Another South American Story

Alive - Piers Paul Read
As encouraging and uplifting a tale as a book about a group of rugby players whose plane crashes leaving them stranded in the Andes subject to avalanches, starvation and madness could possibly be. This is one of the great survival stories of the 20th century and as such deserves a place on the list of great biographical/history books. 16 of the 45 people on the plane survived the crash and the next 72 days high in the Andes. "Nando" Parrado later said of the event, "Our ordeal was being celebrated as a glorious adventure...I didn't know how to explain to them that there was no glory in those mountains. It was all ugliness and fear and desperation, and the obscenity of watching so many innocent people die."
This is certainly worth the read, and for the most part is well written and enjoyable. It begs the question if you had to survive for seventy days would you be able to make the step to cannibalizing your dead friends and if you did, could you recover?
Rating: B
Related:
Not much, though there are plenty of stories of cannibalism concerning the Donner Party. There are also several books on the Star Dust which crashed under similar conditions and very near where this occurred some 30 years prior.

Also see:
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home - Nando Parrado