 The Long Walk
This was a very good read. I enjoy non fiction adventure that doesn't require a great amount of concentration, so this one hit the spot- it is also a very compelling story. I look forward to seeing the movie soon!
The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz
A gripping book full of adventure dictated by Rawicz "to Ronald Downing with the help of [his] wife" (p.244), Rawicz details the escape from a Russian labor camp and covers territory ranging from the arid desert to the Himalayas.
One touching scene, which took place on a Christmas Eve during the "march" to the labor camp, is where the men on the march sung "Holy Night" together: "A marching choir of nearly five thousand male voices drowning their despair in a song of praise for the Child who would be born on the morrow" (p.49). As I'd put on my facebook page and a blog with regard to that scene, "Maybe among that 'choir' are men who now see 'the thrill of hope' for which the world lay 'in sin and error pining'...."
Perhaps learning of others' sufferings can help one feel a sense of not being alone in suffering and to learn that indeed there are others who fare worse. Perhaps it is this feeling that is the "help" that Rawicz mentions in the "Afterword": "For some reason, my words have been a help in their own uncertainties, pain, misadventures, and lack of confidence" (p.244).
It seems that a movie based on this book, "The Way Back", was or will be released this year. Rawicz passed away in 2004, but I think in his inner heart he would think it best of this movie doesn't draw attention solely to him and those he trekked with but to the miserable plight many faced during WWII. In the "Afterword" of his book, he states, "I did not write my story for personal gain. It was done as a memorial to all those whose name is Million, and who could not speak for themselves" (p.245). His final two sentences of this "Afterword" are: "There are many other similar stories. I am not the only one" (p.245).
You're right, Slav. You're not the only one who faced incredible hardship. But you are likely one of few whose arduous journey out of that hardship took them to such formidable terrain as it took you.
Thank you for sharing your story.
 The truth?
Well i read the book, i enjoyed it. I just am not sure about what i am now reading about the validity of it. Either way, read it and enjoy it.
An amazing read
I read this book knowing the controversy this book has caused. Many believe this has never happened. Many believe that that the author stole the story from a fellow soldier, many believe that the story is true but exaggerated and many believe that the book is 100 percent true. I believe the second one and third one. The author was a polish soldier at the outbreaks of world war two and was captured by the soviets and was sent to a soviet prison but in 1942 records show that Sawomir Rawicz was released from prison and that he was sent to Iran as part of Anders army, a polish army stationed in Soviet Russia, that was made up of captured Polish soldier, that was sent to the middle east and fought along the allies in italy and then relocated to England after the war. Soviet records differ from Sawomir Rawicz account of where he was imprisoned and what he was imprisoned for.
There is proof the story did take place. A Intelligence officer actually debriefed three men who claimed they escaped from a siberian prison and recently Witold Gliski has claimed that Sawomir Rawicz stole this story that happened to him.
I believe this could have possibly happened but not to Sawomir Rawicz. The story could be a little exaggerated but it is an amazing read. You will not put this book down. So forget if this is true or not or if the author is lying read the book and decide for your self.
Great Story; Great Narration
An amazing story, well narrated by the reader. While parts of the story may seam a little stretched, I sensed that the basic elements are true. All consistent with what I have read about the gulags.
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