Tuesday, April 5, 2011

3,096 days by Natascha Kampusch - a story about a girl with a lot of courage!


My Rate: ☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠ (3/10 Skulls)

Original Title: 3096 Tage
Norwegian Title: 3096 dager
Written by: Natascha Kampusch
Genre: Documentary
Written for: Adult
Pages: 240
Publisher:
Viking
Published: 2010
Published in Norway: 2011
My copy: 2011 (Hardcover)
Norwegian Publisher:
Cappelen Damm
I read it: March 31th – April 04th (2011)
Source: Bought
Challenge(s): 100 Books in a Year

(Goodreads)

On 2 March 1998 ten-year-old Natascha Kampusch was snatched off the street by a stranger and bundled into a white van. Hours later she found herself in a dark cellar, wrapped in a blanket. When she emerged eight years later, her childhood had gone. In "3,096 Days" Natascha tells her incredible story for the first time: her difficult childhood, what exactly happened on the day of her abduction, her imprisonment in a five-square-metre dungeon, and the mental and physical abuse she suffered from her abductor, Wolfgang Priklopil. "3,096 Days" is ultimately a story about the triumph of the human spirit. It describes how, in a situation of almost unbearable hopelessness, she slowly learned how to manipulate her captor. And how, against inconceivable odds, she managed to escape unbroken.

I guess all or at least most of you has heard about this girl. Natascha Kampusch shocked the whole world when she in 2006 managed to escape from Wolfang Priklopil after being his hostage in 8 years. On the way to school on March 2th, 1998 as a ten - year - old, she got kidnapped by this man who took her inside his white van and brought her to a hidden basement under his garage. There she was from 1998 to 2006 while her family and the police was searching for her and thought they would never see her again. The funny thing is, on the same day she got kidnapped, was the same day she was walking to school all by herself for the first time. Her mom was always overprotecting and Natascha wanted and needed to feel self independent, but unfortunately she made this choice on wrong day. She was about to walk pass W. Priklopil when he took her into his van and drove off. Natascha Kampusch didn't knew she would be spending years in a hidden cellar. Poor girl.

I remember the first time I got to know this story. It's not often I watch the news. I read the papers online instead and watching news on TV is something I do just now and then. But I remember the TV was on and when the news came there was about this girl that had been a hostage in someones cellar in 8 years and had managed to escape. I remember it was all shocking and everyone talking about it. It almost sounded like an urban legend or something. That this kind of story got a happy ending is sort of unbelievable 'cause 8 years is a pretty long time and living with a lunatic like that sounds so crazy. I was watching the news and was fascinated by this story. I was fascinated of the fact that the girl survived and it all sounded so bizarre and weird. And I was also fascinated about someone could be crazy enough to lock someone in just like that and take away the person's freedom. How can someone do anything like that? It's awful and pure evil. And I also thought about what if something had happened to Priklopli. What if he died in a car accident, a heart attack or anything while Natascha was in his cellar and she would die there and never be found. What a horrible thought! 'Cause Priklopli was the only person who knew where she was. She would die there and never be found if something happened to him. What a scary thought! I wouldn't survive with all these thoughts and be brave enough to survive like she did. So, she really is hell of a fighter and a a girl with a lot of courage. No doubt about that!

After a few years in the cellar, Prikopli let her come out of the cellar and let her stay in his house sometimes. But only to work. She was washing a lot and making food. She was practically a slave. If she did something wrong he used violence. I also remember we got to know from the news that Natascha also went skiing with her kidnapper and that she had several chances to escape - but now that I have read her book I understand more what she went through. She could escape many times but, c'mon, that man was sick and had such power over her. He said many times if she told someone about her situation - he would kill them. And if she tried to escape and someone saw her running away from him - he would kill them too. She didn't want anyone to die because of her. He said so many things and she was basically too scared to escape 'cause she was afraid of what he would do if he caught her again. This is her personal story about being a hostage and telling about her thoughts and feelings. And what she was doing to survive this strange and horrible situation. What kept her up.

3,096 days is not a fun read. That's for sure. And to know that this is a true story makes it much worse. This is definitely not an enjoyable book. It's written to give us insight of a weird and bizarre situation that is hard to imagine. It's hard to understand how it's possible to hide a person in so many years and not feeling bad about it. And it's even harder to imagine how someone could survive and be so strong in all these years.

Natascha Kampusch proves with this book that she is strong and very brave. She caught up with a lot of crap with that guy. It's amazing that she got through that hell with the thought of all the violence she went through. It's not often we read a book and already knows the ending when we start reading it but luckily we know this story has a happy ending. We know she'll finally escape somehow and it's remarkable by the thought all she went through. But it was also shocking to read about her escape part. People didn't seem very helpful but they can regret now. Read her book and get shocked. I don't get shocked that easy but this book is just mind blowing. And I still remember what the cellar looked like from the pictures we saw on the news and can be seen online. It's very heartbreaking. I admire N. Kampusch 'cause I know I wouldn't survive something like that. She's a true fighter.

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