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Alive

The Story of the Andes Survivors

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Alive

Written by: Piers Paul Read
Narrated by: Paul Ansdell
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About this listen

On October 12, 1972, a plane carrying a team of young rugby players crashed into the remote, snow-peaked Andes. Out of the 45 original passengers and crew, only 16 made it off the mountain alive. For 10 excruciating weeks, they suffered deprivations beyond imagining, confronting nature head-on at its most furious and inhospitable. And to survive, these men and women not only had to keep their faith; they had to make an impossible decision: Should they eat the flesh of their dead friends?

A remarkable story of endurance and determination, Alive is the dramatic best-selling account of one of the most harrowing quests for survival in modern times.

©2002 Piers Paul Read (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Americas Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science South America World Survival Sports
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excellent crafter story. i really enjoyed how it built both stories up from the crash and family. hard at times to listen at the more gruesome parts but definitely makes you wonder what would you do?

what would you do?

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Don't bother with the movie! This audiobook is so much better!! Loved it... incredible story made relatable by great writing and narration. I rarely listen to an audiobook twice, but this is one of those rare gems!

Couldn't put it down

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This true-life tragedy is harrowing. Piers Paul Reid pens a heavily dramatized description of what happened to the survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes mountains. I have never seen the film interpretation of the story, but I imagine it must be very much like this book. The scenes are mind's-eye vivid and the occurrences that Reid relates are straight out of a Hollywood storyboard. That said, there are episodes of dialogue that are *clearly* fictional, but are written to give readers impressions of the personalities involved. Hence, the narrative feels a little disengenuous.. this book is best characterized as "Based on a True Story" rather than being considered a documentary.

Regardless, the amazing challenges these kids faced (they were mostly teenagers) are nearly unbelievable, the frustration at near-miss rescue events is palpable, and the personalities involved are described with exquisite detail - I felt immersed in this jawdropping scenario. Reid generates a mind's-eye vivid setting.. readers can easily place themselves among the survivors and imagine what it must have been like. This is a viscerally-affecting narrative. The matter-of-fact descriptions of eating raw, rotting human bodies (and harvesting every edible piece) are genuinely gruesome.

By far the weakest aspect of this audiobook is the reading by Paul Ansdell. He exhibits professional diction, timbre, and cadence, but his pacing is off (setting playback at 1.15X makes up for some deficiencies), and his tone is far too matter-of-fact. Dreamscape Media should have hired someone else to read the book.

Despite taking a striking amount of artistic license, I rate 'Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors' 7.5/10 stars. Even with slightly subpar delivery, it absolutely merits a Credit. This incredible story would be great for a long drive or a lonely night shift.

Screenplay-like Reconstruction

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The book can be hard to follow due to lots of character names and the narration but it is a very compelling tale of people surviving at all costs.

The feeling about 3/4 through is tear jerking

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Loved this book! The author gifted readers with insight into the heads and hearts of everyone involved. The story is riveting...loved the timeline and details. As good as the movie was, so glad I read this amazing book first.

Amazing true account.

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