Customer Reviews

Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Survival

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Jungle has Yossi, an Israeli, hooking up with two companions and a guide to experience the jungles of South America. The tale of their survival, particularly Yossi's survival when he becomes lost, is captivating and difficult to put down. The backdrop of human nature adds an emotional element to the story.

It was survival of the fittest, and in this situation, the weakest link became despised. The disappointing factor is that at the time when Kevin and Yossi began to despise Marcus, the journey's difficulty seemed minor.

After the emotional abuse, I found it difficult to care for the author's plight. One can only imagine the suffering and confusion that Marcus felt at the betrayal of his friends during a painful and difficult journey. It must have been painful for Yossi to tell his story honestly.

The book would have benefited from photos, even if they were not photos of the actual journey but of the return trip or group shots before the journey.

ADDED:
I originally gave this book only 3 stars but I've changed it to 5 stars. After all, it was very engrossing, well-written and, above all, honest. At the time I wrote the original review, Yossi's treatment of their companion caused me to deduct 2 stars. However, non-fiction books should not be reviewed based upon whether the reader likes the turn the story takes, right? Life isn't a Hollywood script.

There is rarely a true survival story with great twists and unbelievable coincidences, so I was quite surprised by this book. The story is of four unrelated men, that meet each other in South America and decide to go trekking through the jungle together. They get separated and some barely make it out, and some don't. The author's amazing survival is matched by the coincidences in his journey as well as twists in the plot all the way to the end (which I won't give away here). Because of this, you realize, by the end, that every detail the author gave you was important. He also tells the story very honestly, often willing to show himself in a bad light. This helps make what is already a great book even greater.

One of my favorite genres of books is true-life survival tales. After deliberately searching for a new read, I found "Jungle". Jungle is the story of a young Isreali backpacker who falls in with a Swiss guy, a German guide and an American who decide to go on an adventure through the Bolivia. At one point, the group becomes separated and the story follows the Isreali as he struggles to survive in the rainy season in the Bolivian jungle.

The book is very interesting - you get glimpses of life as a backpacker/tourist floating through South America, a look at rural life in Bolivia, and raw survival from the narrator. I couldn't put the book down. It is a little gruesome/graphic at points, so all readers may not be tempted, but an overall great read.

Other great survival tales I have enjoyed include:

1. The Long Walk (by Slavomir Rawicz) - bordering on fiction - Polish prisoner breaks out of Siberian prison camp with a team after World War II

2. We Die Alone (by David Howarth) - American soldier flees across occupied Norway in World War II

3. Adrift (by Steven Callahan) - Sailor survives in life raft for over 2 months.

4. Skeletons on the Zahara (by Dean King) - shipwrecked crew taking as slaves by Sahara tribes

5. Touching the Void (by Joe Simpson) - man crawls down a mountain alone after serious accident

6. Alive (by Piers Paul Read) - soccer team survives plane crash in Andes

7. Endurance (by Alfred Lansing) - south-polar expedition runs into trouble

8. Into Thin Air (by Jon Krakauer) - Mt. Everest trek goes badly awry

Author Yossi Ghinsberg along with Marcus and Kevin agree to accompany Karl to Indian villages in the South American rainforest thinking it will be the backpacking adventure of a lifetime: what they don't realize is Yossi will find himself alone in a struggle to survive in the heart of the Amazon. Jungle: A Harrowing True Story Of Survival is his autobiography of a survival challenge few others will face. Yossi Ghinsberg provides first-person high drama from its first page telling of his meeting with Marcus and others to his struggle to traverse the Amazon alone, without knowledge of wilderness survival methods. His first- person journey creates a 'you are there' atmosphere throughout and makes Jungle: A Harrowing True Story Of Survival impossible to put down.

This book gets a 3 on quality, but a 5 on easy read. It makes great airplane reading, or other times when you don't have quiet chunks of time for deeper reading.

The main character of this story is a bit of a dope, and it is hard to feel sorry for him at times. He comes off as a bit hard-hearted, and he makes some crazy mistakes and decisions (I would probably make them too, though!).

Compared to some of the better true-life adventure books out there, I was not impressed. Still, the story had some educational merit. It might keep me from wandering around in the Amazon.

"Jungle" is a wonderful, thrill ride of a book. Its the true story of Yossi, a young man just out of the Israeli army who is traveling around South America after his tour of duty. I can easily picture him, backpack and guide book in hand, striking up conversations with people at hostels and in bars as many travelers are wont to do.

His travel plans get changed when he meets a man in Peru: Marcus. Marcus convinces him that instead of heading to Machu Picchu he should go to Boliva, with Marcus, instead. There they meet two other people, a new travel companion Kevin and a more odd, strange man, Karl, who offers them a chance of a lifetime; a hike into the jungle.

Now for people who travel, you man be amazed that Yossi and his friends would travel into the Amazon without first wondering about their guide, maybe do a little research to see if he has, I dunno, killed someone or if he's even who he claims to be. Especially when the "cost" goes from free to a few hundred dollars. But no, our protagonist is blissfully aware of nothing. There are many moments in this book where I wanted to shake him and go "stop that! Haven't you read at least one guidebook's scam section?" This is the second dumbest thing you can do! (the first is fighting a land war in Asia).

The book details their trek, their getting lost and separated, and finally the outcome. Yossi is a very good writer, his words kept me glued to the book and I found myself drawn into his struggle to survive. I also learned that peeing on yourself in the jungle is a really bad thing - a life lesson I hope to never put into practice.

If you are looking for a quick, fun and exciting read, this is a book for you.

To hell and back from an enchanted land.
As this book unfolds the intensity escalates into a frenzy of adventure, despair and determination.
Separated form his cohorts in the Bolivian jungle and fending for himself, it is a spellbinding read of human spirit.
The author is subjected to every imaginable misfortune...starvation; jaguars; vicious biting, piercing insects; leeches; quicksand; fungal diseases; disorientation and hopelessness. While it is true that some of his decisions were not the greatest, the point is he made a go of it. The hand of fate.

Reflecting back on his three weeks in the jungle, it was not only a quest for survival but also self-identity. In the last two chapters Yossi summarizes his inner self and what he has accomplished since his near-death Bolivian disaster for the benefit of humanity.

First-rate read.

When their raft hung up on a rock in the rapids of the Amazon's Tuichi River, one adventurer tried to dislodge it and fell overboard. He swam to shore. Strong currents swept the raft downstream, sending the author over the falls below. The ill-fated journey had begun in Bolivia a month earlier, in the early 1980s, when Ghinsberg, an Israeli, and a Swiss and an American companion agreed to go into the interior with an Austrian who had worked there for several years. A remarkable tale of daring.

I simply could not put this book down! Every time I was forced to temporarily part ways with it my mind and imagintation remained with Yossi deep in the heart of the Bolivian jungle, and I simply could not cease to wonder where his torturous adventure would lead him next. With each detailed page I was forced to ponder if I too could fight the jungle, or if I would have given up. It's an amazing and addictive story, and any travel addict has got to read it! I love it!

This book is a must read for anyone interested in travel. It was an absolute page turner. I read this book in one week. I just could not put the book down. Normally it takes me about a month to finish a book but this was just simply an amazing read from start to finish. The writer Yossi Ghinsberg told his story in an honest and inspiring way.This is what I call a true test of survival. You feel you are in there in the jungle with him through the tough and thin and every experience is re-told in such a way that you feel you too are experiencing it. I loved this book. I have recommended this book to my best friends.