What do you think?
Rate this book
賮乇丕乇 丕夭 爻蹖亘乇蹖
Originally published in 1955, As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me has seen international success ever since. It has been translated into fifteen languages, sold more than 12 million copies, and is the basis for an award-winning German entry at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Recounting an incredible real-life adventure, it tracks the destiny of German soldier Clemens Forrell who, in the aftermath of WWII, was sentenced to twenty-five years of forced labor in a lead mine in the barren eastern reaches of Siberia.
Subjected to the brutality of the camp and the climate, Forrell dreamed continuously of escape鈥攁nd then daringly effected it. From East Cape across the vast trackless wastes of Siberia, for thousands of miles and three years, with fear as his most intimate companion, Forrell fled treachery and endured some of the most inhospitable conditions on earth. In a long series of taped interviews with esteemed German author Josef M. Bauer, Forrell unfolded his remarkable story of survival. Bauer not only reconstructs Forrell's arduous journey to the Iranian frontier and freedom; he also poignantly evokes the emotional content of Forrell's brave quest鈥攅merging as an affecting portrait of a man who strove and triumphed against all odds.
Subjected to the brutality of the camp and the climate, Forrell dreamed continuously of escape鈥攁nd then daringly effected it. From East Cape across the vast trackless wastes of Siberia, for thousands of miles and three years, with fear as his most intimate companion, Forrell fled treachery and endured some of the most inhospitable conditions on earth. In a long series of taped interviews with esteemed German author Josef M. Bauer, Forrell unfolded his remarkable story of survival. Bauer not only reconstructs Forrell's arduous journey to the Iranian frontier and freedom; he also poignantly evokes the emotional content of Forrell's brave quest鈥攅merging as an affecting portrait of a man who strove and triumphed against all odds.
292 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 1955
371 people are currently reading
3,757 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 184 reviews
August 9, 2017
亘丕賱丕禺乇賴 亘乇丕蹖 丕賳爻丕賳 乇賵夭蹖 賲蹖鈥屫必池� 讴賴 亘賴 賴乇趩蹖夭蹖 毓丕丿鬲 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 丨鬲蹖 賲乇丿賳 - 亘乇丿丕卮鬲 丌夭丕丿 丕夭 讴鬲丕亘
賵胤賳 賲賳 讴噩丕爻鬲責
亘賴 诏匕卮鬲賴鈥屫з� 讴賴 賳诏丕賴 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁呚� 丕夭 噩丕蹖蹖 亘賴 亘毓丿 鬲賳賴丕 讴丕乇蹖 讴賴 亘賴 噩丿 賵 噩賴丿 讴乇丿賴鈥屫з� 賮乇丕乇 讴乇丿賳 丕爻鬲貙 鬲氐賲蹖賲鈥屬囏й屰� 讴賴 賴賲诏蹖 亘賵蹖蹖 丕夭 鬲爻賱蹖賲 卮丿賳 賲蹖鈥屫囐嗀�. 丨鬲蹖 丿乇 讴丕亘賵爻鈥屬囏й� 亘蹖鈥屫促呚ж辟呚� 亘丿賵賳 丨鬲蹖 蹖讴 賲賵乇丿 丕爻鬲孬賳丕貙 賴賲蹖卮賴 丿乇 丨丕賱 賮乇丕乇 讴乇丿賳 丕夭 賲賵賯毓蹖鬲蹖貙 趩蹖夭蹖 蹖丕 讴爻蹖 亘賵丿賴鈥屫з�. 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賴賲 丕夭 毓賳賵丕賳卮 賲卮禺氐 丕爻鬲 讴賴 丨賵賱 趩賴 賲丨賵乇蹖 賲蹖鈥屭嗀必� : 賮乇丕乇. 丕賲丕 賮乇丕乇 丕賮爻乇 丌賱賲丕賳蹖貙 亘賵乇賱 丕夭 賳賯胤賴鈥屫й� 丿賵乇 丕賮鬲丕丿賴 丿乇 爻蹖亘乇蹖 丕夭 噩賳爻蹖 丿蹖诏乇 丕爻鬲. 賲賯丕賵賲鬲 賵 丕賲蹖丿 鬲丕 丌禺乇蹖賳 賳賮爻 亘賴 爻賵蹖 夭賳丿诏蹖貙 鬲丕 丌賳噩丕 讴賴 倬丕賴丕 鬲賵丕賳 賴賲乇丕賴蹖 丿丕乇賳丿 賵 賴賲蹖賳 賲賵囟賵毓 亘丕毓孬 卮丿賴 讴鬲丕亘蹖 讴賴 賮蹖賱賲卮 乇丕 賯亘賱丕 丿蹖丿賲 賵 丕夭 倬丕蹖丕賳卮 賲胤賱毓 亘賵丿賲 鬲丕 丕蹖賳 丕賳丿丕夭賴 亘乇丕蹖賲 噩匕丕亘 賵 賴蹖噩丕賳 丕賳诏蹖夭 亘丕卮丿. 讴鬲丕亘貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 賵丕賯毓蹖 賮乇丕乇 蹖讴 丕賮爻乇 丌賱賲丕賳蹖 丕夭 丕乇丿賵诏丕賴 讴丕乇 丕噩亘丕乇蹖 丿乇 賲賳鬲賴蹖鈥屫з勠屬� 卮賲丕賱 卮乇賯蹖 賯丕乇賴 丌爻蹖丕 鬲丕 禺丕賵乇賲蹖丕賳賴貙 丿乇 爻乇夭賲蹖賳蹖 蹖禺 夭丿賴貙 亘丿賵賳 睾匕丕 賵 爻乇倬賳丕賴 丕爻鬲. 爻賮乇蹖 亘丕賵乇賳讴乇丿賳蹖 賵 丕夭 賳诏丕賴 丿蹖诏乇丕賳 睾蹖乇賲賲讴賳. 賮賵乇賱 丿乇 胤賵賱 丕蹖賳 爻賴 爻丕賱 爻賮乇貙 賴夭丕乇丕賳 讴蹖賱賵賲鬲乇 乇丕 賲蹖鈥屬聚屬呚й屫� 丌賳噩丕 讴賴 鬲賵丕賳 乇丕賴 乇賮鬲賳 乇丕 丕夭 丿爻鬲 賲蹖鈥屫囏� 亘丕 丕爻鬲禺賵丕賳鈥屬囏й屰� 卮讴爻鬲賴 賵 爻爻鬲 乇賵蹖 爻蹖賳賴 賲蹖鈥屫藏� 鬲丕 卮丕蹖丿 乇賵夭蹖 亘賴 賵胤賳卮 亘乇爻丿. 丕賲蹖丿 亘賴 夭賳丿诏蹖 賵 丕賳诏蹖夭賴鈥屰� 賲丕賳丿賳貙 鬲賳賴丕 賯賵鬲 丕賵 丿乇 丕蹖賳 賲亘丕乇夭賴 亘丕 胤亘毓蹖鬲 禺卮賳貙 賯賵丕賳蹖賳 爻禺鬲 丨讴賵賲鬲 讴賲賵賳蹖爻鬲蹖 卮賵乇賵蹖 賵 鬲賲丕賲 丿賳蹖丕蹖卮 丕爻鬲. 丨蹖賳 禺賵丕賳丿賳 卮乇丨 丕蹖賳 賲亘丕乇夭賴貙 亘丕乇賴丕 蹖丕丿 丿蹖丕賱賵诏蹖 丕夭 賮蹖賱賲 丿乇 噩爻鬲噩賵蹖 禺賵卮亘禺鬲蹖 賲賵趩蹖賳賵 丕賮鬲丕丿賲貙 丌賳噩丕 讴賴 讴乇蹖爻 诏丕乇丿賳乇 賲賮賱爻 亘賴 讴賵丿讴卮 賲蹖鈥屭堐屫� 賴乇诏夭 亘賴 讴爻蹖 丕噩丕夭賴 賳丿賴 亘賴鬲 亘诏賴 賳賲蹖鈥屫堎嗃� 讴丕乇蹖 乇賵 丕賳噩丕賲 亘丿蹖貙 丨鬲蹖 賲賳
#讴鬲丕亘鈥屫堌з嗃宊丿乇冲倬丕丿诏丕賳
September 1, 2019
鬲丕亘 丿乇 賯丕賱亘 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 禺丕胤乇丕鬲 '蹖讴 丕賮爻乇 丌賱賲丕賳蹖' 丿乇 噩賳诏 噩賴丕賳蹖 丿賵賲 丕爻鬲. 丕賵 爻丕讴賳 賲賵賳蹖禺 亘賵丿貙 讴賴 丿乇 夭賲丕賳 禺丿賲鬲 丿乇 丕乇鬲卮 賴蹖鬲賱乇 亘賴 噩亘賴賴鈥屬囏й� 卮乇賯 丕毓夭丕賲 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賵 毓丕賯亘鬲貙 亘賴 丕爻丕乇鬲 丕乇鬲卮 卮賵乇賵蹖 丿乇賲蹖鈥屫③屫�. 丕賲丕 丕賵 亘賴 賴賳诏丕賲 丕爻丕乇鬲 賳賯卮賴鈥屰� 賮乇丕乇 乇丕 胤乇丕丨蹖 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 賵 爻乇丕賳噩丕賲 賲賵賮賯 賲蹖鈥屫促堌� 賲爻丕賮鬲 賲蹖丕賳 丿賲丕睾賴鈥屰� 卮乇賯蹖 鬲丕 爻乇丕爻乇 爻蹖亘乇蹖 乇丕 丿乇 胤賵賱 爻賴 爻丕賱 丿乇賳賵乇丿丿 賵 亘賴 讴卮賵乇 禺賵丿 亘丕夭诏乇丿丿.
丕賱亘鬲賴 亘毓丿 丕夭 讴卮蹖丿賳 爻禺鬲蹖 賴丕 賵 禺胤乇丕鬲 賮乇丕賵丕賳 亘賴 爻賲鬲 噩賳賵亘 丕賲丿 賵 賵丕乇丿 讴卮賵乇 丕蹖乇丕賳 卮丿 賵 丿乇 卮賴乇 鬲亘乇蹖夭 鬲賵爻胤 賳蹖乇賵賴丕蹖 丕賲賳蹖鬲蹖 亘丕夭丿丕卮鬲 诏乇丿蹖丿 賵 禺賵丕爻鬲丕乇 丿蹖丿丕乇 亘丕 爻賮蹖乇 丕賱賲丕賳 卮丿 賵 亘毓丿 丕夭 诏匕卮鬲 賲丿鬲 夭蹖丕丿蹖 讴賴 賲毓賱賵賲 卮丿 噩丕爻賵爻 賳蹖爻鬲 亘乇丕蹖卮 賯乇丕乇 賲賱丕賯丕鬲 亘丕 爻賮蹖乇 乇丕 賮乇丕賴賲 賳賲賵丿賳丿 賵 丕夭 賴賲蹖賳噩丕 賲賯丿賲丕鬲 丕夭丕丿蹖 賵丕賯毓蹖 賴賲 卮乇賵毓 卮丿
丕賱亘鬲賴 亘毓丿 丕夭 讴卮蹖丿賳 爻禺鬲蹖 賴丕 賵 禺胤乇丕鬲 賮乇丕賵丕賳 亘賴 爻賲鬲 噩賳賵亘 丕賲丿 賵 賵丕乇丿 讴卮賵乇 丕蹖乇丕賳 卮丿 賵 丿乇 卮賴乇 鬲亘乇蹖夭 鬲賵爻胤 賳蹖乇賵賴丕蹖 丕賲賳蹖鬲蹖 亘丕夭丿丕卮鬲 诏乇丿蹖丿 賵 禺賵丕爻鬲丕乇 丿蹖丿丕乇 亘丕 爻賮蹖乇 丕賱賲丕賳 卮丿 賵 亘毓丿 丕夭 诏匕卮鬲 賲丿鬲 夭蹖丕丿蹖 讴賴 賲毓賱賵賲 卮丿 噩丕爻賵爻 賳蹖爻鬲 亘乇丕蹖卮 賯乇丕乇 賲賱丕賯丕鬲 亘丕 爻賮蹖乇 乇丕 賮乇丕賴賲 賳賲賵丿賳丿 賵 丕夭 賴賲蹖賳噩丕 賲賯丿賲丕鬲 丕夭丕丿蹖 賵丕賯毓蹖 賴賲 卮乇賵毓 卮丿
January 21, 2022
I had mixed feelings bout this book. While it was always interesting, it was not a book that I could not put down. Still, it caused me to think a lot about the human condition. Not that I had any new thoughts about it.
A German was being held as a prisoner of war in a Russian mining camp. All prisoners lived in the mines where they mined lead, and they contacted lead poisoning and knew it. Even their prisoners knew that this was happening, but the cruelty was not just hte lad poisoning. I thought back to the book, "The Iron Rooster," and how in the 80s the Chinese shot those who had committed crimes, and it didn't matter how little the crime was. They were getting rid of those who were bad for society. Yet, in both of these cases, the Russians and the Chinese, those in charge were far more evil than those in prison. It happens everywhere; it is the human condition. It is the desire to see people punished to a greater extent than deserved. It is like those who believe in hellfire or karma because, well, they too, desire people to be punished. Even those in America are becoming more brutal than in the past, or is the past just catching up with us?
So, this man in this book, had done very little to be imprisoned. And when he escaped, I felt cheerful.
The people on theoutside of the priSon were much more kind towards him, even inviging him into their homes, often knowing that he was an escaped prisoner.
Do the the hospitality of the Russians, it took hm three years to get to the boarder. The warmth and kindness of strangers made this book remember-able and pleasant to read.
A German was being held as a prisoner of war in a Russian mining camp. All prisoners lived in the mines where they mined lead, and they contacted lead poisoning and knew it. Even their prisoners knew that this was happening, but the cruelty was not just hte lad poisoning. I thought back to the book, "The Iron Rooster," and how in the 80s the Chinese shot those who had committed crimes, and it didn't matter how little the crime was. They were getting rid of those who were bad for society. Yet, in both of these cases, the Russians and the Chinese, those in charge were far more evil than those in prison. It happens everywhere; it is the human condition. It is the desire to see people punished to a greater extent than deserved. It is like those who believe in hellfire or karma because, well, they too, desire people to be punished. Even those in America are becoming more brutal than in the past, or is the past just catching up with us?
So, this man in this book, had done very little to be imprisoned. And when he escaped, I felt cheerful.
The people on theoutside of the priSon were much more kind towards him, even inviging him into their homes, often knowing that he was an escaped prisoner.
Do the the hospitality of the Russians, it took hm three years to get to the boarder. The warmth and kindness of strangers made this book remember-able and pleasant to read.
July 21, 2023
La letteratura e il cinema hollywoodiano ci hanno raccontato le rocambolesche fughe dei soldati alleati dai lager nazisti della seconda guerra mondiale, ma stavolta un libro racconta l'impossibile fuga di un soldato tedesco, prigioniero dei Russi in una sperduta e micidiale miniera di uranio che, alla morte certa, preferisce l'avventurarsi in una terra sconosciuta, munito solo dell'essenziale per non morire subito e della sua caparbia volont脿 di sopravvivere e di cercare l'ovest, la patria, la libert脿. Una storia avventurosa che lascia senza parole, bella da leggere, da consigliare e da ricordare negli anni
March 11, 2020
賵 丕賲丕 賰鬲丕亘賷 毓丕賱賷 賵 亘乇丕爻丕爻 賵丕賯毓賷鬲
夭賳丿诏賷 賷賰 爻乇亘丕夭 丕賱賲丕賳賷 賰賴 丿乇 乇賵爻賷賴 丕爻賷乇 诏乇賮鬲賴 賲賷 卮賵丿 賵 亘賴 丕乇丿賵诏丕賴 賰丕乇 丕噩亘丕乇賷 賮乇爻鬲丕丿賴 賵 賲丿鬲賴丕 丕賳噩丕 賰丕乇 賲賷 賰賳丿 爻倬爻 丕賯丿丕賲 亘賴 賮乇丕乇 賵 鬲賱丕卮 亘乇丕 亘乇诏卮鬲賳 亘賴 賵胤賳卮 賲賷 賰賳丿 賵 爻賴 爻丕賱 鬲賲丕賲 丕賷賳 爻賮乇 胤賵賱 賲賷 賰卮丿 .
亘乇丕賷 賰爻丕賳賷 賰賴 亘賴 禺賵丕賳丿賳 夭賳丿诏賷 賳丕賲賴 毓賱丕賯賴 賲賳丿賳丿 亘爻賷丕乇 鬲賵氐亘賴 賲賷 賰賳賲 .
賵 丕丿賲 趩賴 丕賳诏賷夭賴 丕賷 賯賵賷 丕賷 亘丕賷丿 丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿 鬲丕 伲 爻丕賱 鬲賲丕賲 丿乇 丨丕賱 賮乇丕乇 亘乇丕賷 乇爻賷丿賳 亘賴 賵胤賳卮 丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿 . 禺賵丕賳丿賳 夭賳丿诏賷 趩賳賷賳 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賷賷 賵丕噩亘 丕爻鬲
夭賳丿诏賷 賷賰 爻乇亘丕夭 丕賱賲丕賳賷 賰賴 丿乇 乇賵爻賷賴 丕爻賷乇 诏乇賮鬲賴 賲賷 卮賵丿 賵 亘賴 丕乇丿賵诏丕賴 賰丕乇 丕噩亘丕乇賷 賮乇爻鬲丕丿賴 賵 賲丿鬲賴丕 丕賳噩丕 賰丕乇 賲賷 賰賳丿 爻倬爻 丕賯丿丕賲 亘賴 賮乇丕乇 賵 鬲賱丕卮 亘乇丕 亘乇诏卮鬲賳 亘賴 賵胤賳卮 賲賷 賰賳丿 賵 爻賴 爻丕賱 鬲賲丕賲 丕賷賳 爻賮乇 胤賵賱 賲賷 賰卮丿 .
亘乇丕賷 賰爻丕賳賷 賰賴 亘賴 禺賵丕賳丿賳 夭賳丿诏賷 賳丕賲賴 毓賱丕賯賴 賲賳丿賳丿 亘爻賷丕乇 鬲賵氐亘賴 賲賷 賰賳賲 .
賵 丕丿賲 趩賴 丕賳诏賷夭賴 丕賷 賯賵賷 丕賷 亘丕賷丿 丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿 鬲丕 伲 爻丕賱 鬲賲丕賲 丿乇 丨丕賱 賮乇丕乇 亘乇丕賷 乇爻賷丿賳 亘賴 賵胤賳卮 丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮丿 . 禺賵丕賳丿賳 夭賳丿诏賷 趩賳賷賳 丕賳爻丕賳 賴丕賷賷 賵丕噩亘 丕爻鬲
February 4, 2015
This book had been sitting awhile in my bookcase, when after recently watching the Polish film (fictional) 鈥淭he Way Back鈥� (2010), I was reminded of Bauer鈥檚 book.
There is a b/w photograph on the back cover, showing the back of the principal protagonist, Clemens Forell (an alias), who faces the author and his publisher. To modern eyes the image appears stiff, staged and ill at ease; but taking a moment to consider 1940s and 1950s film technology, that may just be normal for the period.
Descriptive writing such as 鈥溾€� walking skeletons. Their skins were blotched and yellow with jaundice, their legs and feet perpetually swollen鈥︹€� (p.160) left me assessing fundamental questions about mind and muscle, the sharpening of the senses, and the ability to think quickly (or not), to assess probabilities, and about the nature of what we call 鈥榣uck鈥�. This book describes, in varying detail, such an extraordinarily long journey through such dauntingly hostile terrain. I have no remotely comparable personal experience to relate it to.
Wikipedia [] casts doubt on the veracity of the 鈥淎s Far As My Feet Will Carry Me鈥�; whereas the New York Times review of the 2001 film [] is more subtle in planting the idea that perhaps a story can grow into the role of an epic of war. After all, I pondered, surely no-one reads 鈥渗别辞飞耻濒蹿 as true fact?
Laying aside the niggling question of fact or fiction, or whether a knit & purl of both, I had picked up the book late one evening, started to read 鈥� and pretty much immediately wished for a map showing the route of the escape. However, it wasn鈥檛 until pages 80-81 that I found what I sought!
There being no chapters in this book (just periodic 鈥� * * * 鈥� type line breaks), I had earlier raged that the publisher (Andre Deutsch) had deemed it unnecessary to include anything as useful as an index! Yet in not knowing what comes next, the lack of formal division into chapters curiously acts to deepen the almost unimaginable sense of the sheer length of 鈥楥lemens Forell鈥檚鈥� highly dangerous three year and 8.000 mile journey. That sense is reinforced by that very absence of division. But I found it discombobulating to have read through four-fifths of this book, only to find that a mere quarter of the map had been traversed!
On occasion the translator charmed me: 鈥淗e blew his nose and then began to gesticulate with his bare hands, conveying his meaning with such skill that when he paused now and then to reflect, it seemed to be his fingers that were thinking what they should say next.鈥� (p.104). Survival is not only a matter of knowledge and some luck; it becomes a matter of heightened senses, and ultimately of instinct. Throughout, the action fully held my attention. There are no dull edges here; even if on the odd occasion my mind insisted returning to question what had filled those later gaps in the timeline of this very long walk. Sheer boredom? Hallucination? Illness? Nothing new to say?
Page 168 caught me out. Recently I read and very much enjoyed a British children鈥檚 book, 鈥淭he Grange at High Force鈥�
[/book/show/2... which contains very funny descriptions of the difficulties of walking in snowshoes! The stark contrast of the necessity of rapidly learning to use snowshoes, so as to survive a Siberian winter, was almost too much. I had to close 鈥淎s Far As鈥�" & lay it aside until I had 鈥榮obered鈥� up.
To say that I 鈥榚njoyed鈥� this book wouldn鈥檛 sound right. I don鈥檛 'enjoy' man's inhumanity to man. I鈥檒l keep it; despite my initial irritation over the publisher鈥檚 disinclination to declare upfront honestly whether the narrative is fact or fiction, or both. It鈥檚 a salutary reminder that war is not ended by generals.
There is a b/w photograph on the back cover, showing the back of the principal protagonist, Clemens Forell (an alias), who faces the author and his publisher. To modern eyes the image appears stiff, staged and ill at ease; but taking a moment to consider 1940s and 1950s film technology, that may just be normal for the period.
Descriptive writing such as 鈥溾€� walking skeletons. Their skins were blotched and yellow with jaundice, their legs and feet perpetually swollen鈥︹€� (p.160) left me assessing fundamental questions about mind and muscle, the sharpening of the senses, and the ability to think quickly (or not), to assess probabilities, and about the nature of what we call 鈥榣uck鈥�. This book describes, in varying detail, such an extraordinarily long journey through such dauntingly hostile terrain. I have no remotely comparable personal experience to relate it to.
Wikipedia [] casts doubt on the veracity of the 鈥淎s Far As My Feet Will Carry Me鈥�; whereas the New York Times review of the 2001 film [] is more subtle in planting the idea that perhaps a story can grow into the role of an epic of war. After all, I pondered, surely no-one reads 鈥渗别辞飞耻濒蹿 as true fact?
Laying aside the niggling question of fact or fiction, or whether a knit & purl of both, I had picked up the book late one evening, started to read 鈥� and pretty much immediately wished for a map showing the route of the escape. However, it wasn鈥檛 until pages 80-81 that I found what I sought!
There being no chapters in this book (just periodic 鈥� * * * 鈥� type line breaks), I had earlier raged that the publisher (Andre Deutsch) had deemed it unnecessary to include anything as useful as an index! Yet in not knowing what comes next, the lack of formal division into chapters curiously acts to deepen the almost unimaginable sense of the sheer length of 鈥楥lemens Forell鈥檚鈥� highly dangerous three year and 8.000 mile journey. That sense is reinforced by that very absence of division. But I found it discombobulating to have read through four-fifths of this book, only to find that a mere quarter of the map had been traversed!
On occasion the translator charmed me: 鈥淗e blew his nose and then began to gesticulate with his bare hands, conveying his meaning with such skill that when he paused now and then to reflect, it seemed to be his fingers that were thinking what they should say next.鈥� (p.104). Survival is not only a matter of knowledge and some luck; it becomes a matter of heightened senses, and ultimately of instinct. Throughout, the action fully held my attention. There are no dull edges here; even if on the odd occasion my mind insisted returning to question what had filled those later gaps in the timeline of this very long walk. Sheer boredom? Hallucination? Illness? Nothing new to say?
Page 168 caught me out. Recently I read and very much enjoyed a British children鈥檚 book, 鈥淭he Grange at High Force鈥�
[/book/show/2... which contains very funny descriptions of the difficulties of walking in snowshoes! The stark contrast of the necessity of rapidly learning to use snowshoes, so as to survive a Siberian winter, was almost too much. I had to close 鈥淎s Far As鈥�" & lay it aside until I had 鈥榮obered鈥� up.
To say that I 鈥榚njoyed鈥� this book wouldn鈥檛 sound right. I don鈥檛 'enjoy' man's inhumanity to man. I鈥檒l keep it; despite my initial irritation over the publisher鈥檚 disinclination to declare upfront honestly whether the narrative is fact or fiction, or both. It鈥檚 a salutary reminder that war is not ended by generals.
February 28, 2014
You know those really good story tellers. The ones where you can listen to anything they're talking about. They can make the most banal story interesting. Well that is what this story is missing. The author is pretty lame. It feels like somebody droning on and on with the same voice of the guy who says "Bueller." There is probably around 50 or so pages that is actually enjoyable. The rest of it is just not that good. The 50 pages that I liked were when the escaped prisoner joins up with 3 other escaped convicts and their adventures together. Those pages were filled with adventure and were gripping. The thing I like least about the book is the writing. It is pretty bad. This could have been a much better book if someone else had written it. There was no build up. There was no urgency. I mean a German prisoner of war escapes from the far eastern portion of Siberia and makes it thousands and thousands of miles to Europe. That really happened. That's freaking epic. The whole escape story is epic...but this book doesn't do his story justice.
January 23, 2014
I am not one to criticize the authors experience or willingness to share his escape. I was engrossed in the book and constantly referring to encounters with the map. I grew alarmed as 4/5 of the book had been covered and approx half of the Soviet Union had been crossed. This left me disappointed in that I was given the impression that half of that journey was 'boring' for the lack of a better word. When he returned ragged and starving to the Jew that eventually helped him escape, it seemed to me an interesting segment of history could have been revealed. My guess is that at this stage the author was so traumatized from his experience that the last half of the map covered in hos travels simply did not register as firmly as the first. In this respect, he has every right to be accorded whatever latitude he needed in recalling the epic of his lifetime.
October 26, 2010
The best adventure story I have ever read. Need some courage? Read this book.
November 6, 2011
Pretty gripping. Basically a German prisoner of war escapes from the Siberian lead mines and walks halfway across Russia, with all the adventure that that entails: wolves, bears, outlaws, reindeer men, etc. And better written than I expected, though that's probably because I didn't know that Josef Bauer was a real writer. But at times I wondered whether everything I was reading was true. For instance, at one point the main character falls in with some Russian outlaws, and together they basically re-enact the plot of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, right down to the little baggies of alluvial gold, betraying and murdering each other out of greed. And it was just so incongruous with the rest of the plot that I had to wonder.
February 17, 2019
Toto je kni啪n铆 verze p铆sn臎 od Jana Kalouska, ve kter媒m zp铆v谩 啪e 拧el, 拧el d谩l bejby. V铆c k tomu asi nen铆 co dodat.
6/10 - nacistick媒 zajatec, v m茅 hlav臎 ho hr谩l Martin Dejdar - v N臎mecku zn谩my jako Martin Gibgeschenk - ute膷e po konci druh媒 sv臎tov媒 z l谩gru na Sibi艡i a t艡i roky jde v铆ce m茅n臎 p臎拧ky dom暖 do Bavorska. Cestou toho spoustu za啪ije, ale nic a啪 tak z谩sadn铆ho, 啪e bych to zde cht臎l uv茅st. 膶ten铆 to bylo 煤d臎sn臎 dlouh媒 a jestli to m臎lo symbolizovat monot贸nn铆 cestu, tak se to velmi povedlo. Gratulki.
Jdu se zeptat po sousedstv铆 jestli to nen铆 n臎膷铆 d臎da. Kdy啪tak hod铆m self铆膷ko. He拧teg Johny Walker.
6/10 - nacistick媒 zajatec, v m茅 hlav臎 ho hr谩l Martin Dejdar - v N臎mecku zn谩my jako Martin Gibgeschenk - ute膷e po konci druh媒 sv臎tov媒 z l谩gru na Sibi艡i a t艡i roky jde v铆ce m茅n臎 p臎拧ky dom暖 do Bavorska. Cestou toho spoustu za啪ije, ale nic a啪 tak z谩sadn铆ho, 啪e bych to zde cht臎l uv茅st. 膶ten铆 to bylo 煤d臎sn臎 dlouh媒 a jestli to m臎lo symbolizovat monot贸nn铆 cestu, tak se to velmi povedlo. Gratulki.
Jdu se zeptat po sousedstv铆 jestli to nen铆 n臎膷铆 d臎da. Kdy啪tak hod铆m self铆膷ko. He拧teg Johny Walker.
January 19, 2017
Entretenida y muy sufrida, la odisea del oficial Forell como prisionero de guerra y una huida que le obligar谩 a cruzar toda Siberia si quiere llegar a su Alemania natal.
Muy bien escrita y con unos pasajes realmente incre铆bles, descripciones que te ponen los pelos de punta. Adem谩s de contarte la situaci贸n en la que estaban los presos alemanes trabajando en las minas de plomo, tambi茅n cuenta como era la vida de las gentes siberianas y lo duro que era vivir en condiciones extremas donde la mayor preocupaci贸n era la supervivencia misma.
Totalmente recomendable.
Muy bien escrita y con unos pasajes realmente incre铆bles, descripciones que te ponen los pelos de punta. Adem谩s de contarte la situaci贸n en la que estaban los presos alemanes trabajando en las minas de plomo, tambi茅n cuenta como era la vida de las gentes siberianas y lo duro que era vivir en condiciones extremas donde la mayor preocupaci贸n era la supervivencia misma.
Totalmente recomendable.
July 3, 2011
A really good survival book. A German prisoner is brought to the very east of Siberia together with many other prisoners of war to be a slave. He gets help from a doctor to escape and then the story gets really interesting. All the struggles he had to endure, it is hard to comprehend even after reading this book.
I really enjoyed reading it. Loved his dog. Wished that the end had been a bit more prolonged though.
I really enjoyed reading it. Loved his dog. Wished that the end had been a bit more prolonged though.
September 19, 2014
This was a great book! Perhaps I liked it because it was so similar to one of my all time favorites, The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz. When I finished, I was left wishing it were longer, with more details about the last year of the journey, and what happened after he returned home. But these limitations made it more intriguing.
October 6, 2023
As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Escape from a Siberian Labour Camp and His 3-Year Trek to Freedom by Josef Martin Bauer
9 out of 10
This is as impressive as a story could get, seeing as it is true, the title makes it clear, albeit we live in an age when you see the Pope wearing a fancy Balenciaga outfit, and then you learn that it was in fcat generated by Artificial Intelligence beanos, so the claim could have been just a Trumpian one, but it is genuine
After World War II, we find Clemens Forell in a Siberian Gulag, enduring the atrocities that the Soviets could inflict on people; however, the Russians that follow the Putin line (and they seem to be alas a majority, notwithstnding the unreliable nature of polls, data coming out of the new would be czarist empire ) have the same techniques and gruesome penchant for torture and extrajudicila killings.
They have used what was called a 鈥歯uclear mini bomb鈥� to assasinate an opponent of the short czar, wsuffering from the Napoleonic Syndrome-by the way, i have just read in A Short History of Islam by fabulous Karen Armstrong about the origin of the name, which comes from fellows that were supposed to use hashish, but it looks like a myth
British citizen Alexander Litvinenko had been a KGB agent and had tried to tell Putin that there is corruption in the agency and they kill people, as a result of this, the honest man was ejected and then, once he found refuge in London, he was killed using...Polonium, a highly radiocative lement, extremely expensive, which left traces throughout Britain, the plane used, and in Germany, where the executioners transfered
Mexcian cartel memebrs, others in the world are involved in gruesome exections, torture, but the Soviet and now Putin state appear to be singularly abhorent as 鈥歰fficial,elected鈥� organs of the 鈥歱eople鈥� that commit such crimes against humanity, with impunity, regularly and with not just equanimity, but falunting it
The Plutonium execution in London was followed by the use of Novichok in Salsbury, against another former agent, and then more recently, placed in the underwear of Alexey Navalny, leader of the opposition, now interned in similar conditions to the ones imposed on Clemens Forell, becasue these monsters have no humanity, limit, and they only care for themselves, just as it is made clear by what we can see
Last night, they have aired an episode from a new docuseries, Tycoons, looking in this segment at the oligarchs of Russia, and what is most likely the richest ruffian on the planet, think if you can guess it...it is Innocent the First, czar Vladymir, who is reported to have gathered the rich of the new CCCP and told them what to do
Chili Palmer is the hero aka anti-hero of Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard, adapted for the big screen, with dazzling John Travolta in the leading role, and just like Chili Palmer, Vladymir is the one 鈥歵elling you the way it is鈥�, for the oligarchs it is fifty percent of your fortune, or else it is the cage (litearlly, you must have seen those horrfying images, whenever they cage opposition figures, journalists, foreigners they want to exchange or just eliminate)
Mikhail Khodorkovsky used to be the richest Russian, made the mistake of talking against Putin, funded some opposition movements and ergo, he ended up in the infamous cage, then prison for ten years, and the message after that was for all to surrender half their wealth, or it is jail...Navalny and his team have investigated and found a palace that Putin has, 鈥歸hich puts Versailles to shame鈥�, as brilliant Fiona Hill says
The American Congress has passed - in the good old days, when they could agree on anything, now you have the Republican lunatics that want to shut down the goverment, which will happen in a matter in a matter of days...actually, if you are still hear and read this, for some pecualiar reason, it would have been closed, becasue i have a pipeline of some seventeen notes to publish, and they each have to wait their turn, so this could be online by the middle of October, or the tenth- the Magnitsky Act.
It is called this becasue an honest man of that name died at the hands of the ghastly Russian Mafia State, when he told the authroities about corruption and illegal activities, he was the one taken in, tortured and killed, within the walls of their official premises, and then he was taken to court, buit as evidence of how absurd, sadistic, disturbed, montrous these creatures are, they would not stop the case.
In other words, if you stand agaisnt Putin and His Mob, you are in for the closest Hell teratement that you can get on earth, it is either Polonium, Novichok or you pursue you after the grave, perhaps a couple of the above, and this is not the age of burning witches (however much another Man of the Apocalypse, Trump, might whine about the 鈥歸ithc hunt鈥�) the middle ages, or the ra of the cave men...or wait a minute, maybe it is
You know the armageddon of The Planet of The Apes wherein at the end, Charlton Heston (once a liberal, then perplexingly head of the...NRA) is aghst at the discovery of the Statue of Liberty on this Planet of the Apes, where the apes are the humans that have self-destructed...as for the German POW, he has a hell of a time until, he may (let us not give spoliers here, right at the end of the note) reach some friendlier shore that the USSR...
Now for a question, and invitation 鈥� maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this 鈥� as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is
From To The Heritage:
鈥楩iction is infinitely preferable to real life. As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality. Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life鈥ts actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound鈥here are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions鈥nlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed鈥hat's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense鈥s random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find鈥ew stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author鈥︹€�
鈥歱arturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus鈥�
鈥渢he Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special. Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.鈥�
9 out of 10
This is as impressive as a story could get, seeing as it is true, the title makes it clear, albeit we live in an age when you see the Pope wearing a fancy Balenciaga outfit, and then you learn that it was in fcat generated by Artificial Intelligence beanos, so the claim could have been just a Trumpian one, but it is genuine
After World War II, we find Clemens Forell in a Siberian Gulag, enduring the atrocities that the Soviets could inflict on people; however, the Russians that follow the Putin line (and they seem to be alas a majority, notwithstnding the unreliable nature of polls, data coming out of the new would be czarist empire ) have the same techniques and gruesome penchant for torture and extrajudicila killings.
They have used what was called a 鈥歯uclear mini bomb鈥� to assasinate an opponent of the short czar, wsuffering from the Napoleonic Syndrome-by the way, i have just read in A Short History of Islam by fabulous Karen Armstrong about the origin of the name, which comes from fellows that were supposed to use hashish, but it looks like a myth
British citizen Alexander Litvinenko had been a KGB agent and had tried to tell Putin that there is corruption in the agency and they kill people, as a result of this, the honest man was ejected and then, once he found refuge in London, he was killed using...Polonium, a highly radiocative lement, extremely expensive, which left traces throughout Britain, the plane used, and in Germany, where the executioners transfered
Mexcian cartel memebrs, others in the world are involved in gruesome exections, torture, but the Soviet and now Putin state appear to be singularly abhorent as 鈥歰fficial,elected鈥� organs of the 鈥歱eople鈥� that commit such crimes against humanity, with impunity, regularly and with not just equanimity, but falunting it
The Plutonium execution in London was followed by the use of Novichok in Salsbury, against another former agent, and then more recently, placed in the underwear of Alexey Navalny, leader of the opposition, now interned in similar conditions to the ones imposed on Clemens Forell, becasue these monsters have no humanity, limit, and they only care for themselves, just as it is made clear by what we can see
Last night, they have aired an episode from a new docuseries, Tycoons, looking in this segment at the oligarchs of Russia, and what is most likely the richest ruffian on the planet, think if you can guess it...it is Innocent the First, czar Vladymir, who is reported to have gathered the rich of the new CCCP and told them what to do
Chili Palmer is the hero aka anti-hero of Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard, adapted for the big screen, with dazzling John Travolta in the leading role, and just like Chili Palmer, Vladymir is the one 鈥歵elling you the way it is鈥�, for the oligarchs it is fifty percent of your fortune, or else it is the cage (litearlly, you must have seen those horrfying images, whenever they cage opposition figures, journalists, foreigners they want to exchange or just eliminate)
Mikhail Khodorkovsky used to be the richest Russian, made the mistake of talking against Putin, funded some opposition movements and ergo, he ended up in the infamous cage, then prison for ten years, and the message after that was for all to surrender half their wealth, or it is jail...Navalny and his team have investigated and found a palace that Putin has, 鈥歸hich puts Versailles to shame鈥�, as brilliant Fiona Hill says
The American Congress has passed - in the good old days, when they could agree on anything, now you have the Republican lunatics that want to shut down the goverment, which will happen in a matter in a matter of days...actually, if you are still hear and read this, for some pecualiar reason, it would have been closed, becasue i have a pipeline of some seventeen notes to publish, and they each have to wait their turn, so this could be online by the middle of October, or the tenth- the Magnitsky Act.
It is called this becasue an honest man of that name died at the hands of the ghastly Russian Mafia State, when he told the authroities about corruption and illegal activities, he was the one taken in, tortured and killed, within the walls of their official premises, and then he was taken to court, buit as evidence of how absurd, sadistic, disturbed, montrous these creatures are, they would not stop the case.
In other words, if you stand agaisnt Putin and His Mob, you are in for the closest Hell teratement that you can get on earth, it is either Polonium, Novichok or you pursue you after the grave, perhaps a couple of the above, and this is not the age of burning witches (however much another Man of the Apocalypse, Trump, might whine about the 鈥歸ithc hunt鈥�) the middle ages, or the ra of the cave men...or wait a minute, maybe it is
You know the armageddon of The Planet of The Apes wherein at the end, Charlton Heston (once a liberal, then perplexingly head of the...NRA) is aghst at the discovery of the Statue of Liberty on this Planet of the Apes, where the apes are the humans that have self-destructed...as for the German POW, he has a hell of a time until, he may (let us not give spoliers here, right at the end of the note) reach some friendlier shore that the USSR...
Now for a question, and invitation 鈥� maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this 鈥� as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is
From To The Heritage:
鈥楩iction is infinitely preferable to real life. As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality. Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life鈥ts actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound鈥here are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions鈥nlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed鈥hat's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense鈥s random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find鈥ew stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author鈥︹€�
鈥歱arturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus鈥�
鈥渢he Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special. Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.鈥�
January 16, 2019
The truth often wilder than fiction
The book describes the long journey of a war prisoner to freedom. From the East end of Siberia to Tehran. The author paints the events with details and dialogues helping the narrative of the underlying story. The events taking place in the journey and the devine Providence or Deus ex machina often saves the day via simple persons coming on the way. It made me admire the patience and strength a man can have when he wants to survive. I also found very interesting the way of living of tribesmen and village People in the vast Siberian land where time and space is different to the Western understanding.
The book describes the long journey of a war prisoner to freedom. From the East end of Siberia to Tehran. The author paints the events with details and dialogues helping the narrative of the underlying story. The events taking place in the journey and the devine Providence or Deus ex machina often saves the day via simple persons coming on the way. It made me admire the patience and strength a man can have when he wants to survive. I also found very interesting the way of living of tribesmen and village People in the vast Siberian land where time and space is different to the Western understanding.
December 30, 2019
Fantastic story of enduring hardship and a seemingly improbable escape. As others have, I found myself wanting more information at the end of the story. It was somewhat troubling to discover that the accuracy of the story is in question, but still a great read.
September 16, 2024
Un libro que conoc铆 por su pel铆cula hom贸nima. Me ha costado seguir la historia sobre todo la primera mitad del libro porque pensaba que iba a estar narrado en primera persona como el t铆tulo de la novela. Creo que hubiese sido m谩s comprensivo de leer si fuese contado por el propio protagonista.
April 23, 2022
Ich habe mich noch nie mit dem realen Schicksal von Kriegsgefangenen auseinandergesetzt. Sehr ergreifend!
December 1, 2020
A very compelling story. I enjoyed the writing, though a few parts were disjointed. I would have liked a little more of an ending.
January 9, 2012
I read this book many years ago. I think it is excellent, not just for the way it is written but also for the incredible story of one man's triumph over numerous incredible difficulties.
October 26, 2014
A potboiler about a German prisoner of war's escape from Siberia.
March 23, 2017
Boringly average. There may be a good story in there somewhere, but not by this author
September 12, 2018
Ein Buch, was mich seit l盲ngerem mal wieder gefangen genommen hat. Die alte Sprache, die Umgebung waren anregend um sich hineinzuversetzen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2018
Human endurance and drive can never be over rated.
August 22, 2019
Last week, it was sci-fi catching me off guard (Ender鈥檚 Game). Now I鈥檝e found the survival genre to be more than I presumed, too.
In this 60-year-old book, Bauer tells the story of a German prisoner of war sentenced by the Soviets to 25 years of hard labor in a lead mine in the farthest eastern corner of Siberia. The first third or so covers Clemens Forell鈥檚 time as a prisoner. The rest is an excruciating three-year journey of 8,000 miles 鈥� much of it on foot, in a climate so extreme that fishing was risky in the summer because the ice might be thin enough to crack from your weight.
Bauer doesn鈥檛 mince words in his introduction: He found Forell鈥檚 story impossible to believe when he first heard it. But he said each time he followed a fact back to its origin, Forrell was vindicated. (Full disclosure: Contemporary research has cast some doubt.) Bauer had to recreate conversations as they must have been, obviously, but he and Forell agreed that the end result captured the journey as Forell remembered it.
There are stolen hours on a train and extended stays in lonely outposts, with native people who don鈥檛 ask too many questions or are sympathetic to Forell鈥檚 answers. But countless weeks after freezing weeks, Forrell is alone with his meager pack, walking across Siberia, trying to avoid civilization and, with it, re-arrest.
The story is everything. The writing, translated from the original German, is spare and utilitarian. But it feels right for this purpose.
I was disappointed that Bauer wrapped up within a page or two of Forell finally crossing over the border of the USSR. He zips him home on a plane, mentions in one sentence his concerns that his wife will find him changed and the book is over. I wanted a lot more 鈥� I was invested in his situation by then. While I was glad for the haircut and new clothes, I had dozens more questions about life after his ordeal. But Bauer鈥檚 story was finished.
Forell is not his real name 鈥� he insisted Bauer change it before agreeing to tell his story, saying he feared repercussions from the KGB. A few decades later, his real identity was revealed. And later still, the recordings of his original interviews with Bauer were found. Modern research has identified several crucial errors in the story. The most important two, probably, are that no labor camp existed in the location where he said he was at the time he said he was there, and that Russian records report he was released two years before his escape began.
I don鈥檛 know. I hate finding things like that out after the fact. Could he have been mistaken about the location of the camp? That one鈥檚 easier for me to accept than the matter of his 鈥渞elease鈥� two years before he said he had to escape. But then I鈥檓 wondering if he was 鈥渞eleased鈥� on paper only to be taken to the labor camp? No one鈥檚 ever accused the Soviet Union of scrupulous attention to human rights and/or honesty.
Still, the conflicting details fan my initial this-can鈥檛-possibly-be-true feelings about other aspects of the story. Feelings I tamped down because Bauer told me from the beginning that he felt that way, too, but his research backed up Forell鈥檚 account.
As a book, it鈥檚 more engaging than I expected. As a record of the past, it鈥檚 a frustrating mystery. I don鈥檛 like the uncertainty, but I鈥檓 still not sorry for the read.
In this 60-year-old book, Bauer tells the story of a German prisoner of war sentenced by the Soviets to 25 years of hard labor in a lead mine in the farthest eastern corner of Siberia. The first third or so covers Clemens Forell鈥檚 time as a prisoner. The rest is an excruciating three-year journey of 8,000 miles 鈥� much of it on foot, in a climate so extreme that fishing was risky in the summer because the ice might be thin enough to crack from your weight.
Bauer doesn鈥檛 mince words in his introduction: He found Forell鈥檚 story impossible to believe when he first heard it. But he said each time he followed a fact back to its origin, Forrell was vindicated. (Full disclosure: Contemporary research has cast some doubt.) Bauer had to recreate conversations as they must have been, obviously, but he and Forell agreed that the end result captured the journey as Forell remembered it.
There are stolen hours on a train and extended stays in lonely outposts, with native people who don鈥檛 ask too many questions or are sympathetic to Forell鈥檚 answers. But countless weeks after freezing weeks, Forrell is alone with his meager pack, walking across Siberia, trying to avoid civilization and, with it, re-arrest.
The story is everything. The writing, translated from the original German, is spare and utilitarian. But it feels right for this purpose.
I was disappointed that Bauer wrapped up within a page or two of Forell finally crossing over the border of the USSR. He zips him home on a plane, mentions in one sentence his concerns that his wife will find him changed and the book is over. I wanted a lot more 鈥� I was invested in his situation by then. While I was glad for the haircut and new clothes, I had dozens more questions about life after his ordeal. But Bauer鈥檚 story was finished.
Forell is not his real name 鈥� he insisted Bauer change it before agreeing to tell his story, saying he feared repercussions from the KGB. A few decades later, his real identity was revealed. And later still, the recordings of his original interviews with Bauer were found. Modern research has identified several crucial errors in the story. The most important two, probably, are that no labor camp existed in the location where he said he was at the time he said he was there, and that Russian records report he was released two years before his escape began.
I don鈥檛 know. I hate finding things like that out after the fact. Could he have been mistaken about the location of the camp? That one鈥檚 easier for me to accept than the matter of his 鈥渞elease鈥� two years before he said he had to escape. But then I鈥檓 wondering if he was 鈥渞eleased鈥� on paper only to be taken to the labor camp? No one鈥檚 ever accused the Soviet Union of scrupulous attention to human rights and/or honesty.
Still, the conflicting details fan my initial this-can鈥檛-possibly-be-true feelings about other aspects of the story. Feelings I tamped down because Bauer told me from the beginning that he felt that way, too, but his research backed up Forell鈥檚 account.
As a book, it鈥檚 more engaging than I expected. As a record of the past, it鈥檚 a frustrating mystery. I don鈥檛 like the uncertainty, but I鈥檓 still not sorry for the read.
July 27, 2024
At the end of WWII, a German soldier is captured by the Soviets and sent to a lead mine at the easternmost point of Siberia, where he must survive under the harshest circumstances. Preferring to die free attempting to escape rather than staying for a slow death, he manages to make his way out of the labor camp. For more than 2 years, he travels the whole of Siberia in the direction of the South until he finally makes it to Iran and eventually Germany. It is a story of survival where our man should not have made it out alive, but he did. What he accomplished was, in no small part, thanks to the help of strangers he met on his way, some benevolent, others less so. However, thanks to his grit and his will, he succeeded where few did.
This is an incredible story that makes one wonder about life in general and the fact that our fate is mostly a question of luck or lack of. It also makes us realize how good of a life we have when we compare it to our hero. His story must not make us forget that out of the thousands of Germans who were taken prisoners by the Soviets, few returned home. On his way, our hero met simple people whose compassion and survival skills helped him move forward. What is especially fascinating is that those people should, by all means, have harbored a deep hatred for the German convict. After all, Germany caused more than 20,000,000 Soviet deaths during the war. And yet, they only recognized a human being yearning for freedom.
Reading the book feels like a slap in many ways as it is unfathomable to most of us today that one could survive on his own in the harsh conditions of wild Siberia. It is therefore striking to see that some groups survived and actually thrived. This book reminds us that for the majority of human history, human beings did not live in comfortable houses and did not get their food at the grocery store.
Overall, it is a short and great read to muse about life in general, but especially about the power of will and the luck we have to not live in wild Siberia. It is also a requiem to all prisoners who never made it back home and died in labor camps.
This is an incredible story that makes one wonder about life in general and the fact that our fate is mostly a question of luck or lack of. It also makes us realize how good of a life we have when we compare it to our hero. His story must not make us forget that out of the thousands of Germans who were taken prisoners by the Soviets, few returned home. On his way, our hero met simple people whose compassion and survival skills helped him move forward. What is especially fascinating is that those people should, by all means, have harbored a deep hatred for the German convict. After all, Germany caused more than 20,000,000 Soviet deaths during the war. And yet, they only recognized a human being yearning for freedom.
Reading the book feels like a slap in many ways as it is unfathomable to most of us today that one could survive on his own in the harsh conditions of wild Siberia. It is therefore striking to see that some groups survived and actually thrived. This book reminds us that for the majority of human history, human beings did not live in comfortable houses and did not get their food at the grocery store.
Overall, it is a short and great read to muse about life in general, but especially about the power of will and the luck we have to not live in wild Siberia. It is also a requiem to all prisoners who never made it back home and died in labor camps.
November 24, 2018
Ach ja, deutsche Bew盲ltigungsliteratur ...
Mal ganz abgesehen davon, dass die dereinst Josef Martin Bauer aufgetischte Fluchtgeschichte des Mannschafters Cornelius Rost zu weiten Teilen erstunken und erlogen war, kann die Lekt眉re dieses Klassikers der deutschen Nachkriegsliteratur 眉ber weite Strecken nur als Graus bezeichnet werden. Dies wurzelt jedoch nur oberfl盲chlich im Rassismus, mit welchem alles Russische hier bedacht wird.
In erster Linie f盲llt einem gegen Mitte des Buches auf, dass die erz盲hlte halbwahre Begebenheit rein gar nicht dem entspricht, was man anhand des Titels erwarten w眉rde. Ehrlich, ich war durchaus motiviert, So weit die F眉脽e tragen zu lesen, vor allem da mir der Titel suggerierte, es handele sich um einen Abenteuerroman, der sich mit der Einsamkeit in Sibirien, dem psychologischen Kampf mit der h盲rtesten Natur und folglich mit der Auseinandersetzung des Menschen mit sich selbst besch盲ftigt. Doch weit gefehlt! Wirklich auf sich allein gestellt ist der deutsche Fl眉chtling, Clemens Forell, tats盲chlich nur kurz nachdem er der Bleimiene entkommen ist. Danach trifft er auf allerhand Weggef盲hrten, seien es Rentierz眉chter, Jakuten oder Holzf盲ller, die ihn zumeist 眉ber l盲ngere Zeit beherbergen, begleiten oder in irgendeiner Form unterst眉tzen. Einsamkeit? Nix da. Reflexion? Haha, selbstverst盲ndlich nicht. Die westlich-sauberm盲nnische Arroganz, mit welcher dann auch auf jeden russisch-sibirischen Zeitgenossen heruntergeschaut wird - sind sie nicht verschlagen und feindselig, dann sind sie zur眉ckgeblieben und naiv - unterbindet auch nur jeden Ansatz selbstkritischer Kriegsverarbeitung. Ja, auf diesem Level ist So weit die F眉脽e tragen richtiggehend widerlich.
Diese inhaltlichen wie hintergr眉ndlichen Posten einmal ausgeblendet, ist Bauer's Welterfolg gewiss nicht schlecht geschrieben. Unbedingt fesselnd erz盲hlt ist er aber auch nicht. Daher k枚nnte ich So weit die F眉脽e tragen wohl nur deutschen Revisionisten empfehlen - aber, ich glaube, ich kenne keinen, also ist's eigentlich egal.
Mal ganz abgesehen davon, dass die dereinst Josef Martin Bauer aufgetischte Fluchtgeschichte des Mannschafters Cornelius Rost zu weiten Teilen erstunken und erlogen war, kann die Lekt眉re dieses Klassikers der deutschen Nachkriegsliteratur 眉ber weite Strecken nur als Graus bezeichnet werden. Dies wurzelt jedoch nur oberfl盲chlich im Rassismus, mit welchem alles Russische hier bedacht wird.
In erster Linie f盲llt einem gegen Mitte des Buches auf, dass die erz盲hlte halbwahre Begebenheit rein gar nicht dem entspricht, was man anhand des Titels erwarten w眉rde. Ehrlich, ich war durchaus motiviert, So weit die F眉脽e tragen zu lesen, vor allem da mir der Titel suggerierte, es handele sich um einen Abenteuerroman, der sich mit der Einsamkeit in Sibirien, dem psychologischen Kampf mit der h盲rtesten Natur und folglich mit der Auseinandersetzung des Menschen mit sich selbst besch盲ftigt. Doch weit gefehlt! Wirklich auf sich allein gestellt ist der deutsche Fl眉chtling, Clemens Forell, tats盲chlich nur kurz nachdem er der Bleimiene entkommen ist. Danach trifft er auf allerhand Weggef盲hrten, seien es Rentierz眉chter, Jakuten oder Holzf盲ller, die ihn zumeist 眉ber l盲ngere Zeit beherbergen, begleiten oder in irgendeiner Form unterst眉tzen. Einsamkeit? Nix da. Reflexion? Haha, selbstverst盲ndlich nicht. Die westlich-sauberm盲nnische Arroganz, mit welcher dann auch auf jeden russisch-sibirischen Zeitgenossen heruntergeschaut wird - sind sie nicht verschlagen und feindselig, dann sind sie zur眉ckgeblieben und naiv - unterbindet auch nur jeden Ansatz selbstkritischer Kriegsverarbeitung. Ja, auf diesem Level ist So weit die F眉脽e tragen richtiggehend widerlich.
Diese inhaltlichen wie hintergr眉ndlichen Posten einmal ausgeblendet, ist Bauer's Welterfolg gewiss nicht schlecht geschrieben. Unbedingt fesselnd erz盲hlt ist er aber auch nicht. Daher k枚nnte ich So weit die F眉脽e tragen wohl nur deutschen Revisionisten empfehlen - aber, ich glaube, ich kenne keinen, also ist's eigentlich egal.
April 27, 2023
First off, what most of the reviewers have failed to recognize or acknowledge, is that the author did not "write" the book. He transcribed the story from a tape recorder, as told to him by the main character - Clemens Forrell. It was not his place to edit or otherwise change the sentence structure of the story to make the words flow. And we the readers, with no first hand knowledge of the situation, have no right to be questioning a persons' memory. Given the ordeals that he experienced, and often by his admission, was fading in and out of lucidness sometimes for several days at a stretch, it would be difficult to separate fact from wht may have been.
I do not know what is was about this book that had me spell bound, but I could not put it down. I had to keep coming back to find out what the next adventure was going to bring!
Was there gaps? Certainly! Was there some parts that you exclaim as you are reading "THAT CANNOT BE TRUE!!"? Absolutely.
I would say for me, it was reference to weather and time that bothered my more than anything. In one section he says that it is mid to late October, 9:30 p.m and it is only Twilight. Siberia is the 74th parallel. I live on the 53th parallel and by late October it is dark - I mean pitch black long before 9 p.m. So I questioned that part. But maybe he had developed mechanism to calculate an approximate time.
But ultimately it was a story of strength, endurance, resiliency, true grit, deceit, betrayal, finding friends in the most unlikely places, and survival at any cost. A wise person once said, "You do not know how stong you can be, until you have no choice but to be strong!"
I do agree though, that the last 1000 miles or so of the journey became quite rushed. I can only imagine that by this time Clemens was getting tired of being interviewed and talking about his ordeal; perhaps he felt that escape was his destination and he accomplished what he had set out to do.
All in all, a good read.
I do not know what is was about this book that had me spell bound, but I could not put it down. I had to keep coming back to find out what the next adventure was going to bring!
Was there gaps? Certainly! Was there some parts that you exclaim as you are reading "THAT CANNOT BE TRUE!!"? Absolutely.
I would say for me, it was reference to weather and time that bothered my more than anything. In one section he says that it is mid to late October, 9:30 p.m and it is only Twilight. Siberia is the 74th parallel. I live on the 53th parallel and by late October it is dark - I mean pitch black long before 9 p.m. So I questioned that part. But maybe he had developed mechanism to calculate an approximate time.
But ultimately it was a story of strength, endurance, resiliency, true grit, deceit, betrayal, finding friends in the most unlikely places, and survival at any cost. A wise person once said, "You do not know how stong you can be, until you have no choice but to be strong!"
I do agree though, that the last 1000 miles or so of the journey became quite rushed. I can only imagine that by this time Clemens was getting tired of being interviewed and talking about his ordeal; perhaps he felt that escape was his destination and he accomplished what he had set out to do.
All in all, a good read.
February 27, 2021
After having watched "The Way Back" by Peter Weir (2010), I really wanted to read something similar.
True, both stories have turned out to be made up, or at least partly so. But that taken aside, both remain great stories. I read a translated version of Far as My Feet Will Carry Me, and read it in French. The translation of it was good but not excellent. As someone who studies translation and is learning German, I could see the German shining through in the way sentences were structured, mostly. The way it was translated has heavily influenced my perception of the book, as I could sense the presence of the original language of the work, which made my reading experience not fully natural.
I had great expectations for that book, and they were partly fulfilled. The ambience, the locations definitely did it for me. Some descriptions of nature and of man struggling in it are really worth the detour. It takes a while for the action to really start, there is a lot of build-up. And even when it's there, it remains a slow-paced book. But there are many details and elements that are worth carrying on. There is a subtlety in the depicting of human feelings that is sure to speak to you. It's a shame that some of the beautiful phrasing got lost in translation, at least for my translated version.
True, both stories have turned out to be made up, or at least partly so. But that taken aside, both remain great stories. I read a translated version of Far as My Feet Will Carry Me, and read it in French. The translation of it was good but not excellent. As someone who studies translation and is learning German, I could see the German shining through in the way sentences were structured, mostly. The way it was translated has heavily influenced my perception of the book, as I could sense the presence of the original language of the work, which made my reading experience not fully natural.
I had great expectations for that book, and they were partly fulfilled. The ambience, the locations definitely did it for me. Some descriptions of nature and of man struggling in it are really worth the detour. It takes a while for the action to really start, there is a lot of build-up. And even when it's there, it remains a slow-paced book. But there are many details and elements that are worth carrying on. There is a subtlety in the depicting of human feelings that is sure to speak to you. It's a shame that some of the beautiful phrasing got lost in translation, at least for my translated version.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 184 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.