一年后，贝尔和好友一起报名参加英国特种部队的选拔测试。鉴于贝尔的军人家庭背景、黑带二段的个人荣誉以及过人的体能，很多人都认为他会理所当然地顺利通过测试成为一名SAS（ ）。在下这个结论之前，最好还是让我们来看看SAS到底是一个怎样的组织，而它的选拔测试又是何等的严酷吧！首先，开看看BBC对它的概述：誉满全球的SAS以其严酷的效率和军事特性主城。其他特种部队的遴选都模仿了SAS。SAS的测验程序旷日持久而且艰苦至极，参加遴选的人90%都会失败。他是举世公认的作战最勇猛、人员最精锐的特种部队。
接下来，来看一个选拔的小片断，我们就会知道它到底有多严酷。在24小时不眠不休、负重75磅的状态下，在2000英尺的高山上，完成十多英里（1英里约等于1.6公里）的山地急行军（跑步），其间还要通过寸步难行的沼泽和陡峭的悬崖。而且这种测试每周至少一次，每次都会淘汰冗员。平时还有数不尽的俯卧撑等体能训练。在如此非人的强度下，贝尔出色地通过了一关又一关。有一次，他负重45磅进行18英里的山地急行军，先爬上高达3000英尺的陡峭山峰，再从另一边下来，然后绕回出发点。由于在森林里迷路耽搁了一点时间，为了在限定时间内到达终点，贝尔以短跑冲刺的速度向山脚的终点冲去，最后下山的3英里，他竟然只花了3分钟！（各位，请参照一下自己一千米跑步的成绩）。看到这里，你不得不惊叹于他赛亚人般的体能。然而，在坚持了四个月后，在一次更为严苛的测试中，痛哭失声的贝尔被无情地淘汰了！SAS真是名不虚传！
接下来的几周才是真正的挣扎，贝尔努力将心情从谷底拖回来。不久后，他和同样被淘汰的好友再次参加SAS的选拔。从哪里跌倒就从哪里爬起来，是我们和贝尔从小就被灌输的理念，而他生动地践行了这一点。终于，他成功了！伴随着自我实现的巨大狂喜，贝尔开始了他的军旅生涯。
可惜，好景不长。仅仅过了两年，在一次自由跳伞时，贝尔由于失误被伞骨穿彻了三节脊椎。第一次与死神如此地接近。当他问医护人员“我还能走路吗”，而对方却默不作声时，感到了绝望。所幸，上帝眷顾了这位朝气蓬勃、充满梦想的年轻人。奇迹发生了，在卧床三个月后，他可以走路，并开始了长达五个月的康复训练。What doesn’t kill you make you stronger.他又活过来了，并且更加地强壮！
贝尔格里尔斯也许是男人们都渴望成为的那种人。至少在现在看来，这个世界上似乎还没有难得倒他的地方。这位前英国第21空降特勤团特种兵，现在是英国甚至世界上最有名气的户外生存大师。他为Discovery 探索频道主持的《荒野逃生》（“man vs wild”）节目，在世界各地有着12亿观众。在节目中，他永远只带一把匕首出现在镜头前，带着微笑，告诉人们如何在不可能生存的地方活下来并成功逃生。在每一期的节目中，他都会因地制宜地示范各种求生技术，告诉人们如何在绝境求生，如何在野外寻找水源，如何生火，如何寻找食物。他似乎身怀绝技，知道哪些东西可以补充蛋白质，哪些是最安全的替代水源，哪些能最快地为身体提供热量。他吃过鳄鱼，也吃过羊的睾丸，甚至喝过自己的尿，还从大象的粪便中挤出过可以饮用的水分。所有不太可能成为人类食物的东西，都在他这里找到了食用的可能性。作为一个活在食物链顶端的男人，贝尔似乎拥有着一颗迥异于常人的胃，事实上，这一切都缘于姐姐劳拉在贝尔童年时有意无意的训练——在自传中，贝尔对自己的冒险成长心曲一一做了交待，比如年纪轻轻就参加了童子军，还是五六岁孩子的时候就能打开反锁的门，独自在大海上驾着独木船航行……此外，贝尔还追溯了贝尔家族自维多利亚时代便树立的信条：天下永远没有直通高贵的免费入场券，勇气、快乐、美德、希望与自尊才是真正意义上的财富。正是秉承了这些家族的信条，贝尔才得以超越自我，在困境中日渐丰硕强大，成长为一名敢于不断挑战自我的冒险家。 “只有极少数的人能对这个世界产生积极的影响……而贝尔就是其中的一个”（英国航空公司CEO 罗德艾廷顿语），作为一个以危险安生立命的探险家和节目主持人，贝尔故事的极具启发意义，在追求并践行梦想、向往自由、不断超越自我等多方面都给人以教益、启迪。
然而《荒野求生》绝非普通意义上的名人传记，也不同于时下风行的庸俗冒险旅行。贝尔的伟大之处不仅在于他教会了我们如何在荒野逃生的技能，而且还向我们昭示了人在紧张压力下生命意志的巨大张力和对自由的无限追求。这一精神实际上来自自由的英格兰传统和新教文明的洗礼、浸润，在这一传统的熏陶下，贝尔成长为世界闻名的户外探险家，他不但是西方冒险精神的忠实践行者，同时也是物质化生活的坚决抵制者，他认为：“人生不应该是一场疯狂的对欲望的追逐和养尊处优的旅程，而是防止堕落、揭开伤疤，极度地使用身体机能，毫不留情地磨损皮肤，最后尖叫：多么坚固的身体(灵魂)啊！”正是接连不断的冒险，让贝尔成功地摆脱了资本主义物质文明的控制，意识到信仰和家人的重要，没有成为马尔库塞笔下所说的那种“单向度的人”，转而献身于慈善事业，致力于维护作为人的尊严，恐怕这是贝尔自传《荒野求生》，留给我们的最需要我们深思的地方。 作者: 有时我 时间: 2013-9-7 11:00
Bear Grylls reminds us that there is a beautiful wildness to life, that adventure is where you find it, and that being prepared is essential for survival on the edge. The book reads more like an adventure story than your usual biography and is a fast-paced romp from one crazy scenario to another. Bear takes us through his childhood antics, with a humorous glimpse of his family life and time at Eton. It is not really laugh-out-loud funny, but it definitely makes you smile as you read about his escapades. His enthusiasm and zest for life are contagious. Bear always comes across as humbly grateful for his experiences, rather than being boastful of his natural abilities. In fact, he has a habit of downplaying his talents, giving thanks to God for getting him through sticky situations.
It's clear how his early life influenced his love for the outdoors and adventure and how his father, in particular, was instrumental in encouraging him to follow this love. It's inspiring to read his story, both as a parent and as a traveler through your own life. There is never a sense of being lectured to at all, but his story is so filled with anecdotes about success through hard work, balanced with risk-taking, that you get swept along and yearn to jump into your own life with both feet and instil that quality in others.
The chapters that dealt with his SAS training were pretty intense. I had no idea that the training was as rigorous as it is! You must have to be incredibly driven and fit to succeed in that environment. And then he went to climb Everest! Bear talks about his successes and failures and doesn't hold back from how he felt at the time, often barely scraping by on the skin of his teeth. His writing is very honest and open and he gives details that do not show him in a great light, such as his fears and when he makes mistakes--or even gets away with things by cutting corners. I think that Bear just wants to come across as human, with the same inherent hopes and fears and dreams that so many of us share. He does this exceedingly well and it is very easy to relate to him.
Bear does not talk much about his life in front of the cameras. The focus is more on all the events that lead up to that point. I'm not sure if he plans on following this book up with one that goes behind the scenes of his TV life, or if he just wants to keep some things private. He certainly does not seem to be someone who thrives on fame. In fact, he is frequently bewildered by it all and sees it as a byproduct of being so successful at what he loves. His focus is always on his love for family and nature, with an appreciation to God for bringing the best of these together for him. But since Bear has already authored several books, I would not be surprised to see one from him at some point about his filming experiences. However, I guarantee that he will again focus on the aspects that are important to him, which will not include media attention, fast cars, or anything else that goes hand-in-hand with financial or public success. It's clear that to Bear, success means having fun in the outdoors and then going home to his family.
I do not watch TV, so this was my first exposure to Bear Grylls. After I finished the book I had to check out some of Bear's TV shows and was slightly alarmed by his willingness to drink his own pee. In his whole biography there was no indication of this tendency towards this kind of self-sustenance. So if you are used to Bear as a bug-eating, pee-drinking TV personality, his book lets you into the side of him that is still very driven, but more likely to sit down and chat about life over a pint of something more palatable. 作者: 有时我 时间: 2013-9-8 08:35
试着从美国亚马逊翻译了一下，见笑~~