Basically any stories about human beings who have gone through and overcome incredibly difficult situations, whether physical, emotional etc. An example that comes to mind immediately is “unbroken”…but I want even more raw and desperate than that. The ultimate tale of human endurance in the face of grave resistance and opposition, whether man or nature. I am open to different genres of non fiction. Thank you.
by SirKrimzon
21 Comments
The Choice – Edith Eger
Born Survivors – Wendy Holden
The Holocaust – Laurence Rees
Educated – Tara Westover
{{Alive}} by Piers Paul Read
Shuggie Bain by Stuart
A Little Life by Yanagihara
Glass Castle by Wells
Educated by Westover
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Can’t hurt me by David Goggins
In non-fiction:
Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Textbook definition of everything you just mentioned
The Revenant 🐻
Touching the void by Joe Simpson. Also made into a movie
Seconding ‘Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors’ by Piers Paul Read (about the survivors of the [1972 Andes air crash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguayan_Air_Force_Flight_571)).
Also several of the survivors have written books about their experiences –
[‘Miracle in the Andes’](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_in_the_Andes) by Nando Parrado
[‘I Had to Survive: How a Plane Crash in the Andes Inspired My Calling to Save Lives’](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Had-Survive-Plane-Inspired-Calling/dp/1476765456) by Roberto Canessa
… there are others, but these two are noteworthy given Parrado’s and Canessa’s role in the trek to find help, and Canessa’s subsequent distinguished medical career.
The Raft by Robert Trumbull
If This Is a Man by Primo Levi
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Demon Copperhead. Realistic fiction.
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Worth Dying For by Lee Child might be a hidden gem.
{{A House In The Sky: A Memoir by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett}}
I don’t know if this would count but maybe The Martian by Andy Weir?
Unbroken
I always recommend a couple of books. For nonfiction: “Endurance” about Shackelton’s expedition to Antarctica. https://a.co/d/7eqxLoi
For fiction: “The 51st State” by David Larocque. “As climate change drives unprecedented droughts, the President of the United States of America unveils a drastic plan to restore water: invade Canada. With the world’s largest military moving across the longest undefended border in the world, chaos erupts as Canada faces the threat of total annihilation.” https://a.co/d/1732Chc
The Terror by Dan Simmons is a fictional account of the Franklin Expedition in the Arctic with some supernatural horror added to it. The book is incredible at describing the life of sailors trapped in ice, then forced to abandon ship and attempt a long trudge towards civilization.
I don’t know how factual it is, but The Long Walk by Sławomir Rawicz tells the story of escapees from a Soviet labor camp who walk all the way to India. I haven’t read the book; I just saw the movie based on it (The Way Back, 2010). The story is hard to believe, so I’m not sure if the events described are 100% accurate.