The Long Walk: The True Story Of A Trek To Freedom Paperback – April 1, 2016

I couldn't put this book down. I think it was well written and had a very good progression.Some think that this story wasn't true, and I don't know why. Yes, they crossed through very harsh places but they were survivors and not everybody could have made it. In fact, they lost half of their crew in the process. It's hard to believe that 4 survived this ordeal, but there is no reason to doubt they did because other people have escaped from horrible conditions in this world, and walked for a very long time and suffered to reach freedom.Someone mentioned that this story can't be believed because the group had no compass to guide them. They didn't need one because they didn't have a map. The general direction they were going was South! They did have knowledge of the geography in general and weren't dumb about it. They kept saying they were going South. They encountered locals who helped and advised them how to avoid Lhasa by going West and entering India through Sikkim. Sikkim, as the rest of the Himalaya has very high peaks. But they made their way through the pass and the valley across Sikkim (I have trekked in this area). There are 3 passes between Tibet and India. They followed the most eastern one. They still had to tackle the pre Himalaya and one might wonder how they did it. But they did it. They didn't have to go over glaciers though. They were just pushed by their urge to make it to freedom, and were extremely resilient and strong.As far as the Yeti, well, many people have reported seeing them. Could be that at this point of their long journey they were hallucinating! But I remember that several years ago trekking operators would offer treks called "In search of the Yeti in the Himalaya"!Some say that the Soviets had released the Poles and that this story is invalid. Why believe the Soviets though? They would have said anything anyway. In any case this is a great book and the story not unlike other stories of escape by foot I have read before this one. These guys were pretty smart about what to do in some circumstances, and they were incredibly strong.

I'm not sure that every guy at McClintock Jr. High School read "The Long Walk" in 1958, but Slavomir Rawicz's 1956 book definitely enjoyed a cult following there. After all, almost every kid's old man had played some part in the War, South Pacific or Europe; and there was a ton of wartime pulp to be read, and I believe we must have read the better part of it. We read books like: "God is my Co-Pilot," "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo," "The Longest Day," "Guadalcanal Diary," "The Naked and the Dead." The list could go on. There were the books with a slightly forbidden flavor by our former enemies: "Zero," "Commando Extraordinary," "The Road to Stalingrad." But "The Long Walk," stood in its own special category. I found it hard to put down at age fourteen, and, rereading it fifty jaded years later, I still couldn't put this one down.Only now I'm wondering if perhaps I've just read a great novel by a certain Ronald Downing.Back in '58 we didn't have the 1997 afterword in which Slav Rawicz uses the term: "read between the lines." We didn't have the 1993 introduction to the Polish edition in which Slav writes, "If this little book has served in a small way as propaganda to understand the past years of our history under the Soviets, then my words will have achieved their purpose." The structure of the book does make for the perfect road story, a framework upon which to hang a string of episodes: capture, imprisonment, torture, deportation, the camp, the escape, the journey. The assemblage of seven compatriots is reminiscent of the "Seven Samurai," or "The Magnificent Seven." Consider the character types of the escapees: the gentle giant, the little jokester, the American--and the girl Kristina. Add the superbly generous character of the Tibetans--by then weren't the Chinese kicking them around? In short: read this book and you will not like communists, but then, you didn't in the first place, did you?Having said all that, what a pleasure it is to learn that Slav lived to a ripe old age, raising five children with a devoted wife, living to see Poland independent again, living to see the USSR dissolve. And if Slav and Ronald Downing chose to insert a few whoppers along the way, I say: who are we to let facts stand in the way of a good story?Slav wrote in his 1997 afterword that he had received many letters over the years, and that he enjoyed answering them. I wish I'd been a little sooner rediscovering "The Long Walk." I might have written Mr. Rawicz myself, and here's what I would have said:Dear Mr. Rawicz, I know you have received many letters over the years and mine will probably eco much of what those others have said. However, if I might add anything, it is that since reading your book fifty years ago at age fourteen I have never to my memory left a plate of food un-cleaned; countless times I have been disgusted by the sight of unfinished plates being scraped into the garbage by others. Many times I have thought of you and your companions as I passed trash left by the roadside, trash that you could have used. (A few plastic soda bottles might have made all the difference on the Gobi.) I like to wear a thing out before discarding it. I do hate to be cold, but I try to refrain from complaining about it. So thank you, Mr. Rawicz, for inspiring the boy I was fifty years ago to take up frugal ways. I'm sure my bankroll is thicker for it. I would observe that, while you may have aimed a blow at communism, you also made a good hit at consumer capitalism!

I first read this years ago when I did a book report on it in 8th grade. Even then I had doubts about some of the narrative. Now I'm convinced that while it may have some factual basis it is essentially fiction. If one reads it with that in mind it's entertaining but does require one to suspend doubt about some of the details.

Inspiring story ! From the lowest depths of mankind to the highest level of friendship. This is an incredible story of strength and survival.

It was ib good condition and was earkier than expected. I've always had good success with Goodwill store books no matter qhat part of the country the store is in. So given their mission, I choose them if all else is equal.