Miracle in the Andes HC Nando Parrado Vince Rause 2006

Description

Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home Hardcover
by Nando Parrado (Author), Vince Rause (Contributor)

In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence.

Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team, as well as their family members and supporters, to an exhibition game in Chile had crashed somewhere deep in the Andes. He soon learned that many were dead or dying—among them his own mother and sister. Those who remained were stranded on a lifeless glacier at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, with no supplies and no means of summoning help. They struggled to endure freezing temperatures, deadly avalanches, and then the devastating news that the search for them had been called off.

As time passed and Nando’s thoughts turned increasingly to his father, who he knew must be consumed with grief, Nando resolved that he must get home or die trying. He would challenge the Andes, even though he was certain the effort would kill him, telling himself that even if he failed he would die that much closer to his father. It was a desperate decision, but it was also his only chance. So Nando, an ordinary young man with no disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition up the treacherous slopes of a snow-capped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to find help.

Thirty years after the disaster Nando tells his story with remarkable candor and depth of feeling. Miracle in the Andes—a first person account of the crash and its aftermath—is more than a riveting tale of true-life adventure: it is a revealing look at life at the edge of death and a meditation on the limitless redemptive power of love.

In October 1972, a plane carrying an Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes. Not immediately rescued, the survivors turned to cannibalism to survive and after 72 days were saved. Rugby team member Parrado has written a beautiful story of friendship, tragedy and perseverance. High in the Andes, with a fractured skull, eating the flesh of his teammates and friends, Parrado calmly ponders the cruelties of fate, the power of the natural world and the possibility of continued existence. “I would live from moment to moment and from breath to breath, until I had used up all the life I had.” Parrado, who for the past 10 years has been giving inspirational talks based on his experiences, lost his mother and sister in the crash. Struggling to stay alive, his guide becomes his beloved father: “each [stride] brought me closer to my father… each step I took was a step stolen back from death.” More than a companion to the 1970s bestselling chronicle of the disaster, Alive, this is a fresh, gripping page-turner that will satisfy adventure readers, and a complex reflection on camaraderie, family and love.

Hardcover: 291 pages
Publisher: Perfection Learning

Piers Paul Read wrote the great book Alive and after an excellent movie it could be thought there was little more left to the actual story. Wrong. Nando Parrado adds much much more to this survival story and doesn’t re-tell like Read but lets you know what happened to him and his emotions on the mountain. This is a great companion to the classic book. Most (myself included) wanted to be Nando – he was strong, and saved his friends through unreal internal fortitude – he’s a genuine hero. His is one of the most compelling survival stories in recorded history and this is a worthy memoir.

Where Read lets you know what happened Parrado lets you know the why’s and how’s they survived – the real heart of this story. He let’s the reader know in more detail the miserable existence on the mountain. When you read his thought “tears waste salt” it might sound cold hearted but it was the RIGHT thought and you begin to understand his inner strength. His thoughts about his family are touching, his feelings about his great father are insightful – what a fortunate son, what a fortunate father. Without his father the disappearance of the plane would remain a mystery.

In an interview Roberto Canessa once said the survivors know each other better than anyone. I really didn’t understand that until reading this book. Parrado also sheds light on some negative depictions of survivors in Read’s book and it helps the reader understand their actions. I also enjoyed reading what happened to Parrado after the incident and how the words and behavior of his friends who died on the mountain has influenced him. It took Parrado a long time to realize how inspirational his story is and it’s great he’s written his story. Make no mistake; this story is not about cannibalism, it is about love, survival and determination. I’m a better person for having read this book.

Book is in near mint condition. Dust jacket has a few spots on the front and back. 1st printing. 1-4000-9767-3.

1-400097673

Book is in near mint condition. Dust jacket has a few spots on the front and back. 1st printing.