Where do I begin? What can I say? No book has ever moved me so. No book has ever terrified me so. No book has ever made me so strong. No book has made me feel so alive.
When I was younger, I read a book called "Alive" by Piers Paul Read. I did not include that book in this list because I read it in stages. I read half of it when I was younger and i read the other half when I was older. I do not know when, and I do not know why. But this particular story of survival is very dear to my heart. One of the survivors was very special to me. So you can imagine my surpise when he decided to publish his own account of what happened in those mountains. I did not hesistate to read his book.
What followed what was hard for me to get through. I remember pages where I was sobbing uncontrollably. But I read and read until the very end. And by the time I was done, my entire body ached. My heart ached. My hands ached. My eyes ached and I was exhausted. This book took so much out of me. So much, and it filled me with something else. Spirit, hope.
Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, I will fill you in.
A rugby team from Uruguay boards a plane headed towards Chile for a game. The team brings a few friends, some loved ones. The plane, though, does not reach its destination. It crashes in the Andes. A horrific crash. Half the plane goes missing. And the team of young rugby players are either dead, dying, missing, or barely suriving.
This book was written by Nando Parrado. He was unconscious for three days and one of the weakest surviving passengers. He lost his mother in the crash...his sister, too. Nando and the rest of the team who survived lasted 72 days in the snow, with no warmth, little food and they were surrounded by their long lost loved ones with no where to go. Hiking for help was akin to suicide. No one was dressed for the snowstorms. So they waited to rescued. To no avail. After many weeks of struggling to survive and a few failing attempts at trying to rescue themselves, Nando finally achievies his goal of finding help-though it took him many days. But he was asked to do the unthinkable. He must board another plane. He must lead the rescuers to the survivors via flight. His rescuers thought he was crazy when he directed them through the route he had taken. There was no way Nando made that journey. Surely he most have gone another way. And then, in the same exact position where the first plane crashes, the second plane hesistates, sputters. For a fleeting moment Nando believes that there may be another crash. But the pilots regain control and the few surviving rugby players are rescued.
This story is amazing to me because Nando was so strong. After losing so much, he still had so much to live for. The thought of his father back home alone gave him the courage he needed. To tell his father about his sister, his mother. I was utterly moved.
And...so this book stirred something within me. And though it may seem silly, I always viewed Superman as a personal hero. I strive to be like him. To have his strength, his pride, his honor. His truth. He is very dear to my heart on a very emotional level. I read this book RIGHT BEFORE I SAW Superman Returns. There are two plane scenes in that movie. The first plane scene was like pouring salt on an open wound. And the second, well..the plane almost crashes while trying to rescue Superman in almost the same exact way as the plane almost crashed in the book the second time. So I cried a lot the first time I watched Superman Returns. There were so many similiarities and I know that I am comparing a comic book character to a man who..well, no words can describe the type of man Nando Parrado is. But the both move me..they both inspire me to believe in whats good, whole. To have faith and to be strong. It doesn't matter that you are inspired by your father, a comic book character, or a rugby player, what matters is that you are inspired.
