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leflambeur's review against another edition
4.0
An incredibly well researched story but told in a page turner style. The most interesting part was the psychological journey made by the men. Highly recommend.
nickscoby's review against another edition
4.0
I honestly do no remember the actual events that took place in Chile, and I haven't seen the movie The 33, but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It is well crafted and I would definitely recommend as a university "Common Book," mainly for all of the interdisciplinary topics that it explores: psychology, geology, politics, sociology of gender, etc.
dphillips's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised at how much more interesting and moving this story of faith and endurance turned out to be. Thanks Goodreads First Reads
book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Book on CD performed by Henry Leyva
From the book jacket: When the San Jose Mine collapsed outside of Copiapo, Chile, in August 2010, it trapped thirty-three miners beneath thousands of feet of rock for sixty-nine days. The entire world watched what transpired above-ground during the grueling and protracted rescue, but the sage of the miners’ experiences below the Earth’s surface – and the lives that led them there – has never been heard, until now.
My Reactions
What a gripping tale of survival, faith, team work and perseverance! I remember watching the events unfold on television, though I was not glued to the TV as many were. I really had no interest in reading this book, but picked it up because my F2F book club chose it for discussion. I’m really glad I read it.
Shortly after the mine collapsed, the thirty-three men decided that their story was owned by all of them collectively, and that none would sell his story apart from the group as a whole. Victor Segovia, “a hard-drinking jumbo operator,” kept a diary while entombed, and this became a significant source for the book. Tobar was chosen to write their story and he was given complete access to the miners, their families, and several of the officials who were part of the rescue efforts.
While the story is ALL of theirs, the book does focus somewhat on a handful of the leaders who emerged – including Maria Segovia, the sister of miner Dario, who became the “mayor” of the tent city just outside the mine property – Camp Esperanza (Camp Hope) – where the families waited for their men to be rescued. In addition to the harrowing tale of their experiences underground, waiting for a rescue that might or might not happen, the book also relates the difficulties many of the miners had coping with their instant fame, and the aftereffects of the trauma they suffered.
Henry Leyva does an excellent job performing the audio book. His pacing is good, and his Spanish pronunciation is excellent. I was a little taken aback at the heavily accented English he used for the dialogue, but then I suppose other listeners would have been equally annoyed if he had NOT used the accent. It certainly made it easy to tell when there was dialogue rather than exposition.
NOTE: A movie was made of their story; titled The 33, it stars Antonio Banderas. A paperback movie-tie-in edition of the book also carries this title, and has additional content not present in the original hardcover.
From the book jacket: When the San Jose Mine collapsed outside of Copiapo, Chile, in August 2010, it trapped thirty-three miners beneath thousands of feet of rock for sixty-nine days. The entire world watched what transpired above-ground during the grueling and protracted rescue, but the sage of the miners’ experiences below the Earth’s surface – and the lives that led them there – has never been heard, until now.
My Reactions
What a gripping tale of survival, faith, team work and perseverance! I remember watching the events unfold on television, though I was not glued to the TV as many were. I really had no interest in reading this book, but picked it up because my F2F book club chose it for discussion. I’m really glad I read it.
Shortly after the mine collapsed, the thirty-three men decided that their story was owned by all of them collectively, and that none would sell his story apart from the group as a whole. Victor Segovia, “a hard-drinking jumbo operator,” kept a diary while entombed, and this became a significant source for the book. Tobar was chosen to write their story and he was given complete access to the miners, their families, and several of the officials who were part of the rescue efforts.
While the story is ALL of theirs, the book does focus somewhat on a handful of the leaders who emerged – including Maria Segovia, the sister of miner Dario, who became the “mayor” of the tent city just outside the mine property – Camp Esperanza (Camp Hope) – where the families waited for their men to be rescued. In addition to the harrowing tale of their experiences underground, waiting for a rescue that might or might not happen, the book also relates the difficulties many of the miners had coping with their instant fame, and the aftereffects of the trauma they suffered.
Henry Leyva does an excellent job performing the audio book. His pacing is good, and his Spanish pronunciation is excellent. I was a little taken aback at the heavily accented English he used for the dialogue, but then I suppose other listeners would have been equally annoyed if he had NOT used the accent. It certainly made it easy to tell when there was dialogue rather than exposition.
NOTE: A movie was made of their story; titled The 33, it stars Antonio Banderas. A paperback movie-tie-in edition of the book also carries this title, and has additional content not present in the original hardcover.
shareen17's review against another edition
3.0
Fascinating story of the Chilean mine disaster and how 33 miners survived and eventually were rescued, but told with more detail than I was interested in.
s_sanfor907's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
wishwash06's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Rarely there is a happy ending for a miracle story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Addiction
yiddish_anarchist's review against another edition
5.0
Remarkably compelling. Because I’d forgotten most of the news surrounding the incident in 2010, I was reading as fast as I could just to find out what happens next. Terrific interviews with the survivors are evident in this book.
debandleo's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good read. Even though I knew what was going to happen in the end it was fascinating, couldn't wait to see what would happen next. An interesting study of humanity in an extreme condition.
shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
I really liked this well-told story of a dramatic and life-changing event. The author begins with the commute to work on that fateful August day in 2010. Several of the miners live relatively close to the San Jose mine but many do not. One man takes a 36 hour bus ride for 1000 miles to get to his 7 days on-7 days off mining job. The reader gets a good feel for the personalities of the men, the collapse of the mine, conditions in the mine, contact with the outside world after 17 days of near-starvation and the dramatic rescue after 2 months of drilling. The reader also gets a feel for the wives, children and girlfriends and for the effects of post-traumatic stress, sudden fame and sudden (relative) wealth. The good, the bad and the ugly of human nature are all included here. But the bottom line is - much of the world pulled together to rescue the men and that's an inspiring thing.