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      "The Long Walk"     

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10/06/2010 06:59AM  
This book has nothing to do with canoeing, hope I'm not breaking a rule! The book would fit into the survival/human endurance genre.

Author: Slavomir Rawicz
Publishied: 1956
Pages: 242
My rating: 2.5 out of 5

The book starts out in 1939 Poland, the starting grounds of WWII. The author, a Polish Officer, is fighting the German invaders but is arrested by Russians while home on leave. The author is tortured and eventually transported to a gulag in Siberia. An escape is planned and carried out by the author and 6 other men. The majority of the book describes this escape and path from Siberia to India. Along the way the men pick up a young girl and all 8 hike south with no maps, no compass and very little food/water. They cross the Gobi desert and the Himalayan mountain range, where they encounter Yeti (bigfoots or is it bigfeet).

This book forced me to do research on 1939 Poland and go over sat. images of the route. While doing research, I learned that many question this book and the facts within. And to be honest, it is an incredible story which gave me pause. If true, all I can say is WOW! and we should not complain about a long portage!!

While doing research I learned that a movie based on this book titled "The Way Back" is due to come out in Jan. 2011. The movie stars Colin Farrell and Ed Harris.

This book is probably best suited for those who enjoy history/military history and stories of human endurance.

"freedom is like oxygen, and I hope The Long Walk is a reminder that when lost, freedom is difficult to regain." Slavomir Rawicz

 
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10/06/2010 08:59AM  
Thanks for the review!

I'll add it to my 'winter reading' list.
 
Dbldppr1250
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11/21/2010 07:53PM  
I'm definitely going to read this one. Walking is something I look forward to every day, so this sounds right up my alley!
 
05/13/2011 01:44PM  
Thanks for the heads up on the movie. I read the book a long, long time ago and it is one of the handful of books that I have never forgotten.
 
Dbldppr1250
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05/21/2011 04:44PM  
Just finished the book - it was great!
 
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