Jungle (2005)

5 stars out of 5.

One of my favorite genres of books is true-life survival tales. After deliberately searching for a new read, I found "Jungle". Jungle is the story of a young Isreali backpacker who falls in with a Swiss guy, a German guide and an American who decide to go on an adventure through the Bolivia. At one point, the group becomes separated and the story follows the Isreali as he struggles to survive in the rainy season in the Bolivian jungle.

The book is very interesting - you get glimpses of life as a backpacker/tourist floating through South America, a look at rural life in Bolivia, and raw survival from the narrator. I couldn't put the book down. It is a little gruesome/graphic at points, so all readers may not be tempted, but an overall great read.

Other great survival tales I have enjoyed include:

1. The Long Walk (by Slavomir Rawicz) - bordering on fiction - Polish prisoner breaks out of Siberian prison camp with a team after World War II

2. We Die Alone (by David Howarth) - American soldier flees across occupied Norway in World War II

3. Adrift (by Steven Callahan) - Sailor survives in life raft for over 2 months.

4. Skeletons on the Zahara (by Dean King) - shipwrecked crew taking as slaves by Sahara tribes

5. Touching the Void (by Joe Simpson) - man crawls down a mountain alone after serious accident

6. Alive (by Piers Paul Read) - soccer team survives plane crash in Andes

7. Endurance (by Alfred Lansing) - south-polar expedition runs into trouble

8. Into Thin Air (by Jon Krakauer) - Mt. Everest trek goes badly awry