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The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
The classic adventure story that inspired the new major motion picture The Way Back, directed by Peter Weir
In 1941, the author and six fellow prisoners of war escaped a Soviet labor camp in Yakutsk - a camp where enduring hunger, cold, untended wounds, and untreated illnesses, and avoiding daily executions were everyday feats. Their march - over thousands of miles by foot - out of Siberia, through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India is a remarkable statement about man's desire to be free.
Written in a hauntingly detailed, no-holds-barred way, the book inspired the Peter Weir film The Way Back, due for release in late 2010. Previous editions have sold hundreds of thousands of copies; this edition includes an afterword written by the author shortly before his death, as well as the author's introduction to the book's Polish edition.
Guaranteed to forever stay in the reader's mind, The Long Walk will remain a testament to the strength of the human spirit, and the universal desire for freedom and dignity.
“I hope The Long Walk will remain as a memorial to all those who live and die for freedom, and for all those who for many reasons could not speak for themselves.”
—Slavomir Rawicz
277 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
800 people are currently reading
19136 people want to read
About the author
Slavomir Rawicz
16 books64 followersSlavomir Rawicz (Sławomir Rawicz) was a Polish Army lieutenant who was imprisoned by the Soviets after the German-Soviet invasion of Poland. In a ghost-written book called The Long Walk, he claimed that in 1941 he and six others had escaped from a Siberian Gulag camp and walked over 6,500 km (4,000 mi) south, through the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and the Himalayas to finally reach British India in the winter of 1942. In 2006, BBC released a report based on former Soviet records, including "statements" allegedly written by Rawicz himself, showing that Rawicz had been released as part of the 1942 general amnesty of Poles in the USSR and subsequently transported across the Caspian Sea to a refugee camp in Iran and that his escape to India never occurred.
In May 2009, Witold Gliński, a Polish WWII veteran living in the UK, came forward to claim that the story of Rawicz was true, but was actually an account of what happened to him, not Rawicz. Gliński's claims have been questioned by various sources.
Soviet records confirm that Rawicz was a Polish soldier imprisoned in the USSR, but differ from The Long Walk in detail on the reasons for his arrest and the exact places of imprisonment. Polish Army records show that Rawicz left the USSR directly for Iran in 1942, which contradicts the book's storyline. Aside from matters concerning his health, his arrival in Palestine is verified by the records. The story of the escape to India comes from Rawicz himself. The BBC report does mention the account of Captain Rupert Mayne, an intelligence officer in Calcutta, who - years after the war - said that in 1942 he had debriefed three emaciated men claiming to have escaped from a Siberian Gulag camp.
Over the years, critics of the book's accuracy have included Peter Fleming (the brother of Ian Fleming), Eric Shipton and Hugh E. Richardson, a British diplomat stationed in Lhasa.[12]
In May 2009, Witold Gliński, a Polish WWII veteran living in the UK, came forward to claim that the story of Rawicz was true, but was actually an account of what happened to him, not Rawicz. Gliński's claims have been questioned by various sources.
Soviet records confirm that Rawicz was a Polish soldier imprisoned in the USSR, but differ from The Long Walk in detail on the reasons for his arrest and the exact places of imprisonment. Polish Army records show that Rawicz left the USSR directly for Iran in 1942, which contradicts the book's storyline. Aside from matters concerning his health, his arrival in Palestine is verified by the records. The story of the escape to India comes from Rawicz himself. The BBC report does mention the account of Captain Rupert Mayne, an intelligence officer in Calcutta, who - years after the war - said that in 1942 he had debriefed three emaciated men claiming to have escaped from a Siberian Gulag camp.
Over the years, critics of the book's accuracy have included Peter Fleming (the brother of Ian Fleming), Eric Shipton and Hugh E. Richardson, a British diplomat stationed in Lhasa.[12]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,631 reviews
July 2, 2008
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 truth in every written word of the Long Walk dooms the book to skepticism. The two most poignant examples of this are Rawicz and his companions crossing the Gobi desert without water for 13 days and sighting the yeti in the Himalayas. However, both of these events occurred when Rawicz was close to death due to extreme environmental conditions. Other sections of the book, such as the descriptions of the local people and their customs are so accurate it seems impossible a Polish immigrant living in England could have made up such details without experiencing them first hand.
Giving Rawicz some creative leeway, considering English was his third or fourth language and he wrote the book more than 15 years after the walk occurred, the events in the book take on a more believable tone.
You can find the complete article on the Polartech web site.
I certainly enjoyed reading the book whether or not it was a completely true re-telling of Rawicz's experiences or not.
The story was actually transcribed by Ronald Downing, a British reporter. I'm sure he took some creative liberties, especially in describing the Yeti encounter, due to his desire to find eye-witness accounts of just such meetings.
The story is exciting and moves along briskly. The prose is sparse but captures the emotion of these survivors very well. I recommend reading the book, if for no other reason, than to make up your own mind about the controversy surrounding its veracity.
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 truth in every written word of the Long Walk dooms the book to skepticism. The two most poignant examples of this are Rawicz and his companions crossing the Gobi desert without water for 13 days and sighting the yeti in the Himalayas. However, both of these events occurred when Rawicz was close to death due to extreme environmental conditions. Other sections of the book, such as the descriptions of the local people and their customs are so accurate it seems impossible a Polish immigrant living in England could have made up such details without experiencing them first hand.
Giving Rawicz some creative leeway, considering English was his third or fourth language and he wrote the book more than 15 years after the walk occurred, the events in the book take on a more believable tone.
You can find the complete article on the Polartech web site.
I certainly enjoyed reading the book whether or not it was a completely true re-telling of Rawicz's experiences or not.
The story was actually transcribed by Ronald Downing, a British reporter. I'm sure he took some creative liberties, especially in describing the Yeti encounter, due to his desire to find eye-witness accounts of just such meetings.
The story is exciting and moves along briskly. The prose is sparse but captures the emotion of these survivors very well. I recommend reading the book, if for no other reason, than to make up your own mind about the controversy surrounding its veracity.
October 7, 2014
When this novel was first published in 1956 it created a sensation. It claimed to be a memoir of a man, who with seven others, had escaped from a Siberian prison work camp in 1942 and managed to walk all the way to British India. The story was eagerly consumed by the cold war era public who were enamored by the tale of an escape from the evil empire of the Soviet Union. It was an incredible story of endurance that required walking across the Gobi Desert and over the Himalayan Mountains.
Research of Soviet records since the cold war has revealed that while it is true that the author had been a prisoner in Siberia in the early 1940s, he did not escape in the manner described in this book. Instead he was released as part of a 1942 general amnesty and subsequently transported across the Caspian Sea to a refugee camp in Iran. He did end up living in Britain and probably passed through India on the way there.
I'm surprised that anybody believed the story in the first place because of its many technical flaws. If the author had called the book a novel I would criticize for being unrealistic and in need of additional research into means of survival in the desert and mountains. Unfortunately, the author claimed it to be a true memoir of his experiences. I say unfortunate because it clearly makes him to be a liar.
If there is any possibility of truth in the story it may be that Slavomir Rawics stole the story from another person who actually walked such a journey. I think it's possible that prisoners from Siberia managed to escape to India, but I'm quite confident that they didn't do it by walking across the Gobi without equipment and a map. Their crossing of the Himalayas has similar problems. And the book's claim that they saw Abominable Snowman (i.e. The Yeti) establishes the fact beyond all doubt that the book is fiction, and fiction not very well done.
But the fact remains that the idea of escaping from Siberia to India is a heck of a story. The 2011 movie "The Way Back" is based on this book. Maybe the movie is more realistic, but I've not seen the movie so I can't judge it. The movie's popularity caused the book to be republished and consequently brought to my attention.
You can read more about the controversy regarding the authenticity of the book at this Wikipedia article.
The following review from PageADay's 2007 Book Lover's Calendar was how I first learned about the book:
BACK IN PRINT
Rawicz’s memoir is one of the most extraordinary and harrowing you will ever read. A young Polish officer in World War II, Rawicz was captured by Soviet forces and sent to a work camp in Siberia. In 1941 he and six fellow prisoners escaped and, with only an ax head and a makeshift knife, trekked thousands of miles through Siberian tundra, the Gobi desert, and over the Himalayas to freedom in British-occupied India. The New York Times calls Rawicz “a poet with steel in his soul” and Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) calls the book “one of the epic treks of the human race.”
THE LONG WALK: THE TRUE STORY OF A TREK TO FREEDOM, by Slavomir Rawicz (1956; The Lyons Press, 1997)
Research of Soviet records since the cold war has revealed that while it is true that the author had been a prisoner in Siberia in the early 1940s, he did not escape in the manner described in this book. Instead he was released as part of a 1942 general amnesty and subsequently transported across the Caspian Sea to a refugee camp in Iran. He did end up living in Britain and probably passed through India on the way there.
I'm surprised that anybody believed the story in the first place because of its many technical flaws. If the author had called the book a novel I would criticize for being unrealistic and in need of additional research into means of survival in the desert and mountains. Unfortunately, the author claimed it to be a true memoir of his experiences. I say unfortunate because it clearly makes him to be a liar.
If there is any possibility of truth in the story it may be that Slavomir Rawics stole the story from another person who actually walked such a journey. I think it's possible that prisoners from Siberia managed to escape to India, but I'm quite confident that they didn't do it by walking across the Gobi without equipment and a map. Their crossing of the Himalayas has similar problems. And the book's claim that they saw Abominable Snowman (i.e. The Yeti) establishes the fact beyond all doubt that the book is fiction, and fiction not very well done.
But the fact remains that the idea of escaping from Siberia to India is a heck of a story. The 2011 movie "The Way Back" is based on this book. Maybe the movie is more realistic, but I've not seen the movie so I can't judge it. The movie's popularity caused the book to be republished and consequently brought to my attention.
You can read more about the controversy regarding the authenticity of the book at this Wikipedia article.
The following review from PageADay's 2007 Book Lover's Calendar was how I first learned about the book:
BACK IN PRINT
Rawicz’s memoir is one of the most extraordinary and harrowing you will ever read. A young Polish officer in World War II, Rawicz was captured by Soviet forces and sent to a work camp in Siberia. In 1941 he and six fellow prisoners escaped and, with only an ax head and a makeshift knife, trekked thousands of miles through Siberian tundra, the Gobi desert, and over the Himalayas to freedom in British-occupied India. The New York Times calls Rawicz “a poet with steel in his soul” and Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) calls the book “one of the epic treks of the human race.”
THE LONG WALK: THE TRUE STORY OF A TREK TO FREEDOM, by Slavomir Rawicz (1956; The Lyons Press, 1997)
August 16, 2024
This is a great read, just a shame that it is not actually a true story!
For those unaware of the story, Rawicz claims that he was one of seven men who escaped from a Soviet prison camp in Siberia and travelled by foot over 4000 miles (6500km) through Siberia, Mongolia's Gobi Desert and Tibetan Himalaya into India, a journey taking eleven months. Records released by Russia show he was released as part of an amnesty and transported to the Caspian Sea and then a refugee centre in Iran. To muddy the waters more, in 2009 a Polish war veteran claims that the story is true, but it was he and not Rawicz who was the escapee.
Much has been called into question, and no records support the story have been discovered.
In terms of the story, it is a gripping story of superhuman endurance and great luck! There are so many occurrences that happen at very strategic points of their journey - usually just as they are at their utmost limits, some chance circumstance saves them - a couple of examples - they discover a stag with its antlers tangled in the roots of a tree, when they have been without food for a number of days; numerous times they come across people in remote locations - shepherds often, who generously provide food and shelter to the group.
The book starts with Rawicz in a holding prison in Moscow and a trial whereby he is found guilty of being a Polish spy and sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment. The first third of the book is the journey in poor conditions with thousands of other men on a train from Moscow to Irkutsk, then a 400 mile (650km) journey by foot north, towards the Arctic Circle to the prison camp, where the men are to labour.
Rawicz is relatively comfortable, having had some skills and been able to join a work group making skis for the Russian army. In this job he works indoors near a furnace and is given a far larger food allowance than general labourers. He is also able to fix and operate a radio for the commandant and his wife, and receives unlikely assistance from her in preparing for his escape.
The selection of the escape group was nerve wracking, the obvious risk being if someone turned them down they could also turn informer. Eventually the group is settled, and is made up on three Polish soldiers, a Lithuanian, a Latvian, and of all people, an American who had been living in Moscow working on the metro construction.
The story describes their preparations, then launches straight into their (fairly straight forward) escape and their superhuman journey as noted above.
Assessed as a work of fiction it is probably 3.5 stars - too many happy coincidences in my view.
Assessed if it were factual and a true story is would be amazing, and 5 stars.
As I grapple with the disbelief, and trust of the author being broken by, at the very least placing himself falsely in the story, and at worst concocting the entire story, I will settle at three stars.
For those unaware of the story, Rawicz claims that he was one of seven men who escaped from a Soviet prison camp in Siberia and travelled by foot over 4000 miles (6500km) through Siberia, Mongolia's Gobi Desert and Tibetan Himalaya into India, a journey taking eleven months. Records released by Russia show he was released as part of an amnesty and transported to the Caspian Sea and then a refugee centre in Iran. To muddy the waters more, in 2009 a Polish war veteran claims that the story is true, but it was he and not Rawicz who was the escapee.
Much has been called into question, and no records support the story have been discovered.
In terms of the story, it is a gripping story of superhuman endurance and great luck! There are so many occurrences that happen at very strategic points of their journey - usually just as they are at their utmost limits, some chance circumstance saves them - a couple of examples - they discover a stag with its antlers tangled in the roots of a tree, when they have been without food for a number of days; numerous times they come across people in remote locations - shepherds often, who generously provide food and shelter to the group.
The book starts with Rawicz in a holding prison in Moscow and a trial whereby he is found guilty of being a Polish spy and sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment. The first third of the book is the journey in poor conditions with thousands of other men on a train from Moscow to Irkutsk, then a 400 mile (650km) journey by foot north, towards the Arctic Circle to the prison camp, where the men are to labour.
Rawicz is relatively comfortable, having had some skills and been able to join a work group making skis for the Russian army. In this job he works indoors near a furnace and is given a far larger food allowance than general labourers. He is also able to fix and operate a radio for the commandant and his wife, and receives unlikely assistance from her in preparing for his escape.
The selection of the escape group was nerve wracking, the obvious risk being if someone turned them down they could also turn informer. Eventually the group is settled, and is made up on three Polish soldiers, a Lithuanian, a Latvian, and of all people, an American who had been living in Moscow working on the metro construction.
The story describes their preparations, then launches straight into their (fairly straight forward) escape and their superhuman journey as noted above.
Assessed as a work of fiction it is probably 3.5 stars - too many happy coincidences in my view.
Assessed if it were factual and a true story is would be amazing, and 5 stars.
As I grapple with the disbelief, and trust of the author being broken by, at the very least placing himself falsely in the story, and at worst concocting the entire story, I will settle at three stars.
September 7, 2024
Controversy surrounds this memoir/adventure story in that the author may have fabricated much of what is depicted in this book. Regardless, it's quite a tale and is very interesting.
Seven escapees from a Siberian labor camp make their way to freedom across harsh conditions to British India during the early stages of WWII.
Whether completely true or not, it's still a good read.
Seven escapees from a Siberian labor camp make their way to freedom across harsh conditions to British India during the early stages of WWII.
Whether completely true or not, it's still a good read.
February 24, 2008
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 that prison possess possibilities for torture that normal humans can barely comprehend. I have no doubt that if Slavomir had been a prisoner of war in Siberia (records indicate he was) then he most likely experienced what he claims on the way to camp 303. As for his escape, I also know many Mongols, and they are as kind as he describes.
All in all, an excellent read, fiction or fact. I recommend it to all.
All in all, an excellent read, fiction or fact. I recommend it to all.
July 31, 2011
I'm not going to get all wrapped up in whether or not this account is true as the book claims. It's a remarkable story regardless, much like the book I just read, Das Boot: The Boat, was a remarkable story and may have some kernels of truth from the author's real life. The story itself is good and empowering, and that's all that really matters to me.
That's a lot of walking, even for fictional characters.
That's a lot of walking, even for fictional characters.
January 1, 2009
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...
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...
May 14, 2015
Tragic and difficult but also hypnotic.
The reader may question the complete veracity of the account and and may be somewhat disappointed to learn of the amount of criticism and doubt surrounding his story. Essentially, a group of political prisoners in a Soviet prison in Siberia literally walk out of captivity. The idea is that an escaped prisoner will die in the bitter cold and unforgiving wilderness of eastern Asia. The group walks across Siberia and into the Gobi desert and then to the Himalayas. Di they really see a Yeti?
A very interesting book.
The reader may question the complete veracity of the account and and may be somewhat disappointed to learn of the amount of criticism and doubt surrounding his story. Essentially, a group of political prisoners in a Soviet prison in Siberia literally walk out of captivity. The idea is that an escaped prisoner will die in the bitter cold and unforgiving wilderness of eastern Asia. The group walks across Siberia and into the Gobi desert and then to the Himalayas. Di they really see a Yeti?
A very interesting book.
June 13, 2022
Taking it as complete truth is a bit hard, but this book is a wonderful story of the human desire for freedom, of resilience, companionship and fortitude.
August 13, 2011
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.
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.
April 8, 2018
At first it was very hard to read about the torture that he went through, but when they all decided to escape I was all ears and couldn't put the book down. This was truly a wonderful book.
February 15, 2021
A grueling, thrilling story of imprisonment, escape and survival, I was surprised to see that this book came out way back in 1956 - I thought it was much more recent, having only been turned into (or "served as the inspiration for") the Peter Weir film "The Way Back" in 2011. But in fact, this was one of the first books to expose the horrors of the Russian gulag system, published eight years before Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's more famous One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
The first section of Rawicz's trial and transport across Siberia is harrowing enough, but then his escape and epic trek from just south of the Arctic Circle across the Gobi desert, Tibet and finally the Himalayas -
- is truly the stuff of legend, and an amazing testament to the human spirit....
...if only it were true.
There has always been a suspicious lack of evidence supporting Rawicz's story, as well as questions about how he could go through such an intense bonding experience only to immediately lose touch with his fellow few survivors, (no one else was ever able to find them either). And so as Weir began researching his film, the long-simmering if low-key controversy surrounding Rawicz's book became the focus of a full-on BBC investigation, which ultimately led to the sad conclusion the Rawicz most likely did not make the famous "long walk" after all.
But that didn't mean that no one else did. Because around 2009, another Polish veteran, Witold Gliński, came forward to claim that it was he who had made the journey, and that his story had been "appropriated" by Rawicz and his co-author Ronald Downing. Of course, this story was then challenged by one Leszek Glinieckim, who claimed not only to have been a classmate of Gliński's during the period in question, but to have documentary evidence to prove it...
And so the question remains even today: did Rawicz or Gliński or anyway in fact make this epic journey? The Long Walk certainly rings true when you read it, but is it the recollection of an actual participant or someone else who had heard the story in vivid detail? Sadly, 80 years on we'll probably never know the true story, despite more recent attempts such as Linda Willis' inconclusive 2010 investigation, Looking for Mr. Smith: Seeking the Truth Behind The Long Walk, the Greatest Survival Story Ever Told. But fact or fiction - it's still a helluva story, (4.5 stars if it were only true; but just 3 here based on its doubtful authenticity), and a darned good movie.*
You can read a summary of the BBC story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-11900920,
as well as details of Rawicz's life here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%82....
And you can read about Gliński's claims here: https://www.polishnews.com/the-greate...,
as well as Glinieckim's debunking of that story here: https://www.explorersweb.com/trek/new...
* Just rewatched it and it really is a helluva movie, with great performances from Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Jim Sturgess and Mark Strong. Peter Weir hasn't made anything since this, so at ten years and counting this could be his last film...and while probably not his greatest, still a strong enough finish to an outstanding career.
The first section of Rawicz's trial and transport across Siberia is harrowing enough, but then his escape and epic trek from just south of the Arctic Circle across the Gobi desert, Tibet and finally the Himalayas -
- is truly the stuff of legend, and an amazing testament to the human spirit....
...if only it were true.
There has always been a suspicious lack of evidence supporting Rawicz's story, as well as questions about how he could go through such an intense bonding experience only to immediately lose touch with his fellow few survivors, (no one else was ever able to find them either). And so as Weir began researching his film, the long-simmering if low-key controversy surrounding Rawicz's book became the focus of a full-on BBC investigation, which ultimately led to the sad conclusion the Rawicz most likely did not make the famous "long walk" after all.
But that didn't mean that no one else did. Because around 2009, another Polish veteran, Witold Gliński, came forward to claim that it was he who had made the journey, and that his story had been "appropriated" by Rawicz and his co-author Ronald Downing. Of course, this story was then challenged by one Leszek Glinieckim, who claimed not only to have been a classmate of Gliński's during the period in question, but to have documentary evidence to prove it...
And so the question remains even today: did Rawicz or Gliński or anyway in fact make this epic journey? The Long Walk certainly rings true when you read it, but is it the recollection of an actual participant or someone else who had heard the story in vivid detail? Sadly, 80 years on we'll probably never know the true story, despite more recent attempts such as Linda Willis' inconclusive 2010 investigation, Looking for Mr. Smith: Seeking the Truth Behind The Long Walk, the Greatest Survival Story Ever Told. But fact or fiction - it's still a helluva story, (4.5 stars if it were only true; but just 3 here based on its doubtful authenticity), and a darned good movie.*
You can read a summary of the BBC story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-11900920,
as well as details of Rawicz's life here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%82....
And you can read about Gliński's claims here: https://www.polishnews.com/the-greate...,
as well as Glinieckim's debunking of that story here: https://www.explorersweb.com/trek/new...
* Just rewatched it and it really is a helluva movie, with great performances from Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan, Jim Sturgess and Mark Strong. Peter Weir hasn't made anything since this, so at ten years and counting this could be his last film...and while probably not his greatest, still a strong enough finish to an outstanding career.
July 19, 2025
I really want to say - just read it for god sake. However if you are anything like me that will simply put you off :) so...
The story of a Polish officer, caught be the Russians and after extremes of torture, is sentenced to 25 years hard labour in Siberia. Simply getting there would probably kill most of us these days however once there he decides to escape. Having decided that east or west will simply lead to them being recaptured, he and a small bunch of companions head south, through Siberia, through the Gobi desert, through Tibet and across the Himalaya to India. It is heart rending and heart warning and one hell of a read - it left me feeling very humble.
The story of a Polish officer, caught be the Russians and after extremes of torture, is sentenced to 25 years hard labour in Siberia. Simply getting there would probably kill most of us these days however once there he decides to escape. Having decided that east or west will simply lead to them being recaptured, he and a small bunch of companions head south, through Siberia, through the Gobi desert, through Tibet and across the Himalaya to India. It is heart rending and heart warning and one hell of a read - it left me feeling very humble.
February 19, 2019
InCREDible adventure story. Unbelievable what people are physically able to endure and survive. Just riveting.
This man, and others, walked, after escaping from a work camp in Siberia, through Mongolia (desert), oh, and then OVER the Himalayas. Walked. Several of them died.
This man, and others, walked, after escaping from a work camp in Siberia, through Mongolia (desert), oh, and then OVER the Himalayas. Walked. Several of them died.
May 24, 2019
Que grande história! Que grande aventura! Que grande coragem!
Gostei muito deste "Rumo à Liberdade" e, uma vez iniciada a fuga, dei comigo a "vivê-la" intensamente e a torcer para que a mesma terminasse bem.
Há quem duvide da veracidade desta história, mas a verdade é que só quem a escreveu é que sabe efectivamente se algo se passou de facto, o que se passou e como se passou. Algum fundo de verdade haverá sempre. Por outro lado, em ficção (e esteve livro não se encontra catalogado como tal), muito do que se conta e inventa tem como base algo que se conhece ou que se viveu directa ou indirectamente na realidade.
O homem só sabe verdadeiramente aquilo de que é capaz quando posto à prova e quando sabe que desistir, ao invés de persistir e lutar, significa colocar em causa a sua sobrevivência e... pode significar morrer. É perante o desconhecido da vida que brota, no meu entender, a verdadeira coragem. Neste caso, arriscar uma fuga para a liberdade poderia também ser sinónimo de uma ameaça à sobrevivência não só fruto da potencial ameaça humana (ser outra vez "apanhado" pelos russos), como também da ameaça natural decorrente de condições geográficas especialmente exigentes neste espaço da Terra (da Sibéria à Mongólia terminando nos Himalaias). E, assim sendo, entre poder morrer preso e poder morrer em fuga pela liberdade, Rawicz optou pela última possibilidade e tentou a sua sorte...
Gosto de livros que me inquietam e que me deixam a pensar... Este foi um deles. Desde há uma semana (quando terminei de o ler) que ando a interrogar-me até que ponto a ideia de liberdade não poderá ser em si mesma uma prisão? Até que ponto não se é mais livre preso do que nessa busca, por vezes sedenta e faminta, pela liberdade? Essa perseguição pela liberdade é um esforço de sobrevivência (a vida em "prisão" acaba também por sê-lo, mas sob outras condições)... E a sobrevivência, quando em condições adversas (humanas e geográficas), pode chegar mesmo a ser uma pesada prisão de risco mortal (?!). Tudo se pode perder ali... Numa má escolha, na falta de sorte... Ao mesmo tempo, não será a liberdade uma espécie de ave em relação à qual corremos, corremos e corremos atrás sem nunca a conseguir "agarrar", conquistar? Não será o desejo de liberdade uma insatisfação permanente?!
Volto ao principio: Que grande história! Que grande aventura! Que grande coragem! E acrescento: que grande livro!
Gostei muito deste "Rumo à Liberdade" e, uma vez iniciada a fuga, dei comigo a "vivê-la" intensamente e a torcer para que a mesma terminasse bem.
Há quem duvide da veracidade desta história, mas a verdade é que só quem a escreveu é que sabe efectivamente se algo se passou de facto, o que se passou e como se passou. Algum fundo de verdade haverá sempre. Por outro lado, em ficção (e esteve livro não se encontra catalogado como tal), muito do que se conta e inventa tem como base algo que se conhece ou que se viveu directa ou indirectamente na realidade.
O homem só sabe verdadeiramente aquilo de que é capaz quando posto à prova e quando sabe que desistir, ao invés de persistir e lutar, significa colocar em causa a sua sobrevivência e... pode significar morrer. É perante o desconhecido da vida que brota, no meu entender, a verdadeira coragem. Neste caso, arriscar uma fuga para a liberdade poderia também ser sinónimo de uma ameaça à sobrevivência não só fruto da potencial ameaça humana (ser outra vez "apanhado" pelos russos), como também da ameaça natural decorrente de condições geográficas especialmente exigentes neste espaço da Terra (da Sibéria à Mongólia terminando nos Himalaias). E, assim sendo, entre poder morrer preso e poder morrer em fuga pela liberdade, Rawicz optou pela última possibilidade e tentou a sua sorte...
Gosto de livros que me inquietam e que me deixam a pensar... Este foi um deles. Desde há uma semana (quando terminei de o ler) que ando a interrogar-me até que ponto a ideia de liberdade não poderá ser em si mesma uma prisão? Até que ponto não se é mais livre preso do que nessa busca, por vezes sedenta e faminta, pela liberdade? Essa perseguição pela liberdade é um esforço de sobrevivência (a vida em "prisão" acaba também por sê-lo, mas sob outras condições)... E a sobrevivência, quando em condições adversas (humanas e geográficas), pode chegar mesmo a ser uma pesada prisão de risco mortal (?!). Tudo se pode perder ali... Numa má escolha, na falta de sorte... Ao mesmo tempo, não será a liberdade uma espécie de ave em relação à qual corremos, corremos e corremos atrás sem nunca a conseguir "agarrar", conquistar? Não será o desejo de liberdade uma insatisfação permanente?!
Volto ao principio: Que grande história! Que grande aventura! Que grande coragem! E acrescento: que grande livro!
October 20, 2007
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 improbability all along,especially the part about observing a Yeti couple! Subsequent investigation shows the book is a fraud. None of the events can be substantiated. He claims to have convalesced in a British military hospital in India for a month, but there is no such record. He claims to have trained with the Polish contingent of the RAF, but there is no record of that. Russian records show no camp 303; they show Rawicz was a prisoner of war, but was pardoned in 1942 and sent to a refugee camp in Iran. So there you go.
June 20, 2010
Amazing true account of courage and determination. 4.5 stars.
This group of men escaped from a Siberian prison camp in 1941 and spent a year making their way to safety in India. They crossed very harsh terrain including the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas. Sadly, not all of them survived the journey.
Most interesting were the locals they met along the way, especially the Mongolians and Tibetans.
Very well edited and not too long. Reads like a novel.
This group of men escaped from a Siberian prison camp in 1941 and spent a year making their way to safety in India. They crossed very harsh terrain including the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas. Sadly, not all of them survived the journey.
Most interesting were the locals they met along the way, especially the Mongolians and Tibetans.
Very well edited and not too long. Reads like a novel.
July 5, 2019
This is an autobiography/biography of a Polish man who was arrested in Russia during WWII. He was accused of being a spy and given 25 years to be served in a prison in northern Russia. There is a cloud of controversy swirling around this book about whether this actually happened or not of if it is the true story of someone else who wasn't the author. Knowing this didn't really change my enjoyment of this book. It was really quite the story and would make a great movie. So 4 stars.
November 21, 2022
Apbrīnojami! Kā cilvēks var kam tādam iet cauri un izturēt? Visu cieņu! Kopā piedzīvotais šos cilvēkus saistīs līdz dzīves beigām un tas ir kas nesaraujams.
Filmu gan negribu skatīties, šis viss ir smagi. Bet uzrakstīts viegli, intersanti, lasīt aizraujoši. Es saprotu, ka mēs neapzinamies savas cilvēciskās varēšanas, bet vienmēr, lasot ko šādu par karu, izsūtījumiem vai holokaustu, apbrīnoju, cik ļoti cilvēks ir spēcīgs!
Filmu gan negribu skatīties, šis viss ir smagi. Bet uzrakstīts viegli, intersanti, lasīt aizraujoši. Es saprotu, ka mēs neapzinamies savas cilvēciskās varēšanas, bet vienmēr, lasot ko šādu par karu, izsūtījumiem vai holokaustu, apbrīnoju, cik ļoti cilvēks ir spēcīgs!
June 6, 2023
ರಷ್ಯಾದಿಂದ ತಪ್ಪಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ನಿರಪರಾಧಿಗಳ ತಂಡವೊಂದು ಕಾಲ್ನಡಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಕ್ರಮಿಸಿ ಸುರಕ್ಷಿತ ಸ್ಥಳಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರಯಾಣ ಬೆಳೆಸುವ ಕಥೆ. ತೇಜಸ್ವಿ ಒಬ್ಬ ಸಮರ್ಥ ಅನುವಾದಕ ಅನ್ನುವುದು ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಓದಿದಾಗ ತಿಳಿಯುತ್ತದೆ.
January 5, 2020
After discovering this story is NOT true as written, i.e., that the author, Sławomir Rawicz, although indeed a prisoner of a Siberian Soviet prisoner camp, did not escape from one, was instead released, I could not quite enjoy this story in the same way I did the first time I heard it in 2003. But then I suspect this second experience of The Long Walk would have been different even if I had not made that discovery, as I am now 17 years older.
It is still a fascinating journey and apparently based on stories recounted to Rawitz by individuals who did make the treacherous trek. So, what part is fact, and what part fiction? Does it matter? Yes, I suppose if you are a historian.
For me, I enjoyed the story as a story and found so much else of value that the literal veracity of the book, after a time, did not bother me so much. One such example, which was also my favorite part of the whole book, were the stories of the extreme kindness of the Mongolian and Tibetan people.
Their unwavering hospitality, open-handed generosity, and unquestioning politeness made me so happy, and yet a little sad also. Time after time, the escaped sojourners encountered people who were more welcoming than staff at one of our own 4-star hotels. Though these native residents often lived at a day-to-day existence level, they shared freely with these unknown—to them—and scraggly beggars who appeared out of nowhere with the unbelievable story that they were coming from the extreme north and traveling all the way to the south. They smiled, were happy to have visitors, didn’t mind their terrible dirtiness, lice, smell and overwhelming need. They responded to it as if it was the best thing which had happened to them in a long time! Wow!
Although there was harshness in the beginning of the book at the prison camp and the overall journey was a terrible ordeal, the people Rawicz met along the way, as well as those he traveled with—or anyway, those he describes—are unforgettable. A very worthwhile read.
Was so disappointed to discover that this story is not true, well, parts of it are, or there is truth in it, but it is not a true account as written. There have been escapes and successful treks to freedom but not by Sławomir Rawicz and not exactly as recounted herein. He is apparently claiming someone else's adventures. Read here: How The Long Walk became The Way Back. Still going to finish it again, but won't enjoy it so much. Guess I have to tell my dear husband and spoil for him too. 😪
It is still a fascinating journey and apparently based on stories recounted to Rawitz by individuals who did make the treacherous trek. So, what part is fact, and what part fiction? Does it matter? Yes, I suppose if you are a historian.
For me, I enjoyed the story as a story and found so much else of value that the literal veracity of the book, after a time, did not bother me so much. One such example, which was also my favorite part of the whole book, were the stories of the extreme kindness of the Mongolian and Tibetan people.
Their unwavering hospitality, open-handed generosity, and unquestioning politeness made me so happy, and yet a little sad also. Time after time, the escaped sojourners encountered people who were more welcoming than staff at one of our own 4-star hotels. Though these native residents often lived at a day-to-day existence level, they shared freely with these unknown—to them—and scraggly beggars who appeared out of nowhere with the unbelievable story that they were coming from the extreme north and traveling all the way to the south. They smiled, were happy to have visitors, didn’t mind their terrible dirtiness, lice, smell and overwhelming need. They responded to it as if it was the best thing which had happened to them in a long time! Wow!
Although there was harshness in the beginning of the book at the prison camp and the overall journey was a terrible ordeal, the people Rawicz met along the way, as well as those he traveled with—or anyway, those he describes—are unforgettable. A very worthwhile read.
Was so disappointed to discover that this story is not true, well, parts of it are, or there is truth in it, but it is not a true account as written. There have been escapes and successful treks to freedom but not by Sławomir Rawicz and not exactly as recounted herein. He is apparently claiming someone else's adventures. Read here: How The Long Walk became The Way Back. Still going to finish it again, but won't enjoy it so much. Guess I have to tell my dear husband and spoil for him too. 😪
October 30, 2024
Doamne ferește! Atât. Mi-e imposibil să-mi imaginez pe viu aceste ‘aventuri’.
April 8, 2014
Perhaps I’ve been missing references to this book and gulags for years, but now I see them everywhere. The night after I finished this book, I laughed uproariously to find this book (and its movie) being referenced in the new Muppets movie. I think I was the only person in the theater who got the joke when the actress that played Christina in the movie started doing ballet against scene cuts of Muppets treacherously traversing snowy mountains and hot deserts to get to Kermit the Frog in his Siberian gulag. Or maybe I’m the last person to have seen the movie and read the book and the pop culture aspect of it is old news.
I remember my International Relations professor referencing Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and his writings about the Russian gulags (Russian forced labor prison camps), but it was only a vague reference without much background. Somehow I missed that Stalin began placing people in gulags in 1930 and had already imprisoned 1.5 million inmates in gulags by the beginning of World War II with numbers rising as high as 2.5 million inmates in the 1950s. The majority of these camps were located in Siberia. And it’s the journey to and the escape from one of these Siberian gulags to India (by way of the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and the Himalayas) that is the subject of this book.
The history of this book is a convoluted one. The tale within the book occurs from 1941-1942 and was originally ghost written for the author in 1955. A few years ago, it came out that it was impossible for this to have been the true story of the author since he was released from the gulag in 1942 to a refugee camp in Iran rather than escaping to India in 1941. Another man, Witold Gliński, then claimed that the story was true, but that it had happened to him instead.
Regardless of what is true and what is not, it’s a fascinating story of survival and perseverance. The movie and book became instant favorites of mine. I think that, more than anything, I was amazed that the U.S. allied with Russia in World War II when Stalin was very much still reigning terror down upon those whom he saw as a threat to his rule and spread of communism. It was a selfish alliance in some ways, but a wise alliance in others. But what was happening in Russia during World War II (and afterward) isn’t depicted in movies and literature nearly as much as the horrors of Hitler. In toll of lives, Stalin was directly or indirectly responsible for far more than Hitler. Still, I suppose it could have been worse.
I watched the movie version of this book (“The Way Back”) first, and it left out the horrifying fact that a large part of the journey of Russia’s political prisoners to Siberia was done on foot. Prisoners were chained together poorly dressed for the cold weather and made to walk 1000 miles or more with only bread and water to sustain them. Many died along the way. One thing that struck me in the book was the author’s observation that a decade in age made a huge difference in how well a man was able to endure and survive the journey and the work expected up them upon arrival. I suppose that if you’ve already endured and survived a 1000-mile trek, you’re more apt to think that a 4000-mile escape route from Siberia to India might not be impossible.
Once the prisoners escaped into the wilderness, I found it odd that they never found a way of carrying water with them. They could have hollowed out a tree trunk, used the bladder of the deer they killed, rummaged in the garbage of villages they passed for some sort of vessel, etc. But they never had more than a mug between them for cooking or carrying water. At the point that they realized they were wandering into a desert, surely they would have realized their need for a way to carry water. It’s amazing how often they went forward on their journey with simply the hope that they’d eventually encounter food and water if they kept going. I suppose that you do what you have to do. I’m still amazed that more of them didn’t die in the desert with only the occasional mud puddle and snake to sustain them. And I’m amazed, too, that they managed to get to India without a map. I’m thinking about how difficult it would be for me to attempt a similarly lengthy journey from here to Alaska on foot with nothing but a general directional idea and no map. Christopher McCandless’ version of that journey was harsh enough in Into the Wild. Luckily, poor peasants are far more accepting of a ragamuffin group of travelers than your average city dweller. If you saw a band of half-starved dirty travelers walking down your street, you'd be more likely to lock your doors than kill a lamb to feed them.
Whether this story was completely, partially, or not at non-fiction, it still stands as a grand tale. I highly recommend it to those interested in history and tales of survival.
I remember my International Relations professor referencing Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and his writings about the Russian gulags (Russian forced labor prison camps), but it was only a vague reference without much background. Somehow I missed that Stalin began placing people in gulags in 1930 and had already imprisoned 1.5 million inmates in gulags by the beginning of World War II with numbers rising as high as 2.5 million inmates in the 1950s. The majority of these camps were located in Siberia. And it’s the journey to and the escape from one of these Siberian gulags to India (by way of the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and the Himalayas) that is the subject of this book.
The history of this book is a convoluted one. The tale within the book occurs from 1941-1942 and was originally ghost written for the author in 1955. A few years ago, it came out that it was impossible for this to have been the true story of the author since he was released from the gulag in 1942 to a refugee camp in Iran rather than escaping to India in 1941. Another man, Witold Gliński, then claimed that the story was true, but that it had happened to him instead.
Regardless of what is true and what is not, it’s a fascinating story of survival and perseverance. The movie and book became instant favorites of mine. I think that, more than anything, I was amazed that the U.S. allied with Russia in World War II when Stalin was very much still reigning terror down upon those whom he saw as a threat to his rule and spread of communism. It was a selfish alliance in some ways, but a wise alliance in others. But what was happening in Russia during World War II (and afterward) isn’t depicted in movies and literature nearly as much as the horrors of Hitler. In toll of lives, Stalin was directly or indirectly responsible for far more than Hitler. Still, I suppose it could have been worse.
I watched the movie version of this book (“The Way Back”) first, and it left out the horrifying fact that a large part of the journey of Russia’s political prisoners to Siberia was done on foot. Prisoners were chained together poorly dressed for the cold weather and made to walk 1000 miles or more with only bread and water to sustain them. Many died along the way. One thing that struck me in the book was the author’s observation that a decade in age made a huge difference in how well a man was able to endure and survive the journey and the work expected up them upon arrival. I suppose that if you’ve already endured and survived a 1000-mile trek, you’re more apt to think that a 4000-mile escape route from Siberia to India might not be impossible.
Once the prisoners escaped into the wilderness, I found it odd that they never found a way of carrying water with them. They could have hollowed out a tree trunk, used the bladder of the deer they killed, rummaged in the garbage of villages they passed for some sort of vessel, etc. But they never had more than a mug between them for cooking or carrying water. At the point that they realized they were wandering into a desert, surely they would have realized their need for a way to carry water. It’s amazing how often they went forward on their journey with simply the hope that they’d eventually encounter food and water if they kept going. I suppose that you do what you have to do. I’m still amazed that more of them didn’t die in the desert with only the occasional mud puddle and snake to sustain them. And I’m amazed, too, that they managed to get to India without a map. I’m thinking about how difficult it would be for me to attempt a similarly lengthy journey from here to Alaska on foot with nothing but a general directional idea and no map. Christopher McCandless’ version of that journey was harsh enough in Into the Wild. Luckily, poor peasants are far more accepting of a ragamuffin group of travelers than your average city dweller. If you saw a band of half-starved dirty travelers walking down your street, you'd be more likely to lock your doors than kill a lamb to feed them.
Whether this story was completely, partially, or not at non-fiction, it still stands as a grand tale. I highly recommend it to those interested in history and tales of survival.
April 2, 2008
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 the Himalayas. Took them over a year, and some died along the way, but 4 made it all the way.
We've all heard of incredible survival stories, but you have never read a story like this. A detailed account of an entire year, highlighting the day-to-day challenges of survival. The amazing strokes of luck that saved their lives, like the generosity of the peoples they came across in Mongolia and Tibet, people who fed them along the way. It is truly amazing how the human body survived the ordeal, and even more impressively, how they managed to keep their integrity, their spirits, and humanity in tact.
Author is very factual, almost dry and understated, which I think, is how he survived. Still rich in detail and captures the pain and suffering without wallowing in it. Have to move on, as do the words and chapters... like the travelers, you don't want to stop moving once you get going (start reading).
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 the Himalayas. Took them over a year, and some died along the way, but 4 made it all the way.
We've all heard of incredible survival stories, but you have never read a story like this. A detailed account of an entire year, highlighting the day-to-day challenges of survival. The amazing strokes of luck that saved their lives, like the generosity of the peoples they came across in Mongolia and Tibet, people who fed them along the way. It is truly amazing how the human body survived the ordeal, and even more impressively, how they managed to keep their integrity, their spirits, and humanity in tact.
Author is very factual, almost dry and understated, which I think, is how he survived. Still rich in detail and captures the pain and suffering without wallowing in it. Have to move on, as do the words and chapters... like the travelers, you don't want to stop moving once you get going (start reading).
January 20, 2011
In 1941, the author and six other prisoners escaped from a Siberian labor camp, and marched on foot across Siberia, Tibet, the Himalayas, and the Gobi Desert to reach India and freedom. An unforgettable true story of hardship and suffering and the extent people will go to survive. It's an amazing story.
October 9, 2016
Una increíble novela de aventura y superación que tiene el aliciente extra de estar basada en hechos reales, lo que te permite conocer parte de la negra historia de los campos de concentración rusos. Muy bien escrita y con un ritmo que te lleva de página en página hasta el final.
August 18, 2024
Truly amazing survival story. It is almost superhuman what these people had to go through to escape to freedom. It is a testament to human resilience and the power of friendship and common humanity, but also of the undeniable dark side of those who, for some reason, punish and torture the innocent for sadistic reasons or in order to secure their comfortable place in a totalitarian regime.
A friend on Goodreads did some research on the book and found it to be of questionable authenticity. I am inclined to believe it is apocryphal. You just can’t walk for that long without food or water. I am therefore taking away a star from my original rating.
A friend on Goodreads did some research on the book and found it to be of questionable authenticity. I am inclined to believe it is apocryphal. You just can’t walk for that long without food or water. I am therefore taking away a star from my original rating.
July 14, 2010
OK, here is my gut feeling. I do not know if all of this is true. Right smack in the beginning sections just did not seem believable. Once I started thinking this way my feelings toward the book were wrecked. If there is one inconsistency, do you believe the rest? I will list some of the points that I found quite unbelievable. I must add, that for none of these points can I prove I am right. That there is ALWAYS a good explanation for each peculiar instance is almost another complaint. Everything is so fullproof, that it doesn't ring true. I am a born sceptic......
1. First of all, why are there no notes that document these experiences. To believe this I need the notes.
2. Seven men escape from a gulag in Siberia just south of Yakutsk. The seven men manage to get themselves all placed in the same building, a building located near their escape route. How did they pull this off? Other men were sleeping in the barracks and none of the others awoke. Is this believable? I certainly hear when someone gets up or even moves in my bedroom. I know. I know. These men were exhausted, but still I find it strange. Furthermore the author, the instigator of the escape plan, is aided by the wife of the commanding officer of the gulag...... I mean give me a break. Everything is explained so well, that I do not believe it. Real life has hitches.
2. When they escape they are never chased. Nothing.
3. They manage to survive the Siberian cold and get through the Govi desert. Three of the seven do die.
4. Along the way they are joined by a woman. She does die in the desert. But the whole thing is kind of "cute".
5. Then the final bit is just too much....... They meet the, not one but two, Abominable Snowmen. The way it is described is just too much. They are drawn up as couple. When the group departs the text reads:
"We pushed off around the rock and directly away from them. I looked back and the pair were standing still, arms swing slightly, as though listening intently."
I don't have the energy to quote more.
On the other hand, if this book is true I feel like a total creep. There are elements that seem to bring forth a romanticism to sell the book. There is a huge bear playing music on a tree trunk. OK, bears do play. Do you see what I mean? There is always an explanation. In the end I feel uncomfortable. Is the book true? I belive parts are true. I believe the description of the prisons and the torture procedures - they rang true. Oh yes, at one point the author is punched in the face and all his teeth on that side fall out. Then the guy beating him says to head is off balance. He slugs the other side, and those teeth fall out too. However later in the book, it is mentioned that one of the group has trouble eating their rough food because he has no teeth. The author never has this problem. But I thought his teeth were punched out. They clattered on the floor!
What I did like was the description of the people in Tibet. You got close to these people and saw a glimpse of their lifestyle. There were also two excellent maps. The writing style is just factual, neither exceptionaly bad nor good.
I fthis is true I feel terrible. The author has raised money talking about his experiences. This money has gone toward helping orphans in Poland. Knowing this, I do feel a bit uncomfortable criticizing the book. I have to tell you how I see it.
1. First of all, why are there no notes that document these experiences. To believe this I need the notes.
2. Seven men escape from a gulag in Siberia just south of Yakutsk. The seven men manage to get themselves all placed in the same building, a building located near their escape route. How did they pull this off? Other men were sleeping in the barracks and none of the others awoke. Is this believable? I certainly hear when someone gets up or even moves in my bedroom. I know. I know. These men were exhausted, but still I find it strange. Furthermore the author, the instigator of the escape plan, is aided by the wife of the commanding officer of the gulag...... I mean give me a break. Everything is explained so well, that I do not believe it. Real life has hitches.
2. When they escape they are never chased. Nothing.
3. They manage to survive the Siberian cold and get through the Govi desert. Three of the seven do die.
4. Along the way they are joined by a woman. She does die in the desert. But the whole thing is kind of "cute".
5. Then the final bit is just too much....... They meet the, not one but two, Abominable Snowmen. The way it is described is just too much. They are drawn up as couple. When the group departs the text reads:
"We pushed off around the rock and directly away from them. I looked back and the pair were standing still, arms swing slightly, as though listening intently."
I don't have the energy to quote more.
On the other hand, if this book is true I feel like a total creep. There are elements that seem to bring forth a romanticism to sell the book. There is a huge bear playing music on a tree trunk. OK, bears do play. Do you see what I mean? There is always an explanation. In the end I feel uncomfortable. Is the book true? I belive parts are true. I believe the description of the prisons and the torture procedures - they rang true. Oh yes, at one point the author is punched in the face and all his teeth on that side fall out. Then the guy beating him says to head is off balance. He slugs the other side, and those teeth fall out too. However later in the book, it is mentioned that one of the group has trouble eating their rough food because he has no teeth. The author never has this problem. But I thought his teeth were punched out. They clattered on the floor!
What I did like was the description of the people in Tibet. You got close to these people and saw a glimpse of their lifestyle. There were also two excellent maps. The writing style is just factual, neither exceptionaly bad nor good.
I fthis is true I feel terrible. The author has raised money talking about his experiences. This money has gone toward helping orphans in Poland. Knowing this, I do feel a bit uncomfortable criticizing the book. I have to tell you how I see it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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November 17, 2009This 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.
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