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| Alive | 
 enlarge | Author: Piers Paul Read
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $4.38
You Save: $9.57 (69%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $3.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (182 reviews)
Sales Rank: 44931
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 398
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 1.2
ISBN: 0060778660
Dewey Decimal Number: 982.6
EAN: 9780060778668
ASIN: 0060778660
Publication Date: July 1, 2005
Release Date: July 5, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
On October 12, 1972, an Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying a team of rugby players crashed in the remote snowy peaks of the Andes. Ten weeks later, only sixteen of the forty-five passengers were found alive. This is the story of those ten weeks spent in the shelter of the plane's fuselage without food and with scarcely any hope of a rescue. The survivors protected and helped one another, and came to the difficult conclusion that to live meant doing the unimaginable. Confronting nature at its most furious, two brave young men risked their lives to hike through the mountains looking for help -- and ultimately found it. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 177 more reviews...
 A horrifyingly true story of triumph and tragedy June 7, 2008
It's become a bit of trivial fodder: In 1972, a plane carrying a Uraguayan rugby team and their friends crashed in the Andes. They survived there for over 70 days, doing whatever was necessary to survive, sustained on their faith, and the hope that they could one day break beyond the prison of the mountains and reach civilization.
Since the story HAS become a piece of trivia, it's important that we read something that makes us understand the underlying humanity of the situation. To that end, Read's book is almost a necessity. It details day-to-day life in the crashed plane, and attempts of the Uraguayan families to find their missing loved ones.
The great thing about "Alive" is that it chronicles the event in a somewhat detached manner. At first, this might seem odd; after all, such a tragic event is an emotionally-charged topic, especially once you get down to the human element. However, to tell the tale with emotion is to get LOST in the tale. To overcome this, read uses a scientific, detached description of events, which ultimately leads the reader to ponder the horrific reality these people went through. It is a very successful storytelling mode, which only hits a few snags (he insists upon calling cannibalism "anthropophagy," and admits in the introduction that some of the survivors felt the book didn't go into enough detail about the friendship they felt for each other). Also, there is the fact that this book dates back to 1974, only two years after the events; it would be nice to know how the survivors faced the rest of their lives.
Still, the book is thorough, and it's dry, almost dead-pan style is the only real way of describing the events that unfolded, without getting lost within the maze of emotions (actually, the dry delivery almost makes things even more horrible; don't read this book if you are squeamish). "Alive" is a tale of horrific events that tested the limits of humanity. It is a must-read for anyone interested in what being human really means.
 Alive May 15, 2008
This is a very interesting book. My wife and I were living in Uruguay when this occured and I recall all the anxiety until they were found. Also, recently, our son was in a conference in California where Nando Parrado, one of the survivors, spoke. Nando has also written a book about the crash and survival.
The book Alive is a bit gruesome at points, but realistic about the guys' survival. There was shown a great deal of determination and desire to live on their part.
In general, very good.
 A Bit Hard to Read March 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Once I finally got into the book, this was a good story of survival. The men and women who crashed in the Andes had to overcome horrible situations -- injuries from the crash, an avalanche, and then the lack of food. What they did to survive was admirable, even if some may judge them harshly over their decision to eat the flesh of their dead friends.
That being said, though, the story moves so slowly, and the author's writing style is so staid, that it took me forever to actually feel like I was reading something worthwhile.
A good story, but it's a journey to plod through it.
Staying alive against the odds March 4, 2008
This is the only book I've ever read where I caught myself shielding my eyes so as not to know quite so much about the fine points of cannibalism. I ended up skipping about two pages detailing the butchering of the bodies, which organs are the most nutritious, etc. However, the author was just doing his job and there's only a few pages involving cannibalism.
The plane came down in a snow field at 11,500 feet elevation, higher than the highest mountain in California by comparison. This put them far above the timber line in a frigid place devoid of all life -- not even a fly or a blade of grass. Due to incompetence on the part of search and rescue operations and also a so-called psychic who had the rescuers searching everywhere but the right place, the survivors were presumed dead and left to fend for themselves for 72 days, and would likely have never been found were it not for the daring feats of mountaineering by two of the survivors who went on an arduous 8 day trek out of the mountains and into Chile in search of rescuers.
With no food it was inevitable the group would have to eat the dead if they were survive. As someone explained, your survival instincts and your appetite will not only lead you to eat the dead, but eventually to savor it. Then, when the two expeditionaries finally connected with civilization, a peasant tossed them a crust of bread and their appetite for human flesh evaporated.
As horrifying as it was, there is an upbeat message in this book about the unshakeable will to live, about the utility of human solidarity in the face of death, and the mystical communion between the survivors and their dead comrades who saved their lives by providing the nourishment to survive.
This book has been around a long time. It's a page-turner and millions have read it, especially in South America where this event was known simply as the Andes crash, and the survivors are still celebrated as heroes. Google it if you want and you'll find lots more info, photos, and a Google map reference to the exact spot the wrecked fuselage came to rest.
Incredible Survival Story February 29, 2008
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.
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