Eduardo Strauch

This is the story of one of the survivors from the airplane crash in the Andes mountains in 1972. The survivors were rescued after 72 days of living on the very edge of life and death. As a kid, I’d read Alive, an excruciatingly detailed book about it. This shorter book tells the same story but it is also a love story to the mountain into which they crashed, from which the author continues to experience a profound peace. That alone seems unfathomable until you read his story. His story is show more so emotional about how much he learned about himself and nature, and life and death. He is able to be with his “brothers” who died there and to reunite with those still living to visit the site. And he ponders life’s complexities and mysteries from that experience on the mountain. I’m glad it was so different from Alive. It’s an excellent explanation of the extent of human love and endurance. show less

This was an excellent memoir about a very tough and fascinating subject written by one of the survivors of the 1972 plane crash into the Andes. Most of the passengers were from the Uruguayan rugby team who were headed to Chile for a match. They were stranded in the mountains for 72 days.

So hard to wrap my head around how anyone survived much less maintained their sanity. This was a tale of perseverance and hard decisions. I first heard about this crash a few years ago when I went to a museum show more exhibit about cannibalism. He addresses the topic matter of factly and seriously but doesn't sensationalize it.

He also writes about the struggles to adapt back into society, the magnificence of nature, and the bonds forged on that mountain. It was really quite beautiful.

Apparently there was a movie in the early 1990's called Alive that was based on one of the other survivor's memoir. Kind of interested in seeing it but it may be a bit intense. show less

Strauch is one of the survivors of the Uruguay plane crash in the Andes of 1972. Twenty-five years old at the time, Strauch and his cousins and friends remained in the fuselage of a broken plane on the snow covered mountainside for 72 days, eventually having to eat the dead.
This account was written decades after the fact, but Strauch's recollection of some of the particulars are as clear as you'd expect from such a life-altering occurrence. Though the rugby team was from a religious school show more and every account I've read talks about the group's reliance on prayer, his story features more religious and philosophical ponders than other accounts, but then he's a much older man. He also discusses the love and kindness these survivors showed to each other, that they worked hard as a group to ensure as many survived as possible. This story also goes on after the group's rescue and discusses what life was like after they were home, which had its own struggles. show less

This book was very tough to get through. A survivor of a horrific plane crash in the Andes Mountains tells his side of the story. From the moments before the crash to the moments after the rescue, we are privy to every single detail. It was very hard to read this. Had I not been reading this book with another person, I don't know that I would have finished it. The things they had to do to survive defy the imagination. And while I am so happy that things ended up relatively well for the show more author, I just can't with this book. show less