[.ca] Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of ... (ISBN 0395911508)

Stories of TRUE "survivors":
This 20+ chapter book is a compilation of accounts of individuals who survived real-life tragedies--everything from shipwrecks back in the days of wooden ships, to modern events such as plane crashes, etc. The one thing each of the stories has in common is that each of the survivors not only had to withstand the tragedy itself, but then they had to fight against nature or the elements to preserve their life. I did enjoy the book, but I can't give it more than 3 stars. I generally judge a book by how difficult it is for me to set it down before it's finished--this one just wasn't that gripping. The stories were interesting, but at times it didn't seem like there was enough continuity. In addition, I think the last chapter could have been eliminated entirely. While the other chapters were generally dedicated to one story per chapter, the last contained a dozen or so stories from the 20th century. As a result, they were much more brief, and left me wondering about the details that were necessarily omited. That said however, the author did a fantastic job of researching the accounts, especially given the number he covered.

Puts blackout stranding at La Guardia into perspective:
Irony in real life can be very rich. I'd borrowed this book from a friend and chain-read up to about halfway through "The Delicate Question Which" before setting off for a quick 4-day vacation. The blackout happened while we were in the air, and noone told us anything was wrong until we landed and had to ask why the monitors were blank. Cell and pay phones worked sporadically if at all, and there was no power, but thankfully there was water. The upshot was that I never got farther than the connecting airport (La Guardia) and after spending a night on the cold hard floor, pooled with 5 other people and hired a $800+ limo to drive us the 250 miles home. The limo broke down in the Poconos, but we managed to rent cars in Scranton. As of this writing there are apparently STILL people stranded at that airport, waiting to get out. I'd forgotten all about the book until I arrived home, tired, sore, and sad about my misadventure. I rediscovered it sitting where I'd left it, and was immediately re-immersed into stories of truly dire straits. While some reviewers have said they consider the book dry, I really enjoyed the historical context of the stories, and thorough treatment of the epilogues. The author has uncanny insight into what might have really happened, based on what was said and NOT SAID by the survivors, and delves into the individual personalities involved. It is fascinating to learn what happened to these people after they were rescued; how society reacted to them, how they reacted back. I found it very hard to put down. It sure put my own recent experience into perspective! At least noone had to resort to eating anyone else. "Abandonded Journeys, Desperate Souls" would have been a great title for it. ;-)

If you are really into survival stories....:
Then I would not recommend this book. I've read a bunch of survival books etc, but this one I could not even finish as it was just too long and boring. There was only a couple of interesting passages, but the rest is something you can easily live without. You can always give it a shot, but don't have your hopes up too high.

Do not you ever think that you are in trouble !:
This book is a must for every reader who likes survival stories. Selected here events (on the land and sea) are absolutely astonishing and ranging in time from 16th century to modern times. Tragedy of whale ship "Essex" is included. Great research and great writing Mr. Leslie, I congratulate you for this !

An ultimate "What if" book:
It is amazing the situations that men and women have been in over the centuries. These are not simple situations either, they are life and death episodes where it is certain that the smartest, fittest and luckiest come out alive. The book is a rich resource of stories going back to the 1500's to the present. Some of the earlier accounts were more difficult to assimilate due to the language dialect. Each of them portray significant human courage and vulnerability. For personal reasons, the reader may be more drawn to one that another. It is certain that a significant effort was made to render the historic presentation accurate. Some of the more astounding survival encounters are revealed generating the awesomeness of what the human being will go through to hold on to the fragile life line of their tomorrows.