Book info

• Title Jungle
• Author Yossi Ghinsberg
• Year 1985
• Genre Memoir

Four travelers meet in Bolivia and set off into the heart of the Amazon rainforest to find a hidden tribe and explore places tourists only dream of seeing. But what begins as the adventure of a lifetime quickly deteriorates into a dangerous nightmare. After weeks of wandering in the dense undergrowth the group splits up after disagreements, and Yossi and his friend try to find their own way back without a guide. When a terrible rafting accident separates him from his partner, Yossi is forced to survive for weeks alone against one of the wildest backdrops on the planet. Stranded without a knife, map, or survival training, he must improvise shelter and forage for wild fruit to survive. As his feet begin to rot during raging storms, as he loses all sense of direction, and as he begins to lose all hope, he wonders whether he will make it out of the jungle alive.

Thoughts

I have no idea why I bought this book, it’s been on my to read pile for a while but I haven’t seen the film and wasn’t aware of the story. I whizzed through it though, it’s an engaging story about horrible survival. I find it quite hard to understand why someone would just head off into the jungle with a stranger like that in the first place, but once you’re in, the horrors unfold. An easy read in terms of writing, a hard read in terms of content, it’s a good, interesting book, and I wonder whether the film is worth a watch too.

Rating: 3 / 5