Op 23 augustus 2006 om 12.53 uur vlucht een bleke jonge vrouw haar vrijheid tegemoet. Dit is het moment waar de achttienjarige Natascha Kampusch op heeft gewacht sinds de dag dat ze als tienjarig meisje op weg naar school werd ontvoerd. Na acht jaar gevangenschap in een onopvallend Oostenrijks rijtjeshuis, schokt en verbijstert haar verhaal de hele wereld. Hoe overleefde zij een jeugd opgesloten in een kelder? Wat voor jonge vrouw was daaruit te voorschijn gekomen? Wat voor man was Wolfgang Priklopil, haar ontvoerder, die nog diezelfde avond van de ontsnapping voor een trein sprong? En wat had hij van Natascha gevergd? Terwijl de dagen en weken verstrijken en Natascha’s televisie-interview de publieke nieuwsgierigheid niet bevredigt, beginnen de vragen van toon te veranderen. Wat voor relatie hadden de kidnapper en zijn slachtoffer precies? Waarom had Natascha zo lang gewacht met haar ontsnapping? Is het waar dat haar ouders Priklopil van vroeger kenden? Allan Hall en Michael Leidig hebben deze zaak vanaf 1998 gevolgd. Ze hebben gesproken met politiemensen, advocaten, psychiaters en naaste familieleden van Natascha. Hun unieke, indringende verhaal, vol exclusieve onthullingen, werpt een verhelderend licht op een even raadselachtige als verbijsterende ontvoeringszaak en zal iedereen na lezing in het geheugen gegrift staan.
I found this book rather odd. I think that is because it was written and published very early, after Natascha's freedom and without her direct imput. It is also very repetative (I think to make the book long enough to publish). The authors used the same direct quotes to make the same point in various places in the book.
But it did provide me with a little more information than I knew, from hearing of the story on the news. It also made me very angry about the mistakes made in the search and police investigation. There were leads that had the poilce followed up on would have narrowed their search right down and most likly have ended her ordeal much earlier!
I am also very curious about exactly what went on during her captivity. The book hints that others may have been involved. Natascha aparently said that they went somewhere on the way to his house on the day she was knidnapped. And the supposed S&M angle. Bizare
And I can't believe that they were seen together, in public, towards the end, went skiing, shopping and stuff!
So after reading this book I did a quick search and very worringly found that Natascha's case is not so unique afterall. There are other cases of even longer captivity, serious sexual abuse and multiple births as a result! It makes me scared for all those who must still be captive.
Natascha has written a book of her ordeal. I would be interested to see what she has to say.
Natascha Kampusch miała dziesięć lat, kiedy została porwana w drodze do szkoły przez Wolfganga Priklopila. Więził ją w piwnicy przez ponad osiem lat, aż w końcu pewnego dnia, wykorzystując to, że nie domknął bramy, dziewczyna uciekła i powiadomiła policję. Nim go znaleziono, rzucił się pod pociąg i popełnił samobójstwo. Historia powszechnie znana, szczególnie w Austrii. Książka dość dobrze opisuje nie tylko sam okres uwięzienia, ale także relacje dziewczynki z rodzicami, to co działo się tuż przed porwaniem, a szczególnie czas po ucieczce. Są też szczegóły jak powstał dźwiękoszczelny bunkier pod garażem Wolfiego. W poszukiwania zaangażowanych było tysiące funkcjonariuszy, a zespoły wymieniały się co kilka lat. Próbowali też pomóc jasnowidze, psycholodzy i wolontariusze. Okazuje się jednak, że policja popełniła wiele błędów. Np. nie przesłuchano dokładnie podejrzanych, nie przeszukano ich domów, nie stworzono portretu psychologicznego. A sprawca był cały czas tuż pod nosem. Co szczególnie zwróciło chyba nie tylko moją uwagę, to że Natascha po przywitaniu się z rodzicami, nie chciała spędzić z nimi zbyt wiele czasu, tylko poświęciła mnóstwo uwagi mediom. Udzielała wywiadów, podpisywała umowy prawne, nawet zaangażowała się z tworzenie filmu. No, ale nie jestem w jej butach, żeby osądzać.
Natascha endured over eight years of captivity, and while there is some disagreement about what actually happened in the house, her story still deserves to be told in a well formed and respectful manner, which this author didn't do at all. While the author didnt victim blame, they almost seemed to in a way idolise, or glamorise the captor. Honestly, it felt kinda uncomfortable.
I also have another bone to pick with this story. In Wolfgang's (the captor) backstory, Borderline Personality Disorder is brought up as maybe a reason why he felt the need to kidnap and imprison a child. Let me just be clear, HE WAS NEVER DIAGNOSED WITH BPD, so WHY is this author speculating that this (now dead) man has BDP and that it could be the reason he did this horrific thing. Why is BPD even being talked about or mentioned at all? This just further's the stigma that BPD sufferers are all crazy dangerous lunatics and should be feared. I have BPD, and we are not. I hate it when the disorder is brought up just for the sake of really driving home that "this person was crazy". It's shitty journalism, shitty writing, and just plain shitty.
Without the BPD thing i'd probably give it 2 stars because it was badly written, but the story is interesting. But with the BPD thing, i'm giving it 1 star. Because come on dude, theres no need for that. It's super offensive and hurtful to the people who actually have the disorder (WHICH THIS EVIL DUDE WASN'T DIAGNOSED WITH AT ALL).
I found the writing style of the book rather superior providing personal assumptions as opposed to merely stating the facts with minor opinions as I had expected. Although a range of sources were used, I expected there to have been more from Natascha herself but this was lacking. Good insight into the events at the time however and still many unanswered questions.
Okay I did not know much at all about this story. Only that the victim is accused of loving to be the centre of attention in the media. Did not know what happened, only that she was abducted. Well this book did tell me a little bit. How she was kidnapped, how long she was there, but I find this all so weird. Her behavior so crazy. I decided to search the Internet get to understand her, and afterwards I think the writers did explain her pretty good. So weird, why did she lie about some stuff? Why did she not want to be with her parents after she finally had regained her parents. She seems to be a control freak and surrounds herself with people who oblige her every wish. Interesting book but this was all the authors could do because Natascha does not want to say anything negative about her abductor. it seems she cares more about the mother of her kidnapper, someone she never met then her own parents.
I finished reading this last night Saturday May 24-2008 7.5
So this is obviously a super heartbreaking, tragic thing to happen to someone and I may get nailed to the cross for this, but Natasha is also infuriating. I 100% understand that she was groomed, she was manipulated, she was abused and that will fuck up someone’s mind, but god damn. I mean….I guess get your money girl, but the whole being more concerned with signing deals and making money than healing the trauma is fucking weird.
The dude is a monster.
Overall, the book itself was just okay. It was basically a series of interviews and as has been stated the whole thing is really repetitive.
A lot of people know this story. It's so disturbing you just can't wrap your brains around it. The only thing that bothered me with this book is, that it wasn't wrote from a victim's perspective.
I HATED the writing in this. Took me too long to get through as I had to really thibk about what the author was saying about certain things. A little Juvenile with the writing!
This book was dreadful and boring. The story on it's own was really interesting. That it is a true story makes it sad for the person involved. The way it was put into this book just didn't do it justice though.
The book did not seem thoroughly researched, or very detailed with solid facts. It feels like a school paper, where the student pretty much just copy/pasted things they found online. Then, because it needed to be longer, they restated some of the things, in a different order and said by different people at different times. There seemed to be a lot of repeating. It is very journalistic writing, almost like you are reading a magazine article or a newspaper. A boring magazine or a boring, not well known paper.
I like reading current affairs/true crime stories, but this just didn't work for me.
You would be better off searching online about this story instead of picking up this book.
I found this while in Manchaster. It intrigued me, plus the cheap price too. I'd been fascinated with the Natascha's story. Her ordeal is extraordinary, for someone who had been trapped underground for 8 years, she displays amazing extraordinary will and strength.
The write up does not focus on Natascha's ordeal in the cellar, but rather from newspapers, interviews with relevant personnel and her families. It's looking at two-sided coin. It's indeed quite difficult to pinpoint whether Natascha wanted only fame after she escaped from the cellar. But, from someone who had gone through as much as she is, it maybe extra difficult to cope with normal life. I pitied her, she had been brainwashed by her abductor saying that if she attempted to run away from him, he would do this this this. As much as I read the story from beginning to end, I still think that Natascha was indeed a victim.
This was one of those deep discount e-books I picked up several months ago and eventually got around to. It's a fast read and a fascinating story, but the writers' approach and style is unsettling. At first I suspected that it was a poorly translated edition, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Now I'm fairly convinced that the writers rushed out this book after Natascha first escaped from her prison, and the weakness of their reporting is the result. I think Natascha deserves a lot better than this book and honestly I'm sorry I paid for it.
A fast, intriguing read. As an "instant paperback" it necessarily skims over the top of this amazing story, but it covers the bases and leaves you wanting to know much, much more, even as the authors ask the public to leave poor Natascha alone, already. A great warm-up to my future reading of Natascha's own "3,096 Days."
Felt like a lot of victim blaming. Like Natascha had a choice to leave the whole time. She was held captive, she wasn't given the option of leaving. Then acting like she had sympathy for the creep, she had to adapt to her environment to survive for as long as she did with him.
Book 6 of 2020: “Girl in the Cellar”- Allan Hall and Michael Leidig. Before reading this book I didn’t really know much about what happened to Natasha Kampusch all I knew was that she was held captive in a cellar and escaped and that the public portrayed her as an attention seeker. This book was very factual and very informative and I learnt quite a lot about the Natasha Kampusch case like the fact that Natasha was seen in public with her kidnapper and nobody recognised her. In my opinion, Natasha is quite a strange character I understand that she went through a very disturbing and horrible experience and had Stockholm syndrome but I still find it very strange that she lied about what happened in the cellar and wouldn’t tell the police what actually happened to her as she wanted to protect Wolfgang’s mother. This book is written without Natasha’s input and is very repetitive. The repetition makes it quite boring in parts. This book has left me with so many unanswered questions and I’d love to read what Natasha has to say about her experience. This book has also left me feeling disturbed and sick at the fact that something so terrible can happen in broad daylight. I’d give this book 2⭐️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Un libro molto interessante. Ammetto che non avevo mai sentito nulla di questa storia, benché sia recentissima e non abbia nemmeno la scusa dell'"ero piccola", ma mi era proprio sfuggita. Il punto di vista dei due giornalisti è il più obiettivo possibile e tenta di mostrare (a mio avviso riuscendo benissimo nell'intento) come sia difficile giudicare da una parte il rapporto che si era instaurato tra la ragazza e il suo carceriere durante tutti quegli anni e dall'altra l'atteggiameno di Natascha nei confronti dei media e di chi la circonda ora che è uscita dall'incubo. Per altri commenti: bookcrossing.com/journal/5337438
This book written as if multitude of newspaper articles were formed into a book. Very little information directly from the abducted girl. I knew nothing of her story so it was informative- and she escaped captivity on her own. I admire her stance to take charge of her life & she controls what she choose to share/ not share of her life in captivity. She was abducted in 1998 at 10 yrs of age, escaped 2006 @ 18 yrs of age. This Book published 2007…I’m interested to know how she is managing after all these years.
Kniha, kterou jsem si chtěla dlouhou dobu přečíst, byla lehkým zklamáním. Očekávala jsem senzaci? Ano. Dočkala jsem se jí? Ne. V knize je uvedeno obrovské množství informací, některé jsou v knize uvedeny i 3x, a to doslova. Očekávala jsem detailnější příběhovou část. Nicméně na konci knihy mám z Nataši spíše negativní pocit i přesto, že si ani neumím představit, co prožila a jak tohle zvládla. Dočteno spíše ze zdvorilosti a pro fajfku read ✔️
The cover blurb said shocking...explosive and I will grant her experience was but the book was not. I did not enjoy the writing style. It was dry, occasionally repetitive and the authors inserted their voice and perspective far too often, making judgements that seemed unwarranted. I really did not enjoy the read.
VERY interesting and a great topic for discussion. 4 stars only because it was rather repetitive at times. It’s a story that leaves SO many unanswered questions. Both about the victim and her abductor. Questions we’ll probably never have the answers to. Fascinating story.
As other reviewers have mentioned the book is a bit repetitive. There is a lot of speculation about what could have happened. For a true crime novel it is worth a read however there are better books out there. I gave it two star and read it in the period of a couple of weeks.
I liked it a lot. Left me with a lot of questions and my mind wondering and wanting more. Grammar was a little difficult and the German names tripped me up but overall a good read!