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There is a certain amount that I can believe without difficulty, mainly regarding the Soviet interrogation of political prisoners. The sheer improbability of the assistance provided by the commandant's wife has been noted, but just as unlikely, surely, is the way the fugitives are not pursued when their tracks would have been clear and their progress slow. This is not apparently forthcoming, so I am left with the scepticism that nature has implanted in me and nurture has, well, nurtured. The thought it brought back to me was the remark with which Herodotus often concludes his retelling of various travellers' tales `To me he does not speak persuasively.' Let me say right away that if by some chance this tale of incredible heroism and endurance is true - indeed if 2% of it is true - it is so far outwith my own experience or observation that I would be incapable of believing it without good corroboration. What might be the kernel of truth behind this story, I wonder. If I am wrong in this conclusion then obviously I owe the profoundest of apologies to the author's shade. I'm sure British India was preferable as a destination, but it was an awful lot further away, taking the intrepid escapees through more adventures than the shorter route would have provided. I mean, was there some pressing reason why they could not have made the escape to China.
Then again I knew the girl was going to have to die because the narrative was not going to be able to accommodate her. This kind of thing is well attested in general, and to write a realistic description requires no more than common knowledge and ordinary literary skill.It makes quite a good story, indeed rather too good a story. I know it has been alleged to be plagiarised, but I can't confirm this from my own reading. This camp had sled dogs after all. Whether or not it happened to the author as he says I would not be knowing. The early chapter about the interrogation is harrowing, but the later sequences, for all their grim detail, did not harrow me much at all, and I'm sure that this was because I knew by that stage that I didn't believe what I was being told. And at the end, to crown it all, they encounter Mr and Mrs Yeti.Help Thou mine unbelief, said a prayer I used to know. As I say, it can be recommended as a story for a long flight of a more comfortable kind, and if anyone needs his or her cold war passions warmed over a little I'm sure it will help with a bit of nostalgic indignation.
Not all of escapees who accompany Ravitz made it through to the end. One of the best survival and adventure stories I've read so far. The story is extremely well crafted, very engaging and utterly heart braking. I'm a big fan of the type of literature that depicts the power of the human will to endure even the most unimaginative yet plausible conditions. In The Long Walk, Slavomir Ravitz details the account of his painful trek to a Russian concentration camp in Siberia (hundreds of days in duration in extreme inhuman conditions), then the careful planning and escape that took him across 4,000 mile of the Siberian, Mongolian (including the Gobi desert) Chinese, Himalayas and finally Indian land. One connects with the Ravitz's superhuman drive for freedom and for a brief period of time embarks on a personal spiritual trek as the endless snow fields, dangerous mountains, dunes of sand, hunger and death test and fortify his character. Books on similar topics: Skeletons of the Zahara by Dean King or In the Land of White Death by Valerian Albanov.
This is an extremely gripping and truly amazing tale - but the fact that it may well be largely a work of fiction, rather than a true account, means I have had to give it only 3 stars. I don't agree with claiming something is true, when it isn't.I only found out that the book might not be genuine after I finished reading it. I was disappointed; to discover something is not genuine definitely takes value away from the story.It's still a great read - and I wish it was true - but there does seem to be a lot of evidence which suggests the much of the account is a work of fiction, not fact.
"The Long Walk" has been the subject of intense debate ever since its release in 1956. Quite likely, Rawicz and his companions had a horrific experience in the labor camp, and a long journey on foot after they left the gulag. Even if embellished, or even largely fictionalized, "The Long Walk" is a powerful and gripping story. Most recently, in 2006 a BBC journalist investigated Rawicz's account and found evidence that casts doubt on many of the book's details. The events and characters are based on reality, even if many of the details never occurred. Most notably, the BBC obtained documents suggesting that Rawicz was released from the gulag in 1942 as part of a broad amnesty for Polish prisoners - and therefore never would have needed to escape.I wasn't aware of the controversy when I started reading the book. The remarkable story of Slawomir Rawicz's escape from a Soviet labor camp and subsequent trek to India has attracted critics who question whether the story is true, or a work of fiction. Whether the escape occurred as claimed, or the experiences through China and Tibet are real, is open to question.These shortcomings are disappointing, but they shouldn't prevent people from reading the book.
And now that I've finished it, and reviewed some of the challenges of its critics, I believe that there are indeed many embellishments and inconsistencies in the story. Truth be told, it's hard not to be skeptical as you read some of the chapters, in particular the author's experiences in the Gobi desert and in the Himalayas. It's a bit like a cross between historical fiction and a personal memoir. Bear that in mind before diving in and you'll enjoy the book - and probably recommend it to others.
One of those books that is very difficult to put down. up until 2AM.The fact that it was a true story made it even more compeling.Highly recommend it.
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