Reviews

438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea by Jonathan Franklin

agbowler's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

3.0

katieadlard's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful sad fast-paced

4.25

geve_'s review

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3.0

This is an amazing story taken at face value. When you compare the pictures in the book to the images of, for example, Callahan, emaciated and tanned, Alvarenga looked quite thick and pale, having endured an even longer trial. I wished for more details of the long journey. The author spoke to many experts, and did much research it seems, as there are lots of citations and quotes in the book, which I found interesting and helpful, but also sort of like filler in a story that was lacking in fullness. Perhaps the author didn't want to overwrite the daily routine of beating seabirds and drinking turtle blood. Still, an interesting read that I enjoyed. A good addition to the sea survival library.

tay_readsss's review

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

5.0

lillucat3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

3.75

titanic's review against another edition

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3.0

Wow. Just wow.

438 days stranded at sea. 10,512 hours. 630,720 minutes. 37,843,200 seconds. All that time spent at sea with no guarantee of food, water, shelter or even if you’ll live to see tomorrow.

[ +1 new fear has been discovered! ]

The book was a fascinating read, and I read most of it in one afternoon! I really felt for Salvador Alvarenga, the struggles and trauma he’s been through are beyond describing, but this book does a good job at making you understand how hopeless his situation is.

Better than I expected!

readindigo's review

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4.0

Make sure to read the author’s note. 4 stars easy!

storymi's review against another edition

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4.0

Echt een ongelofelijk waargebeurd verhaal over een man die 438 dagen overleefde in een simpele vissersboot midden op zee, met bijna niks tot zijn beschikking. Ik moest even op gang komen (van mij had het stuk voordat hij verdwaald raakte op zee misschien wel iets minder uitgebreid gemogen), maar het stuk daarna was heel indrukwekkend, schokkend en interessant: stukjes van zijn verhaal worden telkens toegelicht door wetenschappers, experts en ervaringsdeskundigen (zowel een sterk punt, als een zwak punt van het boek: soms haalde me het uit het verhaal, maar je leerde er ook wel extra dingen van).

Hoe dan ook, zeker vier sterren: ik ga zeker nog wel eens aan dit boek terug gaan denken, aan hoe belangrijk het is om te blijven dromen, om pro-actief te blijven nadenken in oplossingen met alles wat je hebt en hoe groot de kracht eigenlijk is van het menselijk lichaam. We kunnen meer doorstaan dan je zou denken!

shebby1991's review

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.75

bibliomaniac33's review

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5.0

(Audible version) This is one of those stories that just makes you marvel at how amazing man's resilience and ingenuity can be.

I think Franklin did a great job of relaying this story, letting the heart show through without being overly wrought or dramatic. Great read, would recommend.