3 out of 4 stars
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Six Days of Impossible: Navy SEAL Hell Week by Robert Adams is a memoir in which the author recounts his experience during the third week of the first phase of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, also known as Hell Week. Here, the potential candidates are subjected to an enormous physical, mental and companionship effort, where approximately two-thirds of the initial group usually quits, either by physical discomfort, pain, sheer fatigue or sleep deprivation.
Robert begins the book by telling a little about his family background (which includes several ancestors who were members of the navy), particularly focusing on the moment in which he decided to become a Navy SEAL. Then, the author begins to describe the experiences he underwent during the initial weeks of the first phase, to finally reach the much-feared Hell Week. Here, Robert relates the rigorous training to which he was subjected along with his other fellow recruits, who started out being 70 to end up being less than 20.
The prose of the book is quite fluid and bearable, even on the occasions in which the author narrates some technical aspects of his experience. Robert, now a doctor of medicine, provides very valuable and enriching scientific information about the physical demands to which he and his companions were subjected. Additionally, he narrates a few events from the perspective of some of his fellow recruits. These brief segments provide a much-needed fresh look that breaks with the monotony that arises during some passages of the book, whose content revolves around men overcoming their physical limits through sheer mental will.
There are only two things that I do not like about this book. First, it is important to mention that the events surrounding the Hell Week begin to be told almost in the middle of the text. While it is necessary to make an introduction around the author's life and the first weeks of the training course, I think that this text would have benefited from introducing the center of its purpose earlier in its extension. Then, there is a series of photos that the author adds two-thirds into the book. While the inclusion of this content is welcome, it should have been placed at the end so as not to interrupt the narrative flow of the text.
All things considered, I think this book delivers what it proposes. Apart from the few issues that I mentioned, I must add that the editing work is quite acceptable. I only detected a few errors regarding the formatting of certain paragraphs along with a couple of missing double quotation marks in dialogues. Taking all this into account, I think the most appropriate thing is to give it 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to those who consider submitting to such a challenging experience. I also suggest it to those who wish to know more about the selection process of the armed forces of the United States.
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Six Days of Impossible Navy SEAL Hell Week
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