Interesting stories of survival, but I can't stand the ...
930496
Interesting stories of survival, but I can't stand the ( Up next ) or telling me what happened from the start! It would have made the show more enjoyably without spoilers.
1737473
These are truly intense tales from people who have experienced the horrors of war and its aftermath.
One thing I did not like is that the producers chose to replay the same images time and time again. When they do things like this it throws their credibility into question.
946299
The book starts strong, with the remembrances of Holocaust survivors, including Jews' experiences in the camps, the forced journeys, the Warsaw ghetto, and the train. We then meet a number of US soldiers, and hear their experiences as they made their way across Europe and eventually to the train. Both of these are riveting, indispensable reading.
But then the last quarter of the book is largely about the author and his experiences in creating the book. And, frankly, I don't care. After being immersed in the epic and dire experiences of the Jews and the soldiers, the author's life is tedious and this writing borders on self-hagiography.
Unfortunately, mixed into that last quarter of the book are modern remembrances from the soldiers and survivors from reunions within the past 10 years (who are now either very aged or have passed away). So you feel compelled to read this final quarter in order to find these gems, but I found myself resenting the author for clumsily injecting himself into the story.
3840216
This is a collection of short stories depicting difficult, mostly war times. The stories are set in such horrible places (war-torn Africa, a Nazi camp, South America). Each story is different and unique, but they are all utterly disturbing. Some parts are so brutal that they make one wonder how far human nature can go. The stories can be read quite quickly. Some of them are better than the others in terms of the writer's style (though something might have been lost in translation). In general, these are all but easy to read stories and I would not recommend them to anyone to read for pure pleasure. However, they do give the reader something to think about long after closing the final page.
170543
Very poorly edited and the never ending sentences/paragraphs simply don't make sense to me. However, the stories are interesting if you can get past the weird writing style.
216666
I read this on my recent spring-break trip to Paris, where I went with my wife and children.  The author has penned a variety of stories.  Some of them ended in a cryptic Robert Aickman-like way, which I like.  My favorite story was "Proving Up," which involves a remote group of homesteaders anxiously anticipating a certificate from the Inspector.  All they need to do is mount a glass window in each of their respective homes in order to own their land free and clear.  The story is quite macabre and reminded me of some of Ray Bradbury's greats in "The October Country" and had a little hint--intended or otherwise--of Thomas Ligotti.

Another favorite was "Reeling for the Empire," which takes place in a quasi-futuristic Japan where certain girls are chosen to work in a remote factory to produce silk, having acquired the ability by imbibing a special tea prepared for them by a man known as the Agent.  Of the eight stories, I liked them all, but the title story was probably my least favorite.  Still a good read and well written, though.  Karen Russell certainly proves herself to be a versatile and gifted writer.  I'm intrigued about her earlier work, i.e. "Swamplandia," and might give that a go.
936051
I guess I'm in the camp of those who aren't so crazy about this book.  I don't mind stories that are dark and depressing, as a matter of fact, I'm drawn to stories like that.  BUT, I found the writing style really difficult.  And again, I'm willing to put up with a lot as far as writing style goes, but too often, I'm wondering who's speaking, where are we now, who is being spoken about now, what the hell is going on....etc.

I'm now half way through this book, and I find it a tough slog, and I'm putting the book down a lot, with a heavy sigh.  I like to be riveted to the story I'm reading, so that after I've been reading awhile, I'm shocked at how much I've read.  Not with this book at all.  It's more like, oh my God, how many more pages do I have to get through to finish this.

Kudos to the author for writing about something so current and real.  But the writing style is really difficult.
2320232
...and that's part of the problem. I thought this book was "Ok" as indicated in my rating but I found many of the stories, especially the earlier ones which begin in the 16th century a bit hard to get into. Possibly because the flow of the language was something I wasn't use to and didn't particularly care for. It also made me a bit nuts that these poor people, after suffering all kinds of torments and travails would praise God because it could have been worse! Talk about seeing the glass half full. The tales that I did like I found too short. Ok, it's a compilation and I understand the limitations but I have pretty much decided that I'd rather read a longer more detailed true adventure story (written in the third person perhaps)than a collection of "Reader's Digest" versions. All that being said if you are not familiar with for example the experiences of the Andes survivors or the crew of the whale ship Essex this book is a good introduction and will undoubtably whet your appetite for "the rest of the story."
1443491
There are some pretty powerful stories in this book. A woman from a broken home and foster care, a paraplegic man, these are some great tales of people overcoming adversity. The author lets us down with her attempts to draw a common thread between the people though - she attributes their success to positive attitude and a reckless attitude to chase their dreams, but in practice what you see is an example of survivorship bias from a group of uniquely privileged individuals.
3487973
I have read and a lot of war stories that are far more impressive. There are too many repetitions and the book could be probably half of its size by editing it. it also exxagerates on things like 'we atre the best of the world" statements.
217588
It's a well written story, I just can't deal w the ending. Just me, some ppl may like the intensity.
2095146
Some of the stories are too lengthy and average, but there are a few stories that really blow my mind.
3402541
This is a book about a zombie apocalypse, but it is also about how humans can't help being humans, even in the face of the end of the world.

The story starts with a teaser and you're not quite sure how it plays into the overall novel because it isn't mentioned again until the very end of the book.

Then the normal sickness and dying start, people don't believe zombies are real, and the virus spreads out-of-control.  A small group of survivors makes its way to an amusement park/zoo at the top of a hill, where they find some semblance of safety and another small group of survivors.  That's when the real problems start.  Even in the face of overwhelming catastrophe and the end of the world, these survivors just can't seem to figure out how to live together.  There are power struggles, as they would occur in the normal world, but in the apocalyptic world, they truly are senseless.  Will humans ever figure out how to live together in peace or is the urge for dominance built into genes?

The book comes full circle as we find out how and why the virus started, which is truly disturbing.

Some of the characters are very well-written, but there are others I couldn't distinguish from one another.  There were several times a female character was mentioned, and I had to think, "Now, who is she again?"  The zombie attack scenes are also well-written.  At first, I thought they were confusing, but then I realized, how else could a zombie attack be?  People are fighting for their lives, but the zombies just keep coming, and all it takes is one bite.  And the zombies never get tired.

This is an good story, but the lack of female character development was distracting and there were also too many coincidences.  Then, when I finished the book, I saw it was the first book of a series.  Maybe I should have known that beforehand, but I didn't, so I was annoyed.  I don't mind the serial nature of books, but I do mind the cost.  Yes, Kindle books are inexpensive, but that changes when it turns out you have to buy book after book.  I don't know how many books are in this series, but I know I won't be buying them.

This is a fairly good book, though.
3391769
Really interesting story, but unfortunately I found the author's writing style too juvenile for the serious nature of the subject matter. I also did not care for the changes from 3rd person to 1st person perspective at times. It's really fascinating that the author found himself involved in the case, but it didn't seem as instrumental as the blurbs on the back cover make it seem. I certainly did not get the feeling that he was in some kind of mortal danger.  I also really wish there was more information behind the stories. I guess I wanted this to be more historical than a recounting.
1773568
The main attraction of this book is that it is window into the world of the northwest native Americans. Obviously, survival was the motivation to everything they did. However, it was appalling to me how violent and unforgiving the natives were, against anyone who slighted them, whether white or native. Some of the British sailors weren't any better. Sadly, today there are still people born with inferior, unevolved brains, who blindly follow a distorted ideology.
3193547
Interesting true story, but the style makes the reading tedious.
3717014
What struck me most in the marvelous Lessing short book, Memoirs of a Survivor, is how matter-of-factly we accept horrific changes as long as they happen bit by bit.  The absence of emotionality in the story, noted by others, is, I believe, intentional.  As conditions worsen, the main character (and her ward) find ways to adapt, but never consider what actions they might take to reverse the societal decline.

This is a story about our inherent passivity, our overweaning trust that someone else will surely take care of things when they go bad.  It is also a testament to our ability to adapt to changing circumstances, but in general I feel it is a condemnation of our blindness to perceive and then resist those changes that dismantle and ultimately destroy vibrant societies.