The stories in "Survive" are full of suffering: From the savagery of the Donner Party snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the winter of 1846, to the extreme hunger and brutal cold endured by Ernest Shackleton’s support team in Antarctica in 1915. Such suffering may be hard to listen to, but it engages us, offering glimpses of something essential. When the most basic needs become paramount, some people can achieve a kind of clarity. This clarity in turn can lead to acts of compassion and genuine courage.