This of course begs the question of how far any of us would go to survive. Would I be able to take a piece of glass and cut the flesh off of a recently dead human being? I don't think there is any way to answer that without actually being in that situation which, God willing, I never will be. And speaking of God, the boys' faith in God is awe inspiring. I sometimes snap at God when I get caught in traffic and these boys were faithful throughout (although they, understandably, questioned why some lived while others died). I will have to remember this story next time I get snappy.

What they talk about are the other aspects of survival and it is a very compelling read. There was an avalanche shortly after the initial crash, there are a couple of treks to find the tail and to see who is hardy enough to attempt a walk for help. There are deaths and fights and camaraderie and heartbreaks and survival and yes, they eat the people. In 1972, a plane full of rugby players and their families crashed in The Andes Mountains. The story is well known. Scarcely with any food or water, suffering sub-zero temperatures, only sixteen of forty-five made it out alive. After nearly three months struggling to survive, injured, famished, freezing, against all possible odds a couple of them finally managed to climb across The Andes without any mountain gear and reach a nearby town to call for help. Their survival was legendary. News about it traveled the world, it was called the “Miracle of the Andes.”Finding dead bodies in the other coffins, the six teenagers leave the room. Em becomes their leader. They walk through desolate halls filled with human bones and corpses, slowly remembering things about their lives. This goes on for some time.

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, Miracle 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. The fact that the majority of the group were fairly devout Catholics was a mainstay in their physical and emotional survival, and eating the flesh of the others was seen as more than necessary but almost as if it was a sacrifice that any of them would have made for the other. 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 ReadYo y seguro que muchos de nosotros no nos imaginamos por ejemplo, comer carne humana cruda, incluso nos repugna la idea, pero si estuviéramos en una situación como los tripulantes del equipo de rugby no dudaríamos si la desesperación llega a ser tanta. Es sin duda asqueroso, pero mi mamá dice: "el hambre es canija". es un dicho que se dice comúnmente, pero va más allá. es el hambre, la sed, frío, lidiar con la naturaleza propia de las montañas. Michel Roger concurs, stating that: "Read has risen above the sensational and managed a book of real and lasting value." [4] Editions [ edit ] Es sumamente interesante la dinámica que surgió entre los sobrevivientes y cómo cada uno va asumiendo su rol para contribuir a la supervivencia de todos; no faltaron por supuesto las riñas y rencillas, pero en general dominó la solidaridad, la fe inquebrantable y los deseos de volver con vida al seno familiar. Y bueno, cuando deciden comerse los cadáveres de sus amigos es realmente espeluznante, sobrecogedor, si bien es completamente comprensible dada la situación tan extrema en que se encontraban. I didn't write much coz in case you haven't read/heard about this real life story,I don't want to give away spoilers,but I guarantee you,you won't be able to keep this book away,you wont be able to put this book down once you start!

Keith Mano of The New York Times Book Review gave the book a "rave" review, stating that "Read's style is savage: unliterary, undecorated as a prosecutor's brief." He also described the book as an important one:When the plane crashed in the snows of the Andes, people were blown out of the plane. The boys who had survived listened to the cries of those who were dying. I listened too. And then 1 day they ran out of food and They were not sure what to do. 1 survivor suggested they eat the bodies of those who had died for they had been frozen in the snow. Surprisingly unemotional account of the tragedy of the Uruguayan soccer team that crashed in the Andes in 1972. This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. Most of the passengers on the plane were related by being part of or supporting the football team of a religious institution. So of course prayer and the talk of miracles would turn up. But when selecting a writing to tell the story they selected a fellow catholic.

The book was a critical success. Walter Clemons declared that it "will become a classic in the literature of survival." [2] Famous story of the Uruguayan rugby team that survived ten weeks in the Andes, largely because they ate the dead passengers.before you judge them for what they did to survive,just ask yourself,what would you do if you were facing the same situation?It's such a controversial question and topic but for anyone who loves reality based or mountain hiking adventure type of books,this is a must read.. A teenage girl wakes up in a coffin-like container and breaks out, finding herself in a room filled with similar coffins. The name on her coffin is "M. Savage", leading her to be called "Em" by most characters. She helps another girl, whose name is T. Spingate, out of her coffin, and they help four other people out. None of them remember anything, even their names. Each person has a circular marking on their head. 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: