Survival Memoirs

On the Edge of Survival: A Shipwreck, a Raging Storm, and the Harrowing Alaskan Rescue that became a Legend / by Spike Walker
In the rough Alaskan seas off the coast of the Aleutian Islands, a Malaysian cargo ship ran aground during a particularly brutal storm. Upon lifting the last 7 crewmen from the sinking ship, the rescue helicopter was hit by a massive wave, plunging the crewmen, the USCG rescue team and the remains of the vessel into the below freezing waters. All would undergo one of the most death defying feats of survival before all was said and done. (910.916434 WALKER)

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Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World / by Joan Druett
In 1864, Captain Thomas Musgrave and his crew of four were aboard the HMS Grafton when it shipwrecked on Auckland Island, a barren, desolate slit of uninhabitable land just south of New Zealand. With little means to relay an SOS and limited provisions, Capt. Musgrave and the crew built a cabin, forged for food and sustenance and survived the overbearing tropical elements as best they could until hope arrived in a most remarkable way. (919.399 DRUETT)

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Lost in the Amazon / by Stephen Kirkpatrick as told by Marlo Carter Kirkpatrick
In 1995, scientist Stephen Kirkpatrick and a five-man expedition set off into the remote jungles of the Peruvian Amazon to document an area of  uninhabited rainforest. Within hours of their departure, the team became hopelessly lost amid the dense jungle. For a period of several weeks, they endured everything the harsh environment threw at them in an attempt to find their way back to civilization, learning as they went that survival is not just physical, but a mental and spiritual challenge as well. (918.5 KIRKPATR)

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Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days On The Mountain and My Long Trek Home / by Nando Parrado
This personalized memoir over 30 years after the fact chronicles the legendary 1972 plane crash of a Uruguayan Rugby team in the Peruvian Andes. Their's was a truely harrowing and (literally) gut-wrenching tale of survival. Stranded for nearly two and a half months on the western slope of a snowcapped mountain peak, those that survived the crash were forced to turn to the most savage means in order to last out the terrifying ordeal before a rescue effort finally found them. (982.6 PARRADO)

The Penal Colony / by Richard Herley

Only the most violent criminals are brought to the island penal colony of Sert, an alternative incarceration unit intended to help alleviate the overcrowded prison system. Though gunships patrol the waters around the perimeter, there are no wardens, no guards and no rules on the island itself. Martial law is the only authority with "inmates" monitored remotely through specialized satellite detection devices. All prisoners brought to the island are sentenced to life without parole, just like Anthony Routledge whose been convicted of raping and murdering a woman in cold blood. Routledge is literally dropped (from a helicopter) onto the island where, with absolutely no warning, he's introduced to the sheer ferocity of his situation. Reduced to a virile state of savagery by their conditions, bloodthirsty island inhabitants prey on him relentlessly, swiftly hunting down Routledge who only escapes their vicious attacks after killing three pursuers in self-defense.

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Not all prisoners on the island are that depraved though. A sect known as The Community, comprised of individuals not totally given over to madness or blood lust, have set themselves apart from the primeval part of the island, effectively quarantined within a walled off portion separate from their barbarian counterparts whom they vigilantly ensure never gain access. Routledge, having survived the assault on his life, is permitted to become a part of The Community, finding it to be a thriving work camp where men freely cultivate their own natural habitat, living off the land, growing their own food and domesticating wild animals. Though things seem peaceable enough with some men even claiming to have found a permanent home, there's some subversive maneuvers afoot. In top secret fashion, an escape plan has been slowly fostered by the camp elders who, deeming Routledge a worthy man for the job, have drafted him as a candidate to help pull it off.

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Surprisingly few books have approached the idea of prison dynamics with the same ingenuity as Herley in this admirably creative novel which fuses an exciting premise with sophisticated writing and honest characters. It's a sort of Lord of the Flies meets Robinson Crusoe meets Count of Monte Cristo meets Papillon (and a host of others); and yet it carries off its own identity perfectly, promoting a well-cooked idea combined with grounded thematic concepts in a story which bristles with allegory and symbolism. Man vs. nature, instinct vs. reason, captivity vs. freedom, crime & punishment, oppression & redemption, etc. are all played out in the context. The book is worthy entertainment simply as a adventure/survival tale though and should disappoint absolutely no one.

Crazy for the Storm: a Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad

Norman Ollestad had an unusual upbringing. It was not just that his parents were into a surfing hippie lifestyle in southern California, but he had a father who was committed to experiencing the utmost in sports and equally committed to ensuring that his son Norman followed in his footsteps. Norman was on the ski slopes at age three and ski racing and surfing on his own in elementary school. The starting point for the story is the day roughly 30 years ago when Norman, his father and father’s girlfriend are in a rented Cessna plane in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California, and they crash. At this point Norman is 11 years old. As he describes the crash and its aftermath, this account is interspersed with a “memoir” recounting his life starting from six months before the crash. His parents are divorced, and Norman lives with his Mom and her boyfriend Nick. Nick doesn’t do sports like Norman and his Dad, but he also pushes Norman, ostensibly to guide Norman into responsible thinking, but too often criticizing and punishing him just to exercise control. Some readers may find the book’s structure awkward, with the tense post-crash survival narrative switching back to times Norman was dragged into other challenging situations by his Dad, forced to cope against his own inclination. After the crash, however, Norman is virtually alone as his Dad has been killed and Norman has to try and get himself and his Dad’s injured whiny girlfriend off the steep icy slope they crashed on. Hailed by the media as a “boy wonder” for making it down off that mountain, the book shows how having experienced fear and coping with fearful challenges in his past gave him the ability to survive the near- death scenario. The book follows Norman about two years past the event – watching him experience pain and shut down and struggle. The book does a good job of answering a lot of questions we might have about fate, unfairness, and what kind of essential attitudes we need for not just surviving, but embracing and incorporating challenges in our lives.

Lord of the Flies / by William Golding

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"Fun and Games..." (ch. 12)

During wartime, a plane carrying a group of schoolboys crashes on a desert Island. With the pilot perishing in the destruction, the boys--ages 6-12--must fend for themselves with no food, provisions, or hope of rescue. Initially, a called assembly reveals the lack of authority to be a blessing; some of the older boys loosely laying out guidelines amid a vibrant atmosphere of jubilation. Yet with immediate necessities needing constant attention, a long-term plan for survival is all too evident. Leadership is initially undertaken by Ralph, a rational--if naieve--sort, with little objection until sightings of a mysterious "beast" incite an uproar over its potential danger. The debate ongoing, Ralph's authority is soon challenged by Jack, leader of the "hunters", who proposes a relocation of the camp for more protective measures. Deliberation becomes anarchy when continued attempts at arbitration and self-governance descend into chaos, transforming the already primitive island society into savagery and martial law.


The title "Lord of the Flies" is a literal reference to the Hebrew word Beelzebub, also meaning "chief devil" or "prince of the air". The term is more commonly associated with the biblical Satan following his fall to Earth. Allegorical in nature, the book mirrors how civilization orchestrated by man inevitably fails. Even positive motives toward a harmonious society are an illusion; witness how quickly Ralph's plan for everyone "to have fun" dissolves into rancor and grievance. Golding wasn't solely concerned with the 'man against man' conflict though. Deeper aspects of the book point out man's obstinacy and rebellion as the primary source in undoing the natural world, ultimately seen through the destruction of the island itself.