• Miracle in the Andes

  • 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
  • By: Nando Parrado, Vince Rause
  • Narrated by: Arthur Morey
  • Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (974 ratings)

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Miracle in the Andes  By  cover art

Miracle in the Andes

By: Nando Parrado, Vince Rause
Narrated by: Arthur Morey
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Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A harrowing, moving memoir of the 1972 plane crash that left its survivors stranded on a glacier in the Andes—and one man’s quest to lead them all home

“In straightforward, staggeringly honest prose, Nando Parrado tells us what it took—and what it actually felt like—to survive high in the Andes for seventy-two days after having been given up for dead.”—Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild

“In the first hours there was nothing, no fear or sadness, just a black and perfect silence.”

Nando Parrado was unconscious for three days before he woke to discover that the plane carrying his rugby team to Chile had crashed deep in the Andes, killing many of his teammates, his mother, and his sister. Stranded with the few remaining survivors on a lifeless glacier and thinking constantly of his father’s grief, Parrado resolved that he could not simply wait to die. So Parrado, an ordinary young man with no particular disposition for leadership or heroism, led an expedition up the treacherous slopes of a snowcapped mountain and across forty-five miles of frozen wilderness in an attempt to save his friends’ lives as well as his own.

Decades after the disaster, Parrado tells his story with remarkable candor and depth of feeling. Miracle in the Andes, a first-person account of the crash and its aftermath, is more than a riveting tale of true-life adventure; it is a revealing look at life at the edge of death and a meditation on the limitless redemptive power of love.

©2006 Nando Parrado (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Miracle in the Andes is an astonishing account of an unimaginable ordeal. In straightforward, staggeringly honest prose, Nando Parrado tells us what it took—and what it actually felt like—to survive high in the Andes for 72 days after having been given up for dead. If you pick this book up, you will not be able to put it down.” —Jon Krakauer, author of Under the Banner of Heaven, Into Thin Air, and Into the Wild

“Unlike the cloud that obscured the mountainside, there is no haze enshrouding the meaning of life for Nando Parrado. It was in the love for his father that Nando found the motivation to survive for over two months on a Chilean glacier. As he makes his unbelievable traverse of the Andes, Nando also demonstrates the depth of his courage, faith, and perseverance that help him later transform his losses into a source of inspiration for others. Connecting our struggles to his, we readers can use Nando as our beacon and see that there is a way out of our ‘own personal Andes.’” —Aron Ralston, author of Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Miracle in the Andes is an extraordinary book. Everybody’s philosophical hypotheticals were Nando Parrado’s real life experiences. Would I survive an aircrash? Could I eat human flesh? Would a horrific and life-threatening event affect my religious beliefs? In the end, this account benefits enormously from the maturity that time allows. It is a beautifully written and moving story.” —Peter Hillary, author of In the Ghost Country: A Lifetime Spent on the Edge

What listeners say about Miracle in the Andes

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Must Listen

Retold by the survivor most responsible for the group's rescue, this excellent book not only provides a spellbinding rendition of one of the great survival stories of all time, but also provides a unique view into the feelings and thoughts of the people who were there, and a perspective from three decades later on what it means to have survived. This is one audio book you will not want turn off or even pause. The epilogue spoken by the author himself, together with an interview by the publisher, provides added interest. I've listened to maybe 40 different Audible books, and none more enjoyable or thought provoking than this one. Highest recommendation.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

SO SO

Great story. Poor audio book. The story would be best abridged the writer is long on words and short on story. The writer spent to much time on his relationship with god and self and too little time telling the story. A much better book is titled "Alive". Skip this one if possible unless you like boring.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great adventure, awesome spritual tale

I love survival tales and selected this for that reason. I recently heard Nando interviewed and the experience sounded literally over the top. On that count the book delivers - a well read, well told, narrative. It is a treat that Nando reads the first and last chapters, and Morey is good too. You also get an interview with Nando at the end.
But the true jewel in this book is Nando's spiritual journey. He ruminations about God and life, his relationships with his friends, and his awareness that love is what gave him the power to survive - a love of his father. Nando discovered God in all things; he does not believe that God "saved him" but that God was there.
There is also a substantial "epilogue." We learn of his life after the adventure and the truly uplifting story behind his coming to write his story so many years after the actual event.
This book is on my top 10 list. Highely recommended.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

heart wrenching

I don't usually read books about tragedies because it shakes me up too much. This rocked my world for a few days, but the overall power of the story and lessons learned far outweigh the pain and uncomfortable moments you have to listen about.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

THE AUDIO SAMPLE IS NOT THE NARRATOR

Any additional comments?

Great book & an incredible true story, it is truly amazing, but one may be put off by the heavy accented audio sample that accompanies this book. That is in fact not the narrator but the author who at the very start of the book introduces himself before handing over to the actual narrator. If you do enjoy this also have a look at Unbreakable, that is also truly amazing & I feel a better book.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

one of my favorite all time books

Would you listen to Miracle in the Andes again? Why?

yes- inspirational

What other book might you compare Miracle in the Andes to and why?

unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Any additional comments?

this is a such an incredible story. to hear about such testing of the human spirit yet it was a challenge met with grace. yes it was hard to hear at some points, but well worth the investment of one's time. what a remarkable man.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Must buy! Amazing human survival

Story: excellent description
Narrator: great and clear, he sounds like and Americanized Nando.

This is an amazing story of human survival. I bought it to learn about human strength and leadership when man is pushed to the edge. I learned many lessons about positive and negative outlooks in life from Nando and the survivors.

The book, "Alive!" is more of an overall documentary account, while this book, "Miracle in the Andes" is from Nando's personal perspective and dives deeper into his personal thoughts through their journey to find help in the Andes.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • LL
  • 10-15-10

Excellent

I remember reading ALIVE so many years ago and always being fascinated by this story. Nando Parrado was one of the survivors and has written a deeply personal book that tells the story without sensationalism. The author reads the prologue and epilogue and as other reviewers mentioned, his accent is heavy. That was not distracting to me at all. There is also an interview with Nando at the end and that was a real treat. This is an excellent listen and highly recommended.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

An abridged version is needed

This should be a dynamic and exciting book...but manages not to be. Needs to be abridged.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great story not so great aftermath

The survival and rescue parts were breathtaking and touching, but Nando's celebrity life and his philosophy left me bit empty.

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2 people found this helpful