Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why -- Book Report
Dec 30, 2013 13:41:00 GMT -5
kk, 1dave, and 1 more like this
Post by elementary on Dec 30, 2013 13:41:00 GMT -5
First of an occasional series.
Why Book Report? Cause I make my students do them!
Actually, I've been running through a series of interesting books lately - some peripherally related to our hobby - some falling directly in the middle of my random interests, and thought others might
want to look up these books themselves. So let's begin:
Deep Survival:
By Laurence Gonzales
Over the past few years, I've been finding myself reading more non-fiction that focuses on search and rescue, mountain climbing, and other outdoor activities that involve the survival of individuals in the wilderness. Some of these books are more more akin to lists such as 'Death in the Grand Canyon' and 'Death, Daring, and Rescue- Search and Rescue in our National Parks'. Others detail specific events - such as Jon Krakauer's 'Into Thin Air' and 'Into the Wild', and Joe Simpson's 'Touching the Void' (about two men who are in a remote region of Peru climbing a mountain when one breaks his leg and is left for dead, but survives through sheer willpower to save himself).
My interest arose in part from my own travel through the desert and the people who I met there - including several who were a step or two away from needing rescue themselves, and in part from the news stories I've slowly accumulated about those who failed to survive their encounters with our wilderness.
See: www.dw.de/bones-found-in-death-valley-might-belong-to-german-tourists/a-4894286-1
and
eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_810a4a66-8e0e-11df-be84-001cc4c002e0.html
and
abcnews.go.com/US/wave-hiking-area-claims-victim-month/story?id=19762132
Deep Survival is a little different. It examines the psychological makeup of those who face death either through necessity (military pilots) or by accident (castaways, plane crash survivors). The author is Laurence Gonzales, who has written about this subject for such magazines as National Geographic and Men's Journal, and whose father survived a 20,000 drop without a parachute during WWII when his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. It is this event and Laurence's view of his father that seems to have prompted his examination of people who survive horrible events. His research delves into psychology, chaos theory, personality, and biology.
Each chapter presents a different idea or aspect of survival and provides a primary example to support his theory. He interviews pilots who land on aircraft carriers and examines their morbid sense of humor.
He analyzes why survival training can lead to a false sense of security when the conditions of one event don't match with one's survival knowledge - such as when a special forces member on vacation falls out of a raft and the guide tells him to quickly climb back in. The man doesn't, acts unconcerned, and is pulled under and drowns.
He looks at the actions of those who face longer survival situations - such as five people who get tossed from their boat during a storm. As their days increase on the raft, some are compelled to slide over the side into shark infested waters while others survive the ordeal.
He also explores the goal-setting of those who survive and who they affect a person's reaction to events.
Other events brought up are 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke's survival of a plane crash over Peru in 1971. (You may have seen a movie about this.) Although she and several others survived the crash, she was the only one who left in search of help and ultimately was the only one who survived, and the climber in Joe Simpson's book I mentioned earlier.
The book is a fascinating and easy read. It addresses the topic of survival (the who and the why) from a multitude of viewpoints, and provides a series of chilling yet compelling stories that back up his evidence. Occasionally his own self-analysis can seem intrusive, but as his interest stems from his father's experience - which includes the events of his incarceration and his medical care from a French Freedom fighter who hated Americans - I can see why he includes it.
I wound up eating the book - which is to say, I couldn't put it down. If any of this sounds interesting to you, look it up.
If you want a sneak peak, this link at Amazon will provide you access to the text:
www.amazon.com/Deep-Survival-Who-Lives-Dies/dp/0393326152
Thanks for listening!
Book On!
Lowell
Why Book Report? Cause I make my students do them!
Actually, I've been running through a series of interesting books lately - some peripherally related to our hobby - some falling directly in the middle of my random interests, and thought others might
want to look up these books themselves. So let's begin:
Deep Survival:
By Laurence Gonzales
Over the past few years, I've been finding myself reading more non-fiction that focuses on search and rescue, mountain climbing, and other outdoor activities that involve the survival of individuals in the wilderness. Some of these books are more more akin to lists such as 'Death in the Grand Canyon' and 'Death, Daring, and Rescue- Search and Rescue in our National Parks'. Others detail specific events - such as Jon Krakauer's 'Into Thin Air' and 'Into the Wild', and Joe Simpson's 'Touching the Void' (about two men who are in a remote region of Peru climbing a mountain when one breaks his leg and is left for dead, but survives through sheer willpower to save himself).
My interest arose in part from my own travel through the desert and the people who I met there - including several who were a step or two away from needing rescue themselves, and in part from the news stories I've slowly accumulated about those who failed to survive their encounters with our wilderness.
See: www.dw.de/bones-found-in-death-valley-might-belong-to-german-tourists/a-4894286-1
and
eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_810a4a66-8e0e-11df-be84-001cc4c002e0.html
and
abcnews.go.com/US/wave-hiking-area-claims-victim-month/story?id=19762132
Deep Survival is a little different. It examines the psychological makeup of those who face death either through necessity (military pilots) or by accident (castaways, plane crash survivors). The author is Laurence Gonzales, who has written about this subject for such magazines as National Geographic and Men's Journal, and whose father survived a 20,000 drop without a parachute during WWII when his plane was shot down and he was taken prisoner. It is this event and Laurence's view of his father that seems to have prompted his examination of people who survive horrible events. His research delves into psychology, chaos theory, personality, and biology.
Each chapter presents a different idea or aspect of survival and provides a primary example to support his theory. He interviews pilots who land on aircraft carriers and examines their morbid sense of humor.
He analyzes why survival training can lead to a false sense of security when the conditions of one event don't match with one's survival knowledge - such as when a special forces member on vacation falls out of a raft and the guide tells him to quickly climb back in. The man doesn't, acts unconcerned, and is pulled under and drowns.
He looks at the actions of those who face longer survival situations - such as five people who get tossed from their boat during a storm. As their days increase on the raft, some are compelled to slide over the side into shark infested waters while others survive the ordeal.
He also explores the goal-setting of those who survive and who they affect a person's reaction to events.
Other events brought up are 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke's survival of a plane crash over Peru in 1971. (You may have seen a movie about this.) Although she and several others survived the crash, she was the only one who left in search of help and ultimately was the only one who survived, and the climber in Joe Simpson's book I mentioned earlier.
The book is a fascinating and easy read. It addresses the topic of survival (the who and the why) from a multitude of viewpoints, and provides a series of chilling yet compelling stories that back up his evidence. Occasionally his own self-analysis can seem intrusive, but as his interest stems from his father's experience - which includes the events of his incarceration and his medical care from a French Freedom fighter who hated Americans - I can see why he includes it.
I wound up eating the book - which is to say, I couldn't put it down. If any of this sounds interesting to you, look it up.
If you want a sneak peak, this link at Amazon will provide you access to the text:
www.amazon.com/Deep-Survival-Who-Lives-Dies/dp/0393326152
Thanks for listening!
Book On!
Lowell