The Will To Live On

Herman Wouk has ranged in his novels from the mighty narrative of The Caine Mutiny and the warm, intimate humor of Marjorie Morningstar to the global panorama of The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. All these powers merge in this major new work of nonfiction, The Will to Live On, an illuminating account of the worldwide revolution that has been sweeping over Jewry, set against a swiftly reviewed background of history, tradition, and sacred literature. Forty years ago, in his modern classic This Is My God, Herman Wouk stated the case for his religious beliefs and conduct. His aim in that work and in The Will to Live On has been to break through the crust of prejudice, to reawaken clearheaded thought about the magnificent Jewish patrimony, and to convey a message of hope for Jewish survival. Although the Torah and the Talmud are timeless, the twentieth century has brought earthquake shocks to the Jews: the apocalyptic experience of the Holocaust, the reborn Jewish state, the precarious American diaspora, and deepening religious schisms. After a lifetime of study, Herman Wouk examines the changes affecting the Jewish world, especially the troubled wonder of Israel, and the remarkable, though dwindling, American Jewry. The book is peppered with wonderful stories of the author's encounters with such luminaries as Ben Gurion, Isidor Rabi, Yitzhak Rabin, Saul Bellow, and Richard Feynan. Learned in general culture, warmly tolerant of other beliefs, this noted author expresses his own other beliefs, this noted author expresses his own faith with a passion that gives the book its fire and does so in the clear, engaging style that--as in all Wouk's fiction--makes the reader want to know what the next page will bring.

My Living Will is the story of former major league pitcher John Trautwein, and the unbelievable tragedy which befell him and his family when his fifteen-year-old son, Will, took his own life. There had been no warnings, no obvious signs of anxiety, depression, or unhappiness; nothing. A family and a community were left stunned as they pondered how a young man like Will Trautwein, a healthy, happy, popular, athletic, and musical teenager, who came from such a loving home, could lose the will to live. “John Trautwein writes straight from the heart. And his words will save lives. The story Trautwein shares in these pages––a remarkable journey of passion and purpose––will literally save lives.” • Jeffrey Marx, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Season of Life “John Trautwein’s story inspires hope. It empowers people, and it gives its readers the ‘hope for life.’ The triumph that this story imparts arouses the goodness in everyone as it drives people toward action.” • Joe Girardi, Manager, The New York Yankees “In my twenty-two years of broadcasting, I have told many stories of triumph over tragedy, but the story of Will Trautwein and his family has stayed with me. The loss of such a vibrant young man and the strength of his family to use their heartache to help has had an impact on how I parent my daughter, and how I report stories of teenage depression and suicide. This is a must-read if you have a teenager in your life.” • Stephany Fisher, Anchor, CBS News, Atlanta “Ever wonder if a young person in your own home might be at risk? Read this book. In “My Living Will,” John Trautwein takes the emotions of loss and turns them into a message of awareness and hope. A must read for parents and teenagers alike!” • Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe

This is a remarkable story. It will change the way you look at life. For a couple of weeks, Matthew Ames didn't feel well. The busy father of four young children knew things were not quite right but suddenly he was in Emergency, with a severe case of toxic shock syndrome – the common bacteria Strep A had entered his bloodstream and his body had gone into shutdown. He was put into an induced coma and the only way he could be kept alive was to have all his limbs amputated. Diane Ames knew exactly what her husband would want and that he would cope – he had always been optimistic and practical. Despite a one per cent chance of survival, she asked the doctors to go ahead with the radical operation. And so began the inspiring story of an ordinary family's courage and determination to make the most of a terrible situation. What happened to Matthew could happen to anyone. But not everyone would accept what life offers and pursue possibilities in the way that he does. Matthew has astounded doctors with his adaptation to a new way of living, so much so that he is about to become a bionic man. And he has never once questioned Diane's decision – it gave him the chance to truly understand how much family matters and to appreciate humanity.

Will to Live tells how Brazil, against all odds, became the first developing country to universalize access to life-saving AIDS therapies--a breakthrough made possible by an unexpected alliance of activists, government reformers, development agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry. But anthropologist João Biehl also tells why this policy, hailed as a model worldwide, has been so difficult to implement among poor Brazilians with HIV/AIDS, who are often stigmatized as noncompliant or untreatable, becoming invisible to the public. More broadly, Biehl examines the political economy of pharmaceuticals that lies behind large-scale treatment rollouts, revealing the possibilities and inequalities that come with a magic bullet approach to health care. By moving back and forth between the institutions shaping the Brazilian response to AIDS and the people affected by the disease, Biehl has created a book of unusual vividness, scope, and detail. At the core of Will to Live is a group of AIDS patients--unemployed, homeless, involved with prostitution and drugs--that established a makeshift health service. Biehl chronicled the personal lives of these people for over ten years and Torben Eskerod represents them here in more than one hundred stark photographs. Ethnography, social medicine, and art merge in this unique book, illuminating the care and agency needed to extend life amid perennial violence. Full of lessons for the future, Will to Live promises to have a lasting influence in the social sciences and in the theory and practice of global public health.

In a survival situation, life really does hang in the balance, and a wrong decision could spell the difference between life and death. No one knows this better than Les Stroud, who has survived everywhere from the sun-scorched sands of the Kalahari to the snake-infested jungles of the Amazon. In Will to Live, Les examines a host of famous and less well-known (but no less compelling) survival stories, and he not only explains what happened and why but also offers perspective on what went right, what went wrong and what could have been done differently. Will to Live is a compilation of history’s most intriguing survival stories by one of the world’s foremost experts, and includes the tales of Chris McCandless -- subject of Into the Wild Yossi Ghinsberg -- who survived alone in the Amazon for twenty-one days Douglas Mawson -- the Antarctic “superman” who survived three hellish months at the bottom of the planet Nando Parrado -- who was trapped for two months high in the Andes after a plane crash killed his friends and family Compelling, surprising and intriguing, Will to Live also includes stories from Les’s own experiences, along with sidebars that include practical tips on how to escape quicksand, butcher a moose, cross a snow-covered crevasse and more.

This book is a true story of a German family, a mother, grand mother and four daughters, fleeing from the approaching Russian Red Army and from Polish men who took over their home, land and property during World War II. Having lost all their rights, the women tell of their sudden homelessness, hunger, torture, and forced labor, long after the war was over. Their strong will and invincible courage to live under treacherous conditions renews faith in the human spirit to overcome inhumanity. This book contains only one of the stories of fifteen million German civilians who were dispossessed and expelled from their homes during one of the largest forced mass migrations of the twentieth century.

First published in 1931, the underlying assumption of The Will to Live is that of a psychological evolution in which mind is regarded not merely as developing in association with nervous and cerebral development, but as being itself the most important factor in the process. It is this assumption which gives meaning to the title that has been chosen for the book. It brings themes like is psychology a science; impulse and growth; the rise of consciousness; the three main lines of instinct; the variability of habit; development of intelligence; thought as judgment and reflection; the critical faculty; simple and complex emotions; ideals and idealization; voluntary activity; sex and conflict; and buried complexes and dreams. This is an interesting historical document for the students of psychology.