Every reader knows the feeling. For whatever reason, certain books are periodically recycled through your personal reading list. Glimmers of a story bob to the surface of consciousness, after years of being stashed in the landfill of everyday life. Tidbits of these phantoms appear helter-skelter in discussions. An author’s name or snippets of plot drift into conversation, then dart away settling in the backlist of memory, only to resurface years later. Sometimes a book makes the jump to the big screen, or more bizarrely, becomes fuel for reality television.
For me “Alive” is one of these apparitions. Written in 1974, by Piers Paul Read, it chronicles the story of 16 Uruguayan rugby players who survived a ghastly airplane crash in the Andes. The young men held on for eight days through shock, subzero temperature and scarce supplies, waiting for rescue – only to hear via transistor radio that the search had been called off. Stranded at 12,000 feet for more than 10 weeks they were forced to cannibalize corpses to survive.
Their saga was made into a 1993 film starring Ethan Hawke and John Malkovich. It is scheduled to be the subject of a British reality television show – minus the grisly details.
With the publication of “Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and my Journey Home to my Father,” Nando Parrado gives a compelling account of his and his teammates’ survival. As one of the two young men who walked 10 days over a mountain of nearly 17,000 feet in search of rescue, he has repeatedly been asked by publishers to tell his story. In the past he had always refused.
“Those people saw me as a hero, and I knew they wanted to celebrate the disaster as an inspirational story of triumph and perseverance. But they were missing the point.”
Having years to meditate on his experiences, including the death of his sister and mother who were among the passengers, Parrado drew his own conclusions about what transpired on the mountain. While not negating the past, he made a decision to take his father’s advice and not “let this be the most important thing that ever happens to you.”
Parrado does an admirable job of filling in the gaps in Read’s earlier account, being both inspirational and spiritual without being too saccharine.
He notes that while “Alive” did a magnificent job of telling the facts, it couldn’t capture the “inner struggle or the surging emotions that drove me to survive.” In “Miracle in the Andes,” with the aid of psychological insight and wisdom gained over the years, Parrado deftly details that interior story and its aftermath.
Following a short period of hollow carousing after the rescue, he became known, in his own words, as “Punta del Este’s most visible libertine.” After accepting the role of beauty contest judge and offending his former teammates, he re-evaluated his course.
Parrado succeeded in forging a happy and satisfying life. He achieved a long-held dream of racing motorcycles and stock cars. For a short time he competed in long-distance races on the European Touring Car Championship circuit. He developed a deep friendship with his long-time racing idol, the Scottish driver, Jackie Stewart. He married, had two daughters and became a successful businessman.
Why tell the story now?
In 1991, after being cajoled by a Mexican businessman, Parrado agreed to present a brief motivational speech for a group of young entrepreneurs, highlighting aspects of his experience, which would help them succeed. After spending months preparing his speech, once onstage in Mexico City, Parrado surprised even himself.
“… I poured out my story, sparing no emotion and holding nothing back. I simply spoke from my heart.”
He spoke for 90 minutes. And it became clear what he had learned from his ordeal.
Parrado cites two reasons for writing the book. To communicate with as many people as possible “that our suffering really does add up to something important, to some kind of wisdom, that can touch the hearts of human beings across the planet.” And, as a gift to his father, “so that he could see in unflinching detail, what I lived through, and how my love for him was the real power that saved me…”
Julie Foster is a Sacramento writer and a member of the National Book Critics Circle.
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Miracle in the Andes
72 Days on the Mountain and My Journey Home to my Father
By Nando Parrado with Vince Rause
Crown, 304 pages, $25
