Sole Survivor Essay, Research Paper
This story is called Sole Survivor written by Ruthanne McCunn. It is based on a true story of one
man’s will to survive. It’s an inspiration to all of mankind.
This story is about a steward of the ship “S.S. Benlomond” which was torpedoed during the war.
Lim was the only survivor. He survived on a wood life raft from the ship. Lim lived 133 days out at sea
using his wits and will to keep him alive. Lim was awarded many tributes such as; a watch, the British
Empire Medal, the Certificate of Honor, and the first foreign legal citizenship of the United States. Lim
still holds to this day the record for the longest survival at sea.
I think the author did a great job on this book. The detailing was very good, and very real. For
example, “Exhaustion drained Lim’s already depleted strength, blurred his vision, and muddied his
thinking.” (p. 72) This book was well written and well thought out. It was one of the few books I have
ever enjoyed. I could really tell the author put a lot of time into this book.
This book didn’t have very many weaknesses to it but, like all books, it had a few. One thing I
didn’t like about the book was the constant rambling of his thoughts which made you uninterested in
reading any further. For example, “His brothers had been similarly betrothed, and before they left Hainan,
their parents had made a wedding for Gee Hin, so there would be a daughter-in-law to take care of the cow,
pigs, chickens, and light farm work that the boys would no longer be there to do.” (p. 82) I am not a person
who likes to read, and if it just drags on about nothing, it fails to hold my attention. I think the author could
have put a little more drama into it as well.
In conclusion, I think overall this book was good. I would rate it 9-10 points. It was a book I feel
fortunate to have read.