Laurence Gonzales is a man of many talents. He has written novels, poetry, screenplays and plays. He is perhaps best known for his award-winning journalism, especially his stories in National Geographic on risk-takers and survival situations. He acknowledges that he is a risk-taker himself, which led him to ponder the link between the need for excitement and the ability to survive when things go wrong.
Deep Survival – The Origins of the Book
Gonzales begins his book with an account of planes landing on an aircraft carrier, a survival situation if ever there was one. The starting point is especially fitting since the author's father was a pilot in World War II. He was shot down over Germany and fell 27,000 feet – without a parachute – to the ground, where a German peasant put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed and Gonzales senior lived to endure starvation and excruciating pain from his injuries in a German prisoner of war camp. After the war, he returned home, married his sweetheart, and raised a family.
Beyond the sheer luck of surviving the fall and the German's gun jamming, what was it that kept Gonzales' father alive when the conditions of his imprisonment would have killed men without his terrible injuries? What is different about the 10-20% of people who have what it takes to survive? Gonzales sets out to find the answer to that question.
The Psychology of Risk
The first part of the book consists of a series of portraits of thrill-seekers. Gonzales examines the psychology behind risk-taking and what kind of people engage in things like mountaineering, sky-diving, and flying fighter jets. What he comes up with amounts to "Fear is fun." Some people feel more alive in the presence of fear because that emotion is part of staying alive; it is a survival tool.
Although this section of the book contains some really interesting stories, it does not tie in with the overall theme of survival as well as Gonzales hopes. He acknowledges the fact that the ability to survive is not tied to risk-taking. Indeed, one of the most interesting stories he tells comes later: Juliane is a 17-year-old girl who walked two weeks to get out of the Peruvian jungle after her plane went down. She had no supplies, no training, and was wearing a pair of high-heeled shoes when she crashed. Yet she made it.
What Makes a Survivor?
The second, more interesting, part of the book focuses on what makes a person a survivor. Gonzales approaches the topic from several angles, drawing on psychology, Stoic philosophy, neurobiology, and chaos theory, among other sources. While this may seem a bit scattered, Gonzales does a great job of bringing all these threads together to create a coherent picture of the traits needed to survive.
In a nutshell, survivors adapt quickly to new situations. Even if they find themselves in a horrible spot, they do not deny their reality, but figure out how to work with it. They stay calm when others panic. Survivors act. They devise a plan and then do something about it instead of waiting for someone else to save them. And survivors think of others. Whether caring for another survivor or being determined to stay alive so as not to cause pain to their loved ones, they have a goal outside themselves.
Why Deep Survival Is Worth Reading
Gonzales writes in a clear and fluent manner, presenting complex ideas in terms that are easily accessible to non-specialist readers. His stories are entertaining and to the point and his exploration of the topic draws the reader along. The material requires attention and thought, but is never obscure or overly technical.
Deep Survival is not a book of survival techniques. It will not teach the reader to start a fire with two sticks and a mosquito or how to find water in the outback. Those searching for such a book will do well, however, to make time for Gonzales, who illustrates time and again that while preparedness is good, it is not enough. This book is of great interest to anyone who has a vested interest in keeping him or herself alive, even if disaster seems unlikely.
For a novel that applies many of the concepts described here, see Running From the Devil by Jamie Freveletti.
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales. New York: Norton, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0393326154.
Nancy Baker - Nancy Baker holds an M.A. in English Literature. She taught college English for several years, including courses in composition and early ...
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