Great Survival Stories (and why we love them)

Who can resist stories with characters in desperate situations? Whether or not we consider ourselves fans of survival stories in general, we're bound to have read a few. They make compelling page-turners because they feature one or two brave souls who face seemingly impossible odds against nature. Although we'd hate to be in their shoes for real, we're happy enough to place ourselves in their mindsets for as long as we're reading. 

Several of my choices feature just one key character alone against the elements. Perhaps that appeals to the introvert side of my nature. Or perhaps there's nothing quite as satisfying as cheering for an intrepid underdog, and who could be more deserving than a loner who prevails against the pitiless elements? 

1) Robinson Crusoe

I had to read this classic for Uni and found it exceedingly dull, to be honest. Yet Daniel Defoe's famous hero has made his stamp on our western cultural consciousness for generations. He's the quintessential Brit who cannot be subdued by decades on a desert island. Crusoe adapts to what's around him but retains the faith and proud nationalistic spirit he was born with. By modern standards, his imperial attitude of superiority and dominance isn't the most admirable characteristic. But boy, did it work for our friend Robinson!

2) The Martian

The brilliant and creative astronaut Mark Watney is accidentally stranded on Mars where his crew mates leave him for dead, but manages to keep himself alive with basically nothing but his own desperation and ingenuity. I guess he can thank his seed potatoes, botanical background, self-fertilising toilet habits and seemingly never-ending roll of duct tape. Most of all, Mark proves that an offbeat sense of humour is a strong survival tool. His attitude is always, 'This new development is very bad, and I have no idea what I'll do yet, but I'll think of something or I'm history!' (My review is here.)

3) Life of Pi

Piscine Molitor Patel is a resourceful teenager who not only finds himself stranded in a lifeboat on the vast Pacific Ocean but shares it with a group of zoo animals including Richard Parker, a fierce Bengal Tiger. Pi has to assert himself as the dominant animal on the boat or die. In short, this high school boy must embody the superiority of the human spirit just to stay alive. (See my review.)

4) Piranesi

Not only does this young man have a whopping case of amnesia but he lives in a mansion full of statues and rising tides with the potential to drown or starve him any time. Our boy figures out how to develop his fishing and record keeping skills, and this takes all his time so he can't despair. And it sure helps when he chooses to think of the House as a friendly setting he's cooperating with rather than an enemy he's fighting against. (I've raved about it here.)

5) The Long Winter

There were six members of the Ingalls family in this true story, but they made one unbeatable family unit. These guys were stuck in an isolated town buffeted by blizzards. They were slowly freezing and starving, because the supply train couldn't push through until spring. Electricity to houses was way in the future, so they had to improvise ways to produce heat and food out of practically nothing for month after month, surprising themselves by their ingenuity with buttons and straw. (I've written more about this compelling true story here.)

Whew, now that I think of it, what a great stack to read back to back. If you had to choose just one setting to be dropped into, which would it be? Scorching desert, barren red planet, daunting ocean, frozen snow plain or weird house? I think if I had to choose, I'd join Piranesi in the neverending series of halls with all the statues. Even though it's a horrifying prospect, something about it appeals to me. 

Have you any favourites you could add to my list?