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The story of the Donner Party is actually pretty epic. Any good books?

NecrosaroIII

Ultimate DQ Fan
Heard the Donner Party get mentioned in a video today and decided to read up on it on Wikipedia. I was surprised to see it's actually a pretty amazing story. I'm surprised there hasn't been a good movie.

Everyone always plays up the cannibalism aspect, which is definitely an important part of the story. But even with it, it's incredibly compelling. It's got everything you'd want. Interpersonal drama, intrigue, disaster horror, inter-family politics, all against a backdrop that could be stunning with a good cinematographer like Emmanuel Lubezki. Frame it around the Reed family, and you have nature protagonists.

This is an iconic wilderness story, and it's just a shame there is only really there hasn't been a good movie version. It's almost two hundred years since it happened. Surely there are good books on the matter
 

Porcile

Member
There is a great PBS documentary. Check that out. Also there are the actual diary entries from people in the group.
 

Jorav

Member
Just bought The Indifferent Stars Above physical book, but it is also avalible as an audiobook. There's also some good podcasts covering the topic. I listened to both the Last Podcast on the Left and the Dollop episodes covering it. I think its a fantastic bit of history and demonstrates the true grit of humans when facing death.

There's also a 2009 movie but i can't find it anywhere to watch in Aus.
 
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poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
It's pretty interesting, I read about it while getting pissed off with that 1883 TV series and realizing that the Donner party had a better survival rate than the people in that show.
 

Azurro

Banned
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Yup, this kind of party is great.
 

NecrosaroIII

Ultimate DQ Fan
It's pretty interesting, I read about it while getting pissed off with that 1883 TV series and realizing that the Donner party had a better survival rate than the people in that show.
Yeah, about half the party made it. I always throught they all wiped out.
 
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