It Takes a Village
The great thing about flying is that it gives you some "captive time" to concentrate on catching up on reading. On my recent flight to and from Washington D.C., I read As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me by Josef Bauer. It is a harrowing tale of survival and struggle set against the backdrop of the Eurasian land mass, in the years following World War Two. Forrell quite literally escapes from a lead mine 50 miles from Alaska, and over the course of three years, makes his way across the continent and back to Germany.
The most incredible and enlightening thing about the book is the surprising number of kind people Forell meets on his journey. Without the kindness of indigenous Siberians, Russians, and even Jewish Armenians, it would be hard to imagine his journey being a success. People who had no reason to help an escaped convict; a German no less, helped him because he was in need. Forell's journey is as much about the resolve of one man to get home as it is about the fact that without others, we as individuals are powerless.
The most incredible and enlightening thing about the book is the surprising number of kind people Forell meets on his journey. Without the kindness of indigenous Siberians, Russians, and even Jewish Armenians, it would be hard to imagine his journey being a success. People who had no reason to help an escaped convict; a German no less, helped him because he was in need. Forell's journey is as much about the resolve of one man to get home as it is about the fact that without others, we as individuals are powerless.
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