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Reader's Paradise

The Long Walk

20 years ago

Twenty pages to go in The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. One of the best, most gripping books I've ever read. Its about a small group of escaped prisoners from a Soviet labor camp making their way across Siberia, China and Tibet. A true story, very readable. I've slowed down considerably because I don't want it to end! But tonight's the night.

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Comments (6)

friedag
20 years ago
karalk, it enthralled me too. I don't want to diminish your enjoyment of The Long Walk, but you might want to know that it is perhaps not entirely true. I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about that; but then I wonder sometimes just how "true" many supposedly true accounts are. Can we really know? Does it really matter if the story is compelling enough?
veer
19 years ago
I remember reading/hearing on TV that sections of this book were 'made up' as it was thought impossible that anyone could survive such a journey and nothing has been found in any records to verify his story.
I once read it to a group of disruptive, nasty, low level of concentration kids (not my own) and it really held their attention for minutes at a time.
I'm sure many autobios'/travelogues are exaggerated or in some ways misleading, even if by only adding a few feet to the length of that anaconda you wrestled with or the number of warlike tribesman you put to flight single handed.
It's probably what makes political diaries so dull
as the writer has used back newspapers and copies of speeches etc to produce a life of some well-known figure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rawicz'z Obituary Notice
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karalk
Original Author
19 years ago
I gave it some thought and decided I don't really care if its ALL made up or not, I LOVED it! I actually had some doubt at a few points while I was reading it but the author does say that his memory is blurry or unreliable at times. Thanks for the responses!
pam53
19 years ago
I agree, Karalk-I loved the book regardless.
granjan
19 years ago
EVERYONE'S memory is unreliable! That's why eyewitnesses are such a problem in court. What we think we see and then what and how we remember is totally subjective. If the book is good the book is good!

Which is different than someone making up something from whole cloth. A memoir about a life you never lived is fiction, or fraud.
cindydavid4
19 years ago
Is it marketed as fiction or non? If the former, all bets are off. If its Historical Fiction, it should have a basis of truth. If non fiction, the events or people need to be real.

I agree that no one's memory is reliable. Which is why I rarely read a memoir - they often feel false to me. Tho I have been pleasantly surprised by some.

But if you are loving a book, keep loving it. Just so long as you realize that what you are reading might not be exactly what happened (see Da Vinci Code for an example)

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