Disasters and Survival

I'm seeing a little theme of disaster and survival with some of my latest books and movies. But then who doesn't love a good disaster story. Maybe it's from growing up with movies like The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, and Airport?

This weekend we finally watched 127 Hours - a/k/a The One Where the Guy Cuts His Arm Off. I did have to look away when he's hacking away on his arm with a 2" blade, but overall it was good. I really like Danny Boyle's visual style, and have since Shallow Grave. No doubt he does like a good gross-out scene (see Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire), but he also likes redemption and hope and a strong survival instinct.

Right after watching 127 Hours, I got ready for bed and checked my to-read pile. On top: a book about trapped miners and another about survivors of a WWII plane crash in New Guinea.

So I'm now reading Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert by Marc Aronson. It's written for a YA audience. The narrative switches back and forth between what's happening on the surface and what is going on down below with the miners. There are plenty of diagrams and background information, but it's a good level of detail that adds to the story rather than detracting from it.

I've been wanting to read Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zukoff ever since I heard about it on an NPR story. In the waning days of WWII and American plane crashes in the deep jungle of New Guinea. The three survivors are trapped between the Japanese army and a stone-age tribe rumored to be populated by headhunters and cannibals. They were deep in a valley, which proved extremely challenging for the rescuers determined to devise a strategy that would get them in and the survivors out. Haven't quite made it to this one yet, but maybe by the weekend!