 ¡Viven! – Spanish-language edition | |
| Author | Piers Paul Read |
|---|---|
| Original title | Alive. The Story of the Andes Survivors |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | J.B. Lippincott Company |
Publication date | 1974 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
Alive is a 1974 book by the British writer Piers Paul Read documenting the events of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.
Alive tells the story of an Uruguayan rugby team (who were alumni of Stella Maris College), and their friends and family who were involved in the airplane crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. The plane crashed into the Andes mountains on Friday 13 October 1972. Of the 45 people on the flight, only 16 survived 72 days of sub-zero temperatures.
The search went on for eight days, although bad weather prevented searching for two days. The survivors found little food in the crashed fuselage, and it became necessary for the survivors to eat the frozen bodies of their dead friends.
The book was published two years after the survivors were rescued. The author interviewed many of the survivors as well as the family members of the passengers. He wanted to write the story as it had happened without embellishment. The author wrote:
I was given a free hand in writing this book by both the publisher and the sixteen survivors. At times I was tempted to fictionalize certain parts of the story because this might have added to their dramatic impact but in the end I decided that the bare facts were sufficient to sustain the narrative...when I returned in October 1973 to show them the manuscript of this book, some of them were disappointed by my presentation of their story. They felt that the faith and friendship which inspired them in the cordillera do not emerge from these pages. It was never my intention to underestimate these qualities, but perhaps it would be beyond the skill of any writer to express their own appreciation of what they lived through. [1]
The book was a critical success. Walter Clemons in Newsweek declared that it "will become a classic in the literature of survival". [2]
Keith Mano of The New York Times Book Review gave the book a "rave" review, stating that "Read's style is savage: unliterary, undecorated as a prosecutor's brief." He also described the book as an important one:
Cowardice, selfishness, whatever: their essential heroism can weather Read's objectivity. He has made them human. 'Alive' is thunderous entertainment: I know the events by rote, nonetheless I found it electric. And important. 'Alive' should be read by sociologists, educators, the Joint Chief of Staff. By anyone, in fact, whose business it is to prepare men for adversity. [3]
Michel Roger concurs, stating that: "Read has risen above the sensational and managed a book of real and lasting value." [4]
The first edition was released in 1974. A paperback that referenced the film Alive: The Miracle of the Andes was released in 1993. A new softcover edition, with a revised introduction and additional interviews with Piers Paul Read, Coche Inciarte, and Alvaro Mangino, was released by HarperCollins in 2005. This edition also has a new subtitle: Sixteen Men, Seventy-two Days, and Insurmountable Odds: The Classic Adventure of Survival in the Andes. The book was also re-released, simply titled Alive, in October 2012.
The book inspired the song "The Plot Sickens" on the album Every Trick in the Book by the American metalcore band Ice Nine Kills.
Alive is a 1993 American biographical survival drama film based on Piers Paul Read's 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which details a Uruguayan rugby team's crash aboard Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 into the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972.
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 was the chartered flight of a Fairchild FH-227D from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Santiago, Chile, that crashed in the Andes mountains in Argentina on 13 October 1972. The accident and subsequent survival became known as the Andes flight disaster and the Miracle of the Andes.
Piers Paul Read FRSL is a British novelist, historian and biographer. He was first noted in 1974 for a book of reportage, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, later adapted as a feature film and a documentary. Read was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he studied history.
The Christian Brothers College of Montevideo, commonly referred as Stella Maris College – Christian Brothers or just Christian, is a private, co-educational, not-for-profit Catholic primary and secondary school run by the Christian Brothers of Ireland. The school is located in the residential neighborhood of Carrasco Norte, Montevideo, Uruguay. The school's headmaster is Patricia Ponce de Leon. The school is a member of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), currently offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). The college also offers valuable international exams such as the IGCSE programs and the A levels. It has a long list of distinguished former pupils, including economists, engineers, architects, lawyers, politicians and even F1 champions.
Fernando "Nando" Seler Parrado Dolgay is a Uruguayan businessman, producer, motivational speaker, author, television presenter, former rugby player and a racing driver. He is one of the sixteen survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 which crashed in the Andes on 13 October 1972. After spending two months trapped in the mountains with the other crash survivors, he, along with Roberto Canessa, climbed through the Andes mountains over a 10-day period to find help.
Miracle in the Andes is a 2006 memoir by Nando Parrado and co-author Vince Rause, published by Crown. It documents his perspective within a rugby team's survival of a 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 into the Andes mountains, and his life afterward.
Bruce Ramsay is a Canadian film, television and stage actor.
Javier Alfredo Methol Abal was a Uruguayan businessman and lecturer, known for being one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes Mountains in October 1972.
Roberto Fernando Jorge François Álvarez, better known as Bobby François, is a former Uruguayan rugby player and agricultural producer, known for being one of the sixteen survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes Mountains in 1972.
Roberto Jorge Canessa Urta is a Uruguayan paediatric cardiologist, motivational speaker, and former rugby player. He is one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972. He was portrayed by Josh Hamilton in the 1993 feature film Alive and by Argentine actor Matías Recalt in the 2023 Spanish feature film Society of the Snow.
Carlos "Carlitos" Miguel Páez Rodríguez is a Uruguayan entrepreneur and former rugby player. He is one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972.
Rugby union in Chile is a fairly popular sport.
Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains is a 2007 documentary film which tells the story of a rugby team from Uruguay whose plane, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, crashed in the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972. The documentary recounts the struggle to survive by the people on board who survived the initial crash and by the 16 people who were found alive for 72 days, out of a total of 45 passenger and crew.
Old Christians Club, or simply Old Christians, is a Uruguayan sports club from the Carrasco neighbourhood of Montevideo.
I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash is a 2010 television documentary recounting the tragedy of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in the Andes mountains from the perspective of survivor Nando Parrado. It is a 2-hour special with reenactments of the October 13, 1972 crash, a deadly avalanche and the 72-day struggle for survival that followed, including details of the 60-kilometre (37 mi) trek out of the mountains by Parrado and fellow survivor Roberto Canessa. I Am Alive was produced by AMS Pictures and premiered on the History Channel on October 20, 2010. It was released for DVD on February 22, 2011.
Survive! is a 1976 Mexican thriller film directed by René Cardona. The film was released on January 15, 1976 in Mexico and is based on the 1973 book Survive! by Clay Blair, which is based on the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.
The Andes Museum 1972 is located in The Old City in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay.
Mount Seler is a mountain located on the border between Argentina and Chile on the western rim of the Glacier of Tears cirque in the Andes mountain range. The mountain was first summitted in December 1972 by Nando Parrado, and shortly thereafter by Antonio Vizintin and Roberto Canessa, survivors from the nearby crash site of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. They made the ascent with the intent of finding civilization. At the summit, Parrado used lipstick to write "MT. SELER" on a plastic bag, which he placed under a rock. Nando named the mountain after his father Seler Parrado, who was his motivation to survive.
Numa Turcatti Pesquera was a Uruguayan law student, known for being one of the victims of the 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 plane crash, dying 61 days after the crash. He is portrayed by Enzo Vogrincic in Society of the Snow (2023), where his character serves as the film's narrator.
Francisco Domingo Abal Guerault was a Uruguayan rugby player. He was part of the Old Christians Club and was considered one of the best rugby players in his country. In 1970 he was part of the Uruguayan rugby team.