# Best real life adventure Buke?



## not-bono-ever (Feb 3, 2012)

I once sat on a beach in belize and read Jon Krakauers " Into thin air" from cover to cover.

An utterly entralling read

Yours ?


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## Voley (Feb 3, 2012)

'Into Thin Air' is a good read, I agree; a lot of mountaineering ones are. 'Lost On Everest' by Peter Firstbrook about Mallory and Irvine's doomed Everest mission isn't as dramatic but I enjoyed it for the stiff-upper-lip attitudes as much as anything else. Essential supplies that had to be lugged all the way from Darjeeling to Tibet included two magnums of champagne, apparently. Chin chin! 'Seven Years In Tibet' by Heinrich Harrer is fairly mind-boggling, including jailbreak, Himalayan trekking in near-death conditions, entry into a forbidden kingdom and ultimately becoming friends with the young Dalai Lama at a time when he had to flee due to the Chinese invasion. Absolutely incredible life that bloke had.

Not an 'adventure' as such but utterly engrossing is 'Killing Pablo' by Mark Bowden. I rattled through that one in a couple of days. True story of Pablo Escobar's rise and fall including how he became a folk hero while routinely murdering left, right and centre. Best bit is when he negotiates his own prison stay with the Colombian authorities. He gets a luxury villa with all his mates staying, has girls and drugs brought in to keep him occupied and continues to openly run his drug empire from it. Then leaves when he feels like it.  I wouldn't mind reading that one again, thinking about it. Ace book.


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## quimcunx (Feb 3, 2012)

Can't say I've read many but the Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl was enjoyable and interesting.

The Void, of course. by joe simpson iirc. 

Not exactly an adventure book but Neutral Bouyancy by Tim Ecott is a nice balance between the history of diving and his own experiences of diving.


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## contadino (Feb 4, 2012)

I read Robinson Crusoe whilst on holiday on Tobago. I've read that book maybe 20 times, but the surroundings really added to that particular reading.


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## colbhoy (Feb 4, 2012)

Endurance by Alfred Lansing is a fantastic account of Ernest Shackleton's failed expedition to the South Pole.


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## JimW (Feb 4, 2012)

Read this years ago and enjoyed it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tough_Trip_Through_Paradise

Bit more about the author: http://www.franksrealm.com/Indians/mountainman/pages/mountainman-andrewgarcia.htm


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## Bakunin (Feb 4, 2012)

As with so many books, infinitely superior to the film based on it:


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## ska invita (Feb 4, 2012)

Not quite what this thread is about, but 'Explorers of the New Century' by Magnus Mills is a brilliant take on the real life adventure book, and takes it to a dark and surreal place:







Really want to read more of his stuff, but havent gotten around to it. One of my favourite books this.


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## ska invita (Feb 4, 2012)

quimcunx said:


> The Void, of course. by joe simpson iirc.


He wrote another book called Dark Shadows Falling which outs the extreme mount climbers, especially on everest and the like, as a bunch of self-centred ego-maniacs, who would rather leave their colleagues and other climbers to die, than miss their window to make an ascent. Interesting read.


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## TheHoodedClaw (Feb 4, 2012)

You should read Ernest Shackleton's "South". It is a bit dry in parts, but there are plenty passages that are head-scratching in their mentalness and awesomeness.


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## Voley (Feb 4, 2012)

quimcunx said:


> Not exactly an adventure book but Neutral Bouyancy by Tim Ecott is a nice balance between the history of diving and his own experiences of diving.


I enjoyed that a lot too. Pinkychukkles lent it me when we were both on holiday in Thailand. It convinced me to savage my cheapskate backpacker budget on a couple of snorkelling trips to Ang Thong Marine Park. Turned out to be a highlight of the trip. Iirc Ecott is a bit obsessed with sponges though.


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## Eggby (Feb 7, 2012)

A few years ago I read 'Papillon' - the real life adventures of a French convict on Devil's Island, that was a pretty incredible story, can thoroughly recommend it.


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## Kaka Tim (Feb 7, 2012)

Bakunin said:


> As with so many books, infinitely superior to the film based on it:


 
In a similar vein (and based in the prison camp next door to the great escape )


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## Santino (Feb 7, 2012)

Watership Down


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## oryx (Feb 7, 2012)

colbhoy said:


> Endurance by Alfred Lansing is a fantastic account of Ernest Shackleton's failed expedition to the South Pole.


 
Indeed, that's a fantastic book, especially at the end!

I also really enjoyed _Alive_, the story of the Andes plane crash survivors by Piers Paul Read. I don't know if you'd call it an adventure but it's an amazing tale of survival (or not ).


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## Voley (Feb 7, 2012)

oryx said:


> I also really enjoyed _Alive_, the story of the Andes plane crash survivors by Piers Paul Read. I don't know if you'd call it an adventure but it's an amazing tale of survival (or not ).


Oh is that good? I've always fancied reading that one. The film was pretty mindboggling once you got past all the Ave Maria bits and what-have-you. I'll have a look if it's cheap on Amazon.


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## Voley (Feb 7, 2012)

How about hideous prison stories? I quite like them, too. I always thought 'Midnight Express' was the best. 'Papillon's good but loads of it's very far fetched. Anyhow, this one is required reading for anyone thinking of bringing a bit of dope home with them from Thailand:


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## oryx (Feb 7, 2012)

NVP said:


> Anyhow, this one is required reading for anyone thinking of bringing a bit of dope home with them from Thailand


 
I read Sandra Gregory's _Forget You Had A Daughter_ (found it in an otherwise dismal holiday cottage paperback selection ) which sounds like it's in a similar vein. Realised that bad pun as I was typing it....

Yes, _Alive_ is very good - I first read it when I was very young and it was serialised in a Sunday paper, then again about twenty years ago when the film came out.

Wish I could do spoiler alerts for those who don't know the ending.


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## rubbershoes (Feb 7, 2012)

Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean


Attended Soviet show trials in the 30s

was with the SAS in north Africa and then parachuted behind enemy lines


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## SpookyFrank (Feb 7, 2012)

The Voyage of The Beagle by a certain Charles Darwin is very good.


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## quimcunx (Feb 7, 2012)

NVP said:


> I enjoyed that a lot too. Pinkychukkles lent it me when we were both on holiday in Thailand. It convinced me to savage my cheapskate backpacker budget on a couple of snorkelling trips to Ang Thong Marine Park. Turned out to be a highlight of the trip. Iirc Ecott is a bit obsessed with sponges though.


 
He didn't spend that much time on them and they are fascinating.  you can mash one through a sieve and it will pull itself together again.   Can YOU do that?  No. Didn't think so.


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## Bakunin (Feb 7, 2012)

NVP said:


> How about hideous prison stories? I quite like them, too. I always thought 'Midnight Express' was the best. 'Papillon's good but loads of it's very far fetched. Anyhow, this one is required reading for anyone thinking of bringing a bit of dope home with them from Thailand:


 
If you consider Henri Charriere's 'Papillon' to be somewhat far-fetched (there have been a number of accusations that he stole other prisoners' stories and made up some of his writing) then you're likely to be far more impressed by Rene Belbenoit's 'Dry Guillotine', always assuming that you can actually find a copy.


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## Voley (Feb 8, 2012)

Sponges are boring. People that find them interesting even more so.


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## pennimania (Feb 8, 2012)

NVP said:


> Sponges are boring. People that find them interesting even more so.


 

You won't like  The Log of the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck then.

Best book I read last year


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