Reviews for The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life

The average rating for The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-10-20 00:00:00 Andrea Kula Though reading this book gave me the same sort of dirty, guilty feeling that I get if caught gawking at a car accident, I have to admit, most of it was pretty fascinating. This title consists of matter-of-fact essays that tell the amazing stories of ordinary people who have defied the odds and survived unbelievable accidents. Interviews with plane crash survivors, a young man who lived after jumping off the Golden Gate bridge, a woman attacked by a mountain lion, another who punctured her heart with a knitting needle, and the most astonishing - a man who survived ejecting from a jet going faster than the speed of sound. The book should be viewed mainly as a series of interesting case studies, rather than a survival guide. Most of the factors that determine survival are intangibles you can do nothing about - your age, personality, and the severity of your injuries. As in all of life, it helps if you are fit and healthy. And if you are in a plane crash? It's best if you are a male. A strong family life, will to live, religious faith, and determination are all mentioned as assets shared by survivors. I made note of the Japanese saying Fall down seven times, stand up eight as a new mantra to chant in times of crisis. There's also plenty of conflicting information. During WWII, POW's were most likely to survive if they were pessimists, whereas Holocaust survivors tended to be optimists. Perhaps Elie Wiesel offered the best explanation. "Chance" he whispered. "It was chance. That is all." The book includes a link to a website where the reader can take a survivor quiz.* I was not surprised to see that I have a "well-defined survivor personality." I kind of already knew that, as I decided long ago, I am not leaving this planet BEFORE my mother-in-law does. That thought is all I need to get me through any emergency. *NOTE: The link to the quiz has expired. Buyer beware.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-06-25 00:00:00 Thomas York I really liked the first few chapters. In fact, I couldn't put it down. I spent all of yesterday reading this book. I have been drawn to stories of survival and have read a few books about people who have survived harrowing experiences (One of my favorites being "Dead Lucky" by Lincoln Hall). However, I got to the chapter on faith and was completely turned off. According to the author and his research, faith in God is one of the determining factors on whether or not you survive something. His examples were very, very Christian-centric and that really bothered me. I decided halfway through this chapter that I didn't want to finish the book. However, I did take his "survivor profile." Ironically, I have the survivor personality of "Believer." ha! And I suppose this is true. I do believe in something greater than ourselves and have drawn upon this my entire life. When I was younger I viewed this as God. Now that I'm older I have a more universal view of it. I lean more toward Zen Buddhism in my belief at this stage in my life and what I used to call "God" I now see as something bigger and more universal. Regardless if my beliefs, The question that kept running through my mind as I read this was, "who cares?" Why should I spend my life worrying about whether I will survive a horrifying experience? Is it even important? I find it much more liberating to experience life as it comes and deal with situations as they arise than to spend time worrying about whether I will get impaled by a knitting needle, or attacked by a mountain lion. Or even getting in a car wreck, for that matter. My thought is that if it is my time to die than so be it. Death is a part of life. There is no shame in dying if it is your time.