has put the work together and other similar areas.

Firstly the author has kept the pace of things moving along nicely. We are given the to-be-expected introduction to the various characters of the story. We are also given a good run-down of the sort of social demographic they were from as well as some background on the history of the trip. All this is handled well. What is also handled well is the pacing of the work after the crash. Things are kept tightly written, there is not endless conjecture on this, that or the other. Indeed the author speaks with an authority that could only be gleaned by someone who had spoken to the survivors in depth and who had a keen eye for personalities.

Furthermore the book does not present itself as any moral judge. The harrowing decision that was made on that lonely, isolated mountain in the Andes is poked and prodded but only in terms of what went through the minds of the participants. At the very end of the book there is some discussion about how the behaviour was viewed by others but the author stays well away from this. What is also nice is that at no point is the author out to scapegoat anyone. The error of navigation that led to the crash is divulged but there is no real demonising. It was an error that produced situation and the author stays focussed on the situation. Further there is no real haranguing of the Chilean rescue effort. They followed the book and they knew their business. The fact that they had given up all hope of survivors can hardly be blamed on them given they of all people knew of the frailty of human life in those climes.

If you are 'into' survival stories then this is right up there.

Alive is the true story of the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed into the Andes mountains, where they were forced to survive for 71 days. Alive is an excellantly written account of their ordeal in the Andes, and their survival through ingenious ideas and the eating of their dead friends' human flesh. Meanwhile, Alive also covers the search party attempts made by the members of the families of the boys trapped in the Andes. This book also gives a good account of most of the boys personalities and their will to survive. The most compelling thing about this book is that they never gave up there belief in that they could survive through their belief in god. In the end two members of the group climb a mountain and hike for days to reach civilization and save the remaining 14 still living in the busted plane. This book is truly a great account of the determination for humans to survive at all costs. I would reccommend this book to anyone who would like to read a true and emotionally gripping story. Alive is one of the best things I've read in a long time.

The 1993 movie Alive was shown over the weekend on TV, I decided to finally borrow this 1974 book from the library, and finished it quickly, I couldn't put it down. The novel is a well written account of the survival of 16 Uruguayan boys from a plane crash in the Andes in October, 1972. The author didn't dramatize or sensationalize the despair of the group and the bravery of some (it was unnecessary), instead it comes across as an objective account of the people involved in the plane crash. I enjoyed the parts about Uruguayan culture -- how family and religion are predominant, how their parents (the fathers organizing more searches and mothers seeking clairvoyants and religious miracles) were involved in the rescue long after the governments of Chile and Uruguay had given up. The movie did not show this side of the story at all.
The boys themselves had their own sort of society in that valley in the Andes -- not everyone was helpful or had the instinct for survival and all of them had never been through this kind of hardship, but they made it work and their system kept 16 of them alive for 72 days. They had their share of so much bad luck (not knowing where they were, the expeditionaries took a longer/harder route to civilization; their parents had the right idea of their location a few times but looked elsewhere) and some good luck (they did not lose a single boy in their many expeditions). What got them through was a mixture of hope, love for their families, inventiveness and extreme stubborness -- all of which are admirable qualities and make their story worth telling.

I have had the triple pleasure of reading this thrilling account of survival, seeing the subsequent movie, and later meeting one of the survivors in person, Nando Parrado.
Given the exceptional story telling skills of the author, I would recommend reading the account of this Uruguayan rugby team that becomes stranded deep in the interior region of the Andes mountains of South America during the middle of winter.
Without the clothing, food, tools or skills to live, you will find extraordinary tales from the survivors of how they managed to live and tell this story.
Be ready for some surprising and horrifying accounts of how they survived...but worthwhile to read to understand the rules of survival, both physically, emotionally and morally.
Meeting and discussing the personal account of Nando Parrado brought my perspective into more inspirational level by finding the lives of many of the survivors to be positively transformed from this traumatic event.
I easily count this as a recommeded book for any adventure book reader.

In October of 1972, a chartered plane carrying 45 passengers and crew left Uruguay to travel to Chile. A majority of the passengers were made up of young men who were part of an amateur rugby team going to Chile for a game. Others included family and friends. Over the rugged Andes, the pilot made a fatal error, and the plane crashed into the side of a mountain, flinging parts of the tail section, fuselage, wing, rudder and even some passengers out over the desolate landscape. The survivors were, for the most part, very young men (average age around 23 years old). On average, they came from priviledged families. Most were devout Catholics. They enjoyed their cigarettes. They loved their mothers and girlfriends. They loved the game of rugby and were eager to experience a taste of the world outside their beloved Uruguay.

Over the next 70 days, the remaining survivors battled cold, avalanches, injury, fear and hunger. To survive, they prayed - alot. They devised plans for capturing water. They made forays into the vast white bleak landscape to search for supplies and a way out. They became makeshift doctors and surgeons and helped the wounded. They waited for rescue to come from the outside. And to fight off starvation, they ate their dead.

The story of the 16 remaining Andes survivors makes for riveting reading. The first time I read this book I was in my early 20s myself, and I remember the cannibalism being the overriding memory I took away from this book. Now I'm older, and it's not the cannibalism that captures my attention, but how these very young men kept their sanity, faith and courage in the face of unimaginable horrors. Of their cannibalism, they are unapologetic (which is as it should be). However, they didn't take what they did to survive lightly, and one of the survivors says it best:

"When one awakes in the morning amid the silence of the mountains and sees all around the snow-capped peaks--it is majestic, sensational, something frightening--one feels alone, alone, alone in the world but for the presence of God. For I can assure you that God is there. We all felt it, inside ourselves, and not because we were the kind of pious youths who are always praying all day long, even though we had a religious education. Not at all. But there one feels the presence of God. One feels, above all, what is called the hand of God, and allows oneself to be guided by it...And when the moment came when we did not have any more food, or anything of that kind, we thought to ourselves that if Jesus at His last supper had shared His flesh and blood with His apostles, then it was a sign to us that we should do the same--take the flesh and blood as an intimate communion between us all. It was this that helped us to survive, and now we do not want this--which was something intimate, intimate--to be hackneyed or touched or anything like that...."

Alive is much much more then a survival story. It is a glimpse of courage and faith in the midst of death, fear, and hopelessness.

I absoultly loved this book I would recomend it to all of my friends. I liked it because I am the type of person who enjoys a little exitement and action in their books, and thats what this is all about. I really think that you should give this one a try.
I believe that the best part of the book is when the plain was going down, (crashing) and how much detail they explained it in. The worst part for me was when they did the canibleism because I for one have a weak stomach and don't take things like that very well.
The best two story elements I thought were, number one the climax like i said before when the plane was going down it was just explained so well I could see it right before my eyes. Number two would have to be the setting, it was in so much detail it was like I was right there witht them expierencing what they were, seeing what they saw. Thats why I liked this book I really recomend it for you.

I’m sure you are familiar with the story. Plane crash. Cannibalism. And yes, you do get to find out all the explicit, gross details about them eating lungs and bone marrow and stuff.

However, the author does a very good job of telling the story with dignity and respect. These were real people with real feelings, not just some lurid tabloid story. What would you do in their place?

This is the original action-adventure survival tale, and far better than the self-gratifying Into Thin Air or the generic Perfect Storm. For one, the soccer players stranded in the Andes really didn't do anything to put themselves in that situation other than getting on the airplane. They didn't pay untold thousands to climb a mountain they had no business being on or pilot their fishing boat into a hurricane out of sheer stupidity. In that, it's much easier to feel for the victims and marvel at their ordeal. You will constantly find yourself thinking about the gravity of their situation and at what point you yourself would begin devouring human flesh. It's a story that could be great as a work of fiction, but being that it really happened, it's transformed into something amazing and grotesque at the same time.

Alive details the true story of 45 people who crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972, and the struggle of the survivors to make it home to safety, even as search and rescue efforts failed and were called off.

This is an amazing story of the will to survive, and the incredible lengths to which people will go, reminiscent of more recent books such as Aron Ralston's autobiographical "Between a Rock and a Hard Place." Like that story, it details an extremely difficult personal choice that is necessary to survive--in this case cannibalism. Unlike that book, however, it is also primarily a story of mutual compassion, aid, and cooperation in an increasingly hopeless situation, rather than one individual's personal struggle.

The transformation of the group from unprepared pleasure fliers (many of whom only had tee-shirts to wear in the cold mountain snow) into determined survivors who learn to rely on each other is an inspiring read. In the face of increasing hardships, including an avalanche and hearing on a radio that the search for them has been called off, the group learns that reliance on each other is the only thing that will save them. The moral discussion of their choice to resort to cannibalism is also described at length, as they make this and other decisions as a group despite frequent interpersonal tensions. If nothing else, the book is worth reading for the survivors' various religious, logical, and philosophical perspectives on cannibalism and survival in general--as well as their own ever-present mortality.

The only slow sections of this book are the excessive breaks from the main narration of the survivors to describe events in the outside world (mostly, continued fruitless searches). But the tale otherwise provides plenty of narrative suspense in addition to the interesting study of cooperation, morality, and determination, making this a difficult book to put down.