Not my usual sort of book, but this was a very well written and well researched book about the miners of the Chilean mine rescue 12 or so years ago. Thirty-three miners were stuck in the lower portion of a mine after a sudden collapse, communications were completely cut off, and they had very little food. But all 33 were rescued from the mine, many weeks later. You learn a little about Chile, a little about mining, and a lot about the men and their families. As I mentioned I don’t usually read this kind of book but I think the author (an LA Times journalist) did an excellent job. ( )

This accounting of the 2010 Chilean mine collapse that trapped 33 men under a rock the size of a skyscraper started off very slowly, so slowly that I was tempted to give up about 70 pages in. The author spends a lot of time telling about the lives of the miners before the disaster, which did not pique my interest. However, I prevailed, after talking to someone else in my book club, and glad I did. The story of the rescue is fascinating.

My problem with the book is the dense text, sometimes whole pages without a new paragraph. Who does that? And why? And why didn't the author include diagrams and photos? The only photo is of the 33 men, at the beginning of the book, and I was constantly going back and forth to see which person of 33 he was talking about. Without Google searching and watching the documentary, I would have gotten a lot less out of this story. ( )

Actually listened to this on digital audiobook but couldn't find it so this was close as I could find..Very well done audiobook. ( )

I was glad to learn more about this incident, but I could feel the struggle the author had putting all the threads together. The movie might actually flow better, but I imagine it will lack accuracy. ( )

In August 2010 the San Jose mine outside of Copiapo, Chili collapsed , trapping 33 men in the bowels of the earth. They were stuck so far down, it took 18 days for rescuers to discover the men were all still alive. At that point, the world came together and rushed to try to pull the men out. No one was hopeful, a rescue of this magnitude had never been attempted.

Hector Tobar's telling of the men's story is gripping. He writes with brutal honesty, of the lives of the men before, during and after the disaster.
It is unimaginable to me how these men survived this ordeal. Their time spent in the mine (69 days) tested their resolve, their faith and the friendships that normally form in work places.

There were passages and subject matter I felt were repeated too often and in some spots it dragged a bit for me. Thus I can't give it 5 stars. However, still a worthwhile read for those who like a great disaster/rescue story. ( )