A review by swoody788
Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free by Hector Tobar

4.0

I can't say that I was glued to the television as these events unfolded back in 2010, but I was aware of what was happening and intrigued by it nonetheless. I remember watching one of the rescued miners speak with David Letterman and sing Elvis to the audience. He seemed so jovial and upbeat. Now I know his name (Edison Peña), and that he was anything but happy and content, I have gotten a glimpse of what he and his 32 companions endured - not only as they were trapped a few thousand feet underground for 69 days but also the struggles they had to deal with after they were rescued. I feel like Tobar told this story just right - it was informative in a scientific as well as a psychological way - and lets the reader discern how they feel about the actions of everyone involved. I appreciate how religious everyone seems to be in South America, and how the faith of these men and their families and their nation and continent really brought everyone together, but it was interesting to see the change that some experienced with their new found fame, whether good or bad. These were just regular working class men who were brought together by a tragedy, and the variation of their reactions was fascinating. Honestly I feel like the most difficult thing they had to endure and overcome was getting back to "normal" after they were rescued, although the idea of living on a teaspoon of canned tuna and an Oreo a day in the dark seems pretty terrible.

Also, Tobar did a pretty good job of describing and helping the reader keep up with the 33 men involved, and I appreciated the photographs of each at the beginning of the book because I regularly had to flip back and see who was who. Some men definitely played a larger role in the story and therefore got a lot more page time so it was easy to remember them, but others just kind of ran together in my mind from the edge of night on.