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heather_g's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
What an amazing survival story! Surviving being chased by Germans, an avalanche and being buried for a week by snow storm whilst waiting for rescuers, cutting off his toes, suffering from frostbite and gangrene- how this man survived is incredible. His sheer will to live plus the help from so many Norwegian villagers just an incredible story!!
spoopywife's review against another edition
4.0
I had no clue about the German occupation of Norway or the struggles in Scandinavia during WWII. Not only that, but I had no clue someone could survive any of what this man did. Definitely a crazy story worth telling!
danreviewsathing's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Whilst it’s quite an interesting read and one hell of a story about the goodness of humanity in an against all the odds moment, I feel it takes its main character out of the story too much and pushes so many names on you that I forgot who was who. It’s well rounded and it finishes on a high note but for me it feels like an opportunity missed to tell a great story.
kimjongev's review
4.0
This Norwegian is cussedly determined to survive. He saws off his own gangrenous toes!
ladulcinella's review against another edition
4.0
It might be a non fiction book, but it reads like a very suspenseful espionage novel. When a group of soldiers get dropped by boat in Norway and are betrayed very quickly, only 1 survives, Jan Baalsrud. Wounded he escapes the Nazi’s that try to capture them.
He escapes and stays alive thanks to all kinds of help courageous people,
Very interesting story, if you are interested in WWII, resistance, and survival. I enjoyed it, but thought it sometimes a bit long.
He escapes and stays alive thanks to all kinds of help courageous people,
Very interesting story, if you are interested in WWII, resistance, and survival. I enjoyed it, but thought it sometimes a bit long.
oedipa_maas's review
4.0
This read like a thriller novel but it's nonfiction. In the first scene: a boat explosion, our hero shoots a Nazi, and then manages to hide on a tiny island before swimming to another - in March in the farthest reaches of Norway. And the action and tension doesn't stop as dozens of Norwegians risk their lives to help their countryman.
If you like escape/pursuit stories, or WWII individual adventure stories, this is your next book.
If you like escape/pursuit stories, or WWII individual adventure stories, this is your next book.