The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz

Jul 01, 2008 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone interested in what humans can endure and still survive

Recommended to Ed by: Warren B. Jones

Shelves: memoir, reviewed, non-fiction

There is much controversy as to whether this account is fact or fiction. I googled the author's name and the book title and after reading dozens of articles and opinions, I'm still not sure, though I lean towards thinking that the narrative is actually a composite of a number of experiences including Rawicz's.

As was said in an account on the web entitled "#18 Anderson's Long Walk Expedition", in which a group of people retraced Rawicz's journey, although on camels not on foot:

Attempting to find...more

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Feb 24, 2008 Tj rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone interested in reading

I found this book truly inspirational and gripping. I read it in 2 nights. There is some banter about whether or not it is true. I'm still not decided on what I think about this debate. What I do know, from having lived in Russia for a number of years and having toured an obscure KGB "prison" in Lithuania 3 times, that the author's description of his torture in Minsk and in Moscow were especially haunting. From what I saw in Vilnius, he was actually given light treatment. Some of the rooms in th...more

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Apr 02, 2008 Julia rated it 5 of 5 stars

An amazing true story of the human spirit's will to live. Russia invaded Poland in 1939 and took hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers prisoner...

One man, the author of this book, not only survived torture in Russian hands, and an inhumane train ride and walk to a Siberian labor camp... but after all that, he decided to escape. He recruited 6 other prisoners to join him and the 7 of them walked to India. Through Siberian blizzards, the Gobi desert's deadly heat, the treacherous landscape of t...more

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Oct 20, 2007 Jrobertus rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz, purports to be the true story of an heroic flight to freedom. He claims to have been a Polish officer grabbed by the Russians in 1939, imprisoned and marched to "camp 303" in Siberia. From there he and six companions escape, with the help of the commandants wife. THey begin a year long trek south, past Lake Baikal, through Mongolia, across the Gobi, over Tibet and to India and freedom. Hurray! What a triumph of the human spirit. The book had the taint of improb...more

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Apr 19, 2007 Misty Hobbs rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished-backonshelf

Cavalry officer Slavomir Rawicz was captured by the Red Army in 1939 during the German-Soviet partition of Poland and was sent to the Siberian Gulag ...more. This book has had a huge influence in my life. It is the book that I read when I need to be reminded of how much the human heart and body can endure. It is the story I think of when I feel that my life is out of my control. When I need to be reminded that my life is not that bad that I really don't have it as tough as I think I do. What Raw...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Avtar Dhaliwal is currently reading it

I am on page 79 in the book, right now the book is really taking a new step. (view spoiler) I think that this book really represents dehumanisation with the treatment of the main characters, and comradship with the pri...more I am on page 79 in the book, right now the book is really taking a new step. (view spoiler) I think that this book really represents dehumanisation with the treatment of the main characters, and comradship with the prisoners going though the horrible experiance of just getting to the camp. all and all this book is turing into a really awesome book!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

The long Walk 0.5v
The author of this book is Slavomir Rrawicz, he has only written on book and it’s amazing. His story was so compelling that they made a movie called “The Way Back” which was based on his Russian escape with his comrades.
Many other people liked the book as I do including: Los Angeles times, Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times. When I started reading about him and how he got to the prison it saddened me to know that all of this was true and it happened to lots of people because of race or creed.
I think a reader who is; in love with historical non-fiction with a plot, non-Russian enthusiast, people who want a book that they can use for a theme of dehumanization in a paper or papers. I really loved when they make jokes even know they are in situations that are terrible. I think that, that shows humanity and comradeship, because of what they have been though the deserts, and wilderness. That they can laugh and are not mentally broken and autonomous like some people would be in this circumstances.
If you like all the books that I read like Percy Jackson series. The New York Times said "a poet with steel in his soul". when I started reading the part when they found the girl I was Like why? And that suck that she was basically stranded there.(view spoiler)
In all right now the book has turned out awesome and I will be continuously reading and enjoying this master piece as you would if you glance on page 1.
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Aug 13, 2011 Buggy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bio-memoir, historical, shelf-11, survival, war

Opening Line: “It was about nine o’clock one bleak November day that the key rattles in the heavy lock of my cell in the Lubyanka Prison and the two broad-shouldered guards marched purposely in.”

Wow what an amazing story, epic is I guess more the word I’m looking for. I read this after watching the movie The Way Back and as is usually the case the book is much better, vastly different yet obviously maintaining the gist of the year long trek across an entire continent to freedom. As a point of in...more Opening Line: “It was about nine o’clock one bleak November day that the key rattles in the heavy lock of my cell in the Lubyanka Prison and the two broad-shouldered guards marched purposely in.”

Wow what an amazing story, epic is I guess more the word I’m looking for. I read this after watching the movie The Way Back and as is usually the case the book is much better, vastly different yet obviously maintaining the gist of the year long trek across an entire continent to freedom. As a point of interest (or not) Colin Farrell’s tattooed gang character does not exist in the book. Anyways…

Slavomir Rawicz wrote this memoir in 1959 as a form of therapy to escape the memories that still haunted him. It has lost nothing with time however and remains one of the most incredible journeys of strength, endurance and human spirit you’ll ever read.

Its 1941 and “Slav” has just spent two years in a Soviet prison. After multiple beatings and interrogations at the hands of the sadistic prison guard “the Bull” he is eventually found guilty of espionage (?) and sentenced to 25 years forced labour in a Siberian work camp. (These sections were actually some of the most brutal in the whole book)

Thus begins his journey. Transferred during the dead of winter Slav somehow survives the 3000 mile cattle car train ride and subsequent chain gang death march into inner Siberia and camp 303 in Yakutsk After enduring starvation, cold, illness and brutality he and six other prisoners escape.

Together they cross an entire continent on foot with nothing more than an axe, a knife, a weeks worth of food and an unbreakable will to live. Covering some of the most inhospitable conditions on earth they travel out of Siberia and through China, across the Gobi dessert into Tibet and finally over the Himalayas and into British India. This is where the epic part comes in because their journey is so brutal, so filled with despair and suffering its at times unbelievable and also impossible to put down.

The LONG WALK is written factually and Slav doesn’t ever tell us how he feels, he just gives a meticulous account of what is taking place. However for this type of storytelling it was perfect. Included in this 1997 version is an afterwards with some of the readers most persistent questions answered. What Slav’s life was like after The Long Walk, What happened to the other men? Did he ever see them again?

This is a story I won’t ever forget and I highly recommend. I mean they walked from Siberia to India, just think about that for a second.(less)

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Nov 17, 2009 Lee Bridgers added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who believes the Bible is literally true

Recommended to Lee by: no one

This book was a real disappointment, so stupid a lie that it is almost as hard to believe that so many people fall for it--oh well, the Bible comes to mind. I love non-fiction, especially books on mid 20th century history. I had just finished reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and found this book in the Falcon Press racks at an airport. I began to read it, and inch by inch I started to feel the lie. Ivan Denisovich is a made-up story (based on the author's actual experience, but fict...more This book was a real disappointment, so stupid a lie that it is almost as hard to believe that so many people fall for it--oh well, the Bible comes to mind. I love non-fiction, especially books on mid 20th century history. I had just finished reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and found this book in the Falcon Press racks at an airport. I began to read it, and inch by inch I started to feel the lie. Ivan Denisovich is a made-up story (based on the author's actual experience, but fictionalized) and it feels true at every turn, but Long Walk never feels true. It feels like a fantasy from the get-go. At the point where I finally found the incredibly obvious lie that made me finally give in and admit that this book was BS, I looked at the name of the publisher. Globe Pequot. I am an author of a book they published, not a very good club to be in from my experience. And I had yet to read about the Yeti sighting, which should have put me off when I first read blurbs about the book. I put the book down, not caring about the rest of the made-up story--it is now emergency toilet paper. I felt like my mind had been raped, much like the pretty girl in the story would have been if the story were to ring true. Here is the back breaker, if you want to understand just how stupid it gets: The tale of "going for days without water" in the Gobi Desert and the subsequent portrait of the "oasis" are completely laughable. I live in a desert climate and have to tell you for your own safety that you will not survive longer than a day without water, especially if you exert yourself in the heat of day, which is what our hero said the group was doing for many days on end. Just ask search and rescue workers in Arizona or New Mexico! You don't last long without water, and if you finally find some water in that condition, it is probably halucination. Maybe this is the lesson of the book. We are so thirsty for a good read, that we will believe pigs fly and men don't eat each other when the going gets extremely rough.(less)

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Mar 30, 2012 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: teh-brillianz, published-1956, nonfiction, slavic, autobiography-memoir, dodgy-narrator, re-read, spring-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 3/4/2011 Now for film time...

Dragos Bucur ... Zoran
Colin Farrell ... Valka
Ed Harris ... Mr. Smith
Alexandru Potocean ... Tomasz

Trailer here

Fantastic film, authentic landscapes. Things left out:

-The beginning of the book where the long journey to the gulag was explained.
-Inside the gulag where a favoured existence helped accrue certain objects
-That Yeti moment.

NB I have softened to the yeti thing - after such a gruelling trip it is entirely possible that the brain plays tricks. Swirling snow ca...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Margret rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an amazing story! How much do we value Freedom? what would I do to keep it? When things get tough.... read this... for a different perspective!

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Nov 05, 2007 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This has been on my shelf for years and I've no clue what took me so long to read it. Epic true story of prisoners escaping from a Siberian work camp and WALKING to India...yeah, look at a map on that folks. Through Siberia, Russia, Mongolia, China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, the Himalayas...that's a lot of geography and all on foot. Mind boggling.

One thing that struck me early on as he was talking about his initial capture and how they tried to torture him into confessing...next generation reading...more

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Dec 31, 2008 Gary rated it 1 of 5 stars

A memoir must be an unrewarding thing to write today. So many have been discredited as either full of untruths or completely fabricated. Jerzy Kosinski's "Painted Bird", Carlos Casteneda's "The Teaching of Don Juan", more than a few of Oprah-publicized books, and now (a revelation for me) "The Long Walk", a book that has sold half a million copies since it was first published in 1956. I started to get suspicious about 1/3 of the way through this book. There were too many implausible incidents, s...more A memoir must be an unrewarding thing to write today. So many have been discredited as either full of untruths or completely fabricated. Jerzy Kosinski's "Painted Bird", Carlos Casteneda's "The Teaching of Don Juan", more than a few of Oprah-publicized books, and now (a revelation for me) "The Long Walk", a book that has sold half a million copies since it was first published in 1956. I started to get suspicious about 1/3 of the way through this book. There were too many implausible incidents, starting from his insistence that he was completely innocent of spying or any other any crime against the Soviets (they claim he killed an NKVD officer), his extraordinary long interrogations, the long march from Irkutsk to the camp chained behind a wood-burning truck, his ability to interview and then reject candidates for the escape without anyone ratting him out, the help he got from the commandant's wife, and his naive view of the natural world. He claimed that the only living things in the Gobi desert were snakes, which they caught and ate (what did the snakes eat? Were they cannibals?). They evidently just laze around in holes with only their head sticking out. All of the snakes I have ever seen were either lying or crawling over the ground. It sounds more like gopher or night-crawler behavior to me.

Then there were the pair of Yeti they spotted! Now I know there was a lot of interest in the Yeti, Sasquatch, and Loch Ness monster back in the 50's when this book was written, but really now, are we supposed to take this seriously? I haven't researched the disbelievers extensively, but Outside did a scathing review in 2003 ( http://outside.away.com/outside/featu... ) and the BBC did an expose in 2006 ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6... ).

The current edition of the book has the usual testimonials on the back cover, including a glowing one from Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm), "One of the epic treks of the human race ...." he says. Well Sebastian, I've now got you calibrated! How does such obvious fabrication go unquestioned by so many people for so long (read some of the angry comments at the end of the BBC article)? Part of it may be the desire to believe a compelling story of incredible hardship and adventure, and part of it must be the West's fixation during the cold war with the evils of the Soviet Union. Anybody who can tell a story that makes them look like fools has got to be believed!

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_mem... for more about other fake memoirs. Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavomir...
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Dec 30, 2012 Iceman rated it 4 of 5 stars

No dia 17 de Setembro de 1939, o exército da URSS invadiu a Polónia. Cerca de um mês antes, mais propriamente no dia 23 de Agosto, a Alemanha nazi, através de Hitler, firma um acordo de Não-Agressão com a URSS de Joseph Estalin. Esse acordo previa a divisão da Polónia entre a Alemanha e a URSS no final da guerra. No dia 1 de Setembro, os alemães invadem a Polónia pelo Ocidente, enquanto que a 17, a URSS invade o país através das suas fronteiras do Oriente. Nessa invasão muitos inocentes perecem...more No dia 17 de Setembro de 1939, o exército da URSS invadiu a Polónia. Cerca de um mês antes, mais propriamente no dia 23 de Agosto, a Alemanha nazi, através de Hitler, firma um acordo de Não-Agressão com a URSS de Joseph Estalin. Esse acordo previa a divisão da Polónia entre a Alemanha e a URSS no final da guerra. No dia 1 de Setembro, os alemães invadem a Polónia pelo Ocidente, enquanto que a 17, a URSS invade o país através das suas fronteiras do Oriente. Nessa invasão muitos inocentes perecem às mãos das tropas nazis e russas, no entanto, são as acusações de traição e espionagem que são hoje alvo de relatos e investigações. E é precisamente por uma acusação de ser espião, que o tenente da cavalaria do exército polaco, Slavomir Rawicz, se vê no meio do inferno.

Esta é uma história real. Narrada pelo próprio e escrita pela primeira vez em 1956, este é um relato pungente de homens que se viram acusados e privados da liberdade sem que nada tenham feito. O único mal que fizeram foi de terem estado no local errado aquando da passagem da maré fascista, numa autêntica "caça às bruxas" na União Soviética. Este é um relato, um grito de alerta ao mundo contra os malefícios do comunismo, da fanatismo político, do fascismo e, principalmente um grito a favor da liberdade e da vida, pois e conforme o próprio Rawicz afirma: "A liberdade é como o oxigénio".

Mas Slavomir Rawicz vê-se, sem saber porquê, aprisionado pelos russos que, sob enormes e variadas torturas, insistem para que ela assine um papel onde admite a sua culpabilidade. Recusando-se sempre a assinar tal documento, acaba por ir a julgamento sendo então condenado a 25 anos de trabalhos forçados num campo de trabalho na Sibéria. Já nesse campo (campo 303), Rawicz narra todas as privações e principalmente a forma como os próprios presos se organizavam. Até que derivado de alguns acontecimentos, toma consciência que a fuga é possível, no entanto ele sabe que a percentagem de êxito é baixa, mas ela existe.

Juntando-se a um grupo de 7 homens, no qual se inclui um engenheiro americano que se irá revelar um elo fundamental, estes homens iniciam uma fuga de 8.000 km, atravessando toda a Sibéria, Mongólia, Tibete, Himalaias, chegando por fim à Índia, onde são acolhidos pelo exército britânico.

Essa travessia dura cerca de um ano e é inimaginável o que aqueles homens sofrem.

Como devem supor, atravessar a Sibéria torna-se um tormento, ainda mais não tendo praticamente quaisquer víveres, dormindo de dia escondidos pelo gelo e caminhando de noite. Agora imaginem atravessar o deserto de Gobi (Mongólia) em pleno Verão e sem água. As descrições são tão reais e fortes, damos connosco a sentir o sufoco do calor, a lingua inchada, as pernas inchadas e os pés em chagas de tanto andarem.

Toda esta jornada se desenrola a pé. Trata-se de uma fuga e mesmo fora dos territórios da URSS, eles não estão seguros, pois os países que atravessam mantém laços de amizade com a URSS, logo, é sempre possível serem capturados.

Rawicz escreve este livro muitos anos depois. A edição actual é de 2000, revisada pelo próprio. Há muitos acontecimentos que o próprio afirma não se lembrar ou de ter uma ténue lembrança, no entanto e é talvez onde encontre algo a apontar a este relato, nota-se, aliás, sente-se e até se pode ler nas entrelinhas, que muita coisa ficou por contar. Embora ele afirme variadas vezes que não se recorda ou que não sabe bem como aconteceu, fiquei com a clara sensação, para não dizer a certeza, que ele omite propositadamente certos factos. A história da mulher do comandante do campo que o ajuda na fuga, está muito mal contada e claramente inacabada. Não sei se se passou algo entre eles, sinceramente não me pereceu, mas sente-se que ele a menciona porque ela foi importante na História, mas há algo que ele omite.

Depois também achei, e continuo-o a achar, muito estranho que, depois daquela fuga, não se terem iniciado buscas ou perseguições para capturar os fugitivos. Eles fogem e jamais relatam qualquer visão de qualquer perseguição. Mesmo com aquelas temperaturas, a nevar toda a noite, o que apagaria qualquer rasto que eles tivessem deixado, achei no mínimo estranho. Depois é também a aparente "facilidade" com que eles vão caminhando. Encontram sempre gente acolhedora que raramente lhes fazem perguntas. Enfim, não ponho em causa nada do relato, mas apercebi-me que existiram acontecimentos que Rawicz achou por bem não mencionar ao mundo.

Mas e mesmo com estes pequenos pormenores, esta é de facto uma viagem fantástica. Eles percorrem sítios recônditos de países longínquos, vêm gentes e seres estranhos (achei fabuloso o estranho encontro que ele têm em pleno Himalaias com duas estranhas criaturas que, segundo opinião de Rawicz, só podiam ser esse ser chamado Abominável Homem das Neves), passam fome, frio, sempre agarrados à esperança de alcançar a liberdade, sempre apoiados uns nos outros, todos como sendo um único corpo. Este é um relato comovente de amizade, coragem, dor, solidão, solidariedade, amor e fraternidade. Uma história que de certo incomoda todas aqueles que defendem e fomentam o comunismo e o fascismo e até para a própria História da Rússia, uma história que merece ser divulgada pelo mundo inteiro.

A todos que gostam de ler bons livros, a todos aqueles que gostam de fazer parte desta "família" chamada ser-humano, a todos aqueles que fomentam o amor e a solidariedade ao próximo, apenas posso aconselhar a leitura urgente deste magnífico livro. No entanto, para aquele que me incentivou a ler esta obra, deixo aqui o meu obrigado, assim como à restante comunidade livriana pelas suas excelentes dicas.(less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have read this book several times since finding a used copy of it in the early 1990’s. It is just the sort of thing that fascinates me: a group of strangers, thrown together by chance, join forces to beat the odds and survive in an extremely hostile environment. As victims of Stalin-era purges, these political prisoners had been tortured and starved for months before they arrived in Siberia. They had been transported across the whole of the USSR by cattle car and forced to march 1,000 miles th...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Lucinda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Poignant, inspiring and utterly compelling this is a book that touches the heart with its tale of human courage.

This has to be by far the most moving, touching and emotive story that I have encountered this year, and which really touched my heart with its undeniably frank and candid message. This heroic tale is told in such a way as to astonish its readers, speaking to your inmost core, as it leaves a mark with those significant words echoing on forever. Rawicz carries his reader along the rock...more Poignant, inspiring and utterly compelling this is a book that touches the heart with its tale of human courage.

This has to be by far the most moving, touching and emotive story that I have encountered this year, and which really touched my heart with its undeniably frank and candid message. This heroic tale is told in such a way as to astonish its readers, speaking to your inmost core, as it leaves a mark with those significant words echoing on forever. Rawicz carries his reader along the rocky path with each weakening step that is sustained by his simple undying vision, of the liberty that lies beyond the cruel emptiness that faces him. It is a heartfelt, meaningful true story of a trek to freedom that speaks of the desperation of the journey and the heroism that is acquired. Beyond the emptiness of Siberia and the sterile gravles of the Gobi there is beauty found in the void, where triumph will reign supreme over despair and which digs deep within the vastness of ones soul.
Salvomir Rawicz was a young polish cavalry officer who on the 19th November 1939 was arrested by the Russians, and afterwards was sentenced to a brutal twenty-five years in the Gulags. He was tortured and interrogated to the extreme, and this part of the story does not fail to overwhelm, rendering you speechless. After a three month trek to Siberia in the depths of winter he escaped with six companions, who realized that staying in the camp would almost definitely lead to certain death. Then in June 1941 they managed to cross the trans-Siberian railway and headed onwards South, climbing into Tibet and finally to freedom nine months later in March 1942. After traveling on foot through some of the harshest, severe regions of the world including the vast Gobi desert he was able to bask in his freedom that had come at last.
This book first published in 1956 has to be one of the greatest true stories of adventure, survival and escape ever told and which completely overwhelms me every time I re-read it. There are many stories of similar design that talk of journeys and perilous escapes but none leave you as affected, disturbed and moved by this personal account that is of such a magnitude. Rawicz recounts the hardships that the prisoners endured of the Russian system in the early years of world war two, and his time as an officer in the Polish cavalry. The latter part of this book (which covers his escape and journey), I find to be most noteworthy and which makes one really think about life in general as you never have done before; as life is indeed very imperative. Just when you think it is all over; the grief, the despair and the adversity, then comes more torment as they set out walking south to freedom which is finally concluded in India. This is such a spectacular read and one which I cannot enthuse about enough for it never fails to strike a chord within my heart, leaving me with so many emotions flowing around my body that can only be a portion of what the author actually felt himself. It is an extraordinary feat of courage and hope and which instills upon one a sense of courage and positivity, for your outlook on life is good when you survey yourself in it. I am sure that I can even begin to imagine what he went through, and so hold the author in high esteem as someone to look up to with much respect and admiration.
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Oct 02, 2012 djcb rated it 3 of 5 stars

A classic from '56, the book tells the 'True Story' of one Slavomir Rawicz, a Pole who escapes a Siberian labor camp, and together with some others, walks 6500km through Siberia, the Gobi Desert, Tibet the finally reach freedom in India.

Great story -- recommended for anyone who likes e.g. Endurance Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. Going through snow, desert, mountains, hunger, thirst, and described in a very compelling way.

There is a big downer though: it seems the 'True Story' did not really hap...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Andy rated it 5 of 5 stars

To open, there's question on whether or not this is really a true story or if the author is adding himself in someone else's journey. The BBC did track down an officer who served in India a recalls men entering the country claiming to have made this trek. Read the story, search for different points of view and make up your own mind.

The story opens in 1939, a Polish officer captured by the Soviets is incarcerated. After the obligatory fair trial, he's sentenced to a Siberian labor camp. Together

...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Jared Gillins rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 07, 2012 Angie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This true-life story was simply amazing---what the human body can go through and still live, just shows how unquenchable the human spirit is. Once Rawicz and his companions escape from a Russian prisoner of war camp and start their long walk, the story becomes quite compelling. I loved how they met a lone girl in their travels and how much she helped the men's spirits---and how they all broke down and cried for the first time at her passing---none of the other hardships and near-death experience...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book says it's the "true story of a trek to freedom" and I began reading it as such. It takes the reader on a harrowing journey beginning with Soviet imprisonment where the Polish author is eventually sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian labor camp. The trip to the labor camp alone was a torturous mix of walking and riding in a packed rail car. Once at the camp, the author begins making plans and choosing associates to break out. His group of 6 prisoners is ultimately successful... and so be...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Христо Блажев rated it 5 of 5 stars

“Дългата разходка” може да бъде истинска – 6500-те км на Славомир Равич
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/09/6...

Сибир. Гоби. Хималаите. Концлагер. Глад. Жажда. Студ. Жега. 6500 км. Това е истинска история, ако щете вярвайте.

Да, знам, “Дългата разходка” = Кинг. И на мен ми е сред най-любимите ми негови романи, наред с “То” и “Гробище за домашни любимци”. Но тази дълга разходка е на Славомир Равич и е много, много по-сериозна – това е всъщност и единствената ми критика – рисуваната корица не пасва...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Keith Kendall rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Years ago I read this book with great fascination – until I came to the part about walking across the Gobi desert in the daytime because they were afraid they would walk in circles if they traveled at night. That was just too much for my credulity.

I recently acquired a copy, and here is the part that I could not swallow as truth – that caused me to doubt the truth of the book. Even in a state of starvation and dehydration, I just couldn’t swallow that a Polish Army officer and his companions cou...more Years ago I read this book with great fascination – until I came to the part about walking across the Gobi desert in the daytime because they were afraid they would walk in circles if they traveled at night. That was just too much for my credulity.

I recently acquired a copy, and here is the part that I could not swallow as truth – that caused me to doubt the truth of the book. Even in a state of starvation and dehydration, I just couldn’t swallow that a Polish Army officer and his companions could every one be so clueless as to how the stars are positioned in the heavens.

“We flopped out against a tall dune and the cold stars came out to look at us.” (p. 158)

“Sometime after midnight I suggested we start off again to take advantage of the cool conditions. Everybody seemed to be awake. We hauled ourselves upright and began again the trudge south. It was much easier going. We rested a couple of hours after dawn – and still the southerly prospect remained unaltered.”

“After this one trial there were no more night marches. Makowski stopped it.”

“’Can you plot your course by the stars?’ he asked me. The others turned haggard faces toward me.”

“I paused before answering. ‘Not with complete certainty,’ I confessed.”

“’Can any of us?’ he persisted. No one spoke”

“’Then we could have been walking in circles all through the night,’ he said heavily.”

“I sensed the awful dismay his words had caused. I protested that I was sure we had not veered off course, that the rising sun had proved us still to be facing south. But in my own mind, even as I argued, I had to admit the possibility that Makowski was right. …” (p. 159)

Without a sextant, navigation by the stars is and will be much more accurate than navigating by the sun. I just couldn’t imagine that an army officer and his companions could have been unaware of such simple survival techniques as locating the North Star. Even more incredible is that they could have stared at their toes so much that going in a circle would be possible. Any constellation would be enough to keep them going in a reasonably consistent direction.
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Aug 04, 2011 Jinni Pike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011

An amazing, grueling story about the boundless limits mankind can endure in the search for freedom. There is a lot of speculation about whether this story is true, some say it is but that the author didn't endure it. I'm torn. I can't imagine anyone being able to survive the horrendous conditions these men experience but I also can't imagine the research that it would take to fabricate this story. I've read a lot of WWII memoirs though and the conditions people lived in at that time are unbeliev...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Patrícia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: emprestado, histórico, não-ficção

Esta história é mesmo uma história e não uma estória. E isso faz toda a diferença. Não é um livro que se leia pela história, que é obviamente triste, mas sim pelo impacto que essa história tem em nós.
Chamar-lhe "a longa caminhada" chega a ser irónico. Um ano de pé, a caminhar desde a Sibéria até à India. Um ano em fuga, desde o gelo da Sibéria, até à India, passando pelo calor infernal e mortal do deserto, pelas montanhas fatais, pelo Tibete. Um ano que mostra a força do ser humano, o seu melho...more

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Apr 28, 2011 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the true story of 7 men who were unjustly imprisoned in communist Russia during WWII. They escaped from a Russian prison in Siberia and traveled over 4000 miles on foot to freedom in British ruled India. The story is fascinating and heart wrenching. The conditions that they traveled through were beyond comprehension. They escaped in the middle of a Siberian winter, traveled through a desert in Southern Mongolia, crossed the Himalayan mountains. They were starving and broken. There were s...more

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Mar 07, 2011 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, memoir-biography, travel, read-2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 05, 2011 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent book, although much of it is very depressing. Of course, that is fairly obvious if you look at the premise of the book. I did some subsequent investigating on the validity of the story - it is supposed to be true, but there is unfortunately little evidence. However, I am not dissuaded by the arguements against - he was from Poland which was fought over repeatedly during the war (and much was destroyed) and the only source of information would be from the hands of soviets, which had lit...more

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Dec 22, 2010 Galicius rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-autobiography, english

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read this book after a review in the Nowy Dziennik, the New York Polish daily newspaper. It had a summary of the exploit claimed by the author of walking 4000 miles from Siberia to India. On the face of it looked interesting, an incredible adventure story. I bought the book and I decided to read it myself. The first section that deals with his arrest, imprisonment, and interrogation by the NKVD is gory enough. It’s not pleasant reading. The second section of the train ride then winter march to...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Igor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is a first hand account of the most brutal and inhuman conditions I've ever read suffered by men. It shines light on the complete loss of dignity and respect for human life in Stalinist Russia. The kind of endurance and fortitude of these Gulag escapees in face of mind-boggling harsh environmental conditions seems superhuman.

The entire book covers a 20 month period, starting at the point in which Slav, a wealthy polish Cavalry man fighting the Germans is picked up by the Soviets and force...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Devin Sixt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Trust me when I say that this story is a very good read. From prison encampments to torture rooms. From frigidly cold hikes through snow, to prison encampments in Siberia, Slavomir Rawicz seems to have endured it all; however, when he and a select group of individuals plan to escape from their hostile environment and captors, it is clear that their initial journey of close to one-thousand miles was only the beginning.

From Siberia to northern India, they encounter many hardships. Almost always i...more

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