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Summary: A Documentation of a Tragedy but much much more.
Review: This is one of those books as the pages dwindle away your disappointment rises as you realize that soon it will be over. As I started this book I thought it was going to be a patchwork of SCUBA diving stories. Nothing could be further from the truth. I soon realized that it was a skillfully woven account of the lives of several divers including Chris and Chrissy Rouse. While you'll get much more out of this book if you've experienced diving it is not necessary (he puts everything to layman's terms) to still have you hanging on the edge of your seat. Bernie Chowdhury's attention to detail which allowed him dive to the outer edge of the envelope and survive some close calls is the same asset that makes this book so enjoyable. While the title suggests it is simply about the loss of Chris and Chrissy Rouse on the U-Who, it is much more. The U-Who was the unnamed U-boat off the coast of New Jersey that John Chatterton and others spent 6 years identifying. There's substantial information here about the evolution of cave diving and the personalities and events that pioneered the first dives to the "Andrea Doria".Many dive stories seem to be ego oriented reports of exaggeration. Not this one. The author's unassuming approach takes full responsibility for the real close call which nearly cost him his life. The author shares with the reader not only what happened but what he felt on many of these long dives. For example some of the thoughts that pass through your mind as you hang suspended for hours at a time during decompression following a deep dive. I dove with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Divers Posse for 8 years in the early 1970s mostly in the pitch black lakes of Arizona and found myself reliving those dives but you don't have to have ever had a wetsuit on to find yourself totally immersed in this fine account of tragedies and triumph in sport diving. A must read for any diver!
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Summary: My husband would not put the book down
Review: From a slightly different point of view...the wife of the reader. My husband would not put the book down for any reason. I know it must have been a great book.
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Summary: Two cowboys take a nose dive.
Review: First of all, I wish to commend the author on one of the best written and most interesting books on diving I've read. And, as an avid diver, marine science journalist, dive historian, and reader of all the recognized classics in the genre, this is no small commendation. At the same time, I wish to offer the author some criticism regarding his style. The book was unnecessarily overwritten in its awkward attempts to educate the general reader about the basic principals of diving (something that should be left to the many training textbooks out there). This could have been accomplished in an appendix, and would have avoided the many annoying interruptions to the otherwise gripping narrative. Having said that, I still believe the book is a landmark work in the field of diving adventure and psychology. Personally, I would like to have learned more about the enigmatic Dr. Hunt, an eminent diving physiologist and the author's case worker. As for the Rouses themselves, I must confess I developed very little sympathy for them, if that was part of the author's intent. As their friend, I think the author did a fair job of telling their tragic story without scolding them or sullying their memory, but I would have been far more impartial, and far more harsh in my assessment of their foolhardyness. The book fails as a safety guide in this respect. I think the Rouses's attempt to dive the U-Who on air was more than a blunder; it was suicidal, and was a very bad example to set the diving community at large. Diving didn't kill the Rouses; the Rouses died of stupidity. May they rest in peace, and may other risk-takers take heed: you can't break the rules of diving physics and live to boast about it for long. And if you choose to do so, you are giving all divers a bad name.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: What made this book a real standout to me (as a non-diver) was the author's passionate familiarity with the challenges and dangers of the sport. It would be easy for an outsider to write a story that painted technical divers as thrill-seeking nutcases or exploited the tale of the Rouse's for novelty and sensation. As someone who survived an accident similar to that which killed the Rouses, Bernie Chowdhury brings a unique perspective to bear. At times, the books veers off into technical discussions which may be of little interest to non-divers, but these excursions are brief (and will presumably be of much interest to divers). I enjoyed the way Mr. Chowdhury painted the vivid characters involved in the sport, and the compassionate eye he turns on the foibles and political rivalries of the folks in the diving community. This is not only an enjoyable book, but a wise one.
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Summary: A lesson to take to heart, and an excellent read...
Review: As a diver with a drive to excel like the Rouse's, I found this book both chilling and thrilling. I think Bernie really hits home when he begins to probe the psychology of extreme diving. I'm sure any diver will find the accidents described in the book chilling, however, I believe they point out an interesting trend. It's highly unusual anymore to hear of a fatal scuba accident due to equipment failure, especially in extreme dives. Instead, the fatal accidents in extreme diving seem to show a trend of minor mistakes, shortcuts, or flawed decisions that cumulate to result in a fatality. And in most cases, one error sets off a domino effect of following errors. (Not using Tri-mix on a dive to 230ft --> severe narcosis, impaired judgement, clouded mind --> inability to find stage bottles for decompression --> direct ascent to sfc, skipping over 90 minutes of decompression --> death ) That is certainly a simplification, and there is no guarantee the Rouse's would have survived if they had been on Tri-mix for that fateful last dive. However, knowing what happened to them on that dive, it certainly could have been the fabled last straw on the camel's back.
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Summary: The Last Dive: Messages for all
Review: This book largely covers an aggressive subset of SCUBA divers.. The extreme or TEK diver, but it holds a great deal of value for anyone by raising questions regarding life, risk, and tragedy. It covers the evolution of the accident not from a cold and technical aspect, but from a human and personality-driven approach. This ultimately gives us more insight into the divers (and into ourselves) than any simple accident-analysis could. Strongly recommended.
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Summary: Fascinating and Educational
Review: As a new diver I found this book to be very educational while captivating at the same time. What made it more interesting was the NOVA program "Hitler's Lost Sub" which aired on November 14, 2000. This program is the one created from the TV documentary crew and shows actual footage of the dives and the sub. It was fascinating seeing the actual divers, boat and sub after visualizing the scenes while reading the book. If you are interested, see ... for more information. I believe they are also selling a video of the program.
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Summary: A good read
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I having been diving more than twenty years, I held instructor certification, I am a published author, a very critical editor and an often hard-to-please reader. I am recommending this book to all my diving friends and many non-divers. The book is interesting, well written, informative, and it pulls you in. The last half of the book is very exciting. It is a good read.
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Summary: The Last Dive, by Bernie Chowdhury
Review: This book is a "must" read for anyone who scuba dives. And non-divers will be moved by it as much as any other classic adventure story such as "In Thin Air" or "The Perfect Storm." Homer Hickam Jr., writes, "Bernie Chowdhury has written a book that seems to explore diving and the deep, cruel sea; in reality he has written a book about exploring a place even deeper and far crueler, the human psyche and our often unfulfilled souls." Two of my favorite quotes to ponder: "Every diver benefits when all of us know not just how we dive but why." pg. 329 "Identifying with a particular diving community -- whether recreational or technical -- and internalizing that community's standard of behavior is a phenomenon...found strongest in the divers who dived most frequently and who were most active with things like diving clubs and organizations; their identities as people were closely connected to their status among their fellow adventurers." pg.334 I've been diving 31 years, know several of the divers in the book, and have dived the Empress of Ireland (1970, '71, '72). Author Bernie Chowdhury makes technical subjects understandable for a layman, but doesn't "dumb" it down for us divers. He skillfully interweaves with the story of the Rouse father and son team, a brief history of hard hat, wreck, cave and technical diving. Founder and co-publisher of IMMERSED, the international technical diving magazine, Chowdhury reveals his soul to take the reader on a psychic dive to unimaginable depths. A must-have book for every home library!
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Summary: A Compelling Descent Into Adventure Diving
Review: This book is a fascinating read. Chowdhury draws on his own experiences as a technical diver as he tells the story of a father and son, Chris and Chrissy Rouse--"the Bicker Brothers." The Rouses' heavy involvement in SCUBA diving led them to pursue becoming part of the diving community's elite. The author relates his own experiences, both diving with the Rouses and doing the same kind of extreme diving the Rouses, and he, were compelled to do. As he relates these experiences Chowdhury lays open his own soul so the reader can glimpse inside the minds of those who reach into the watery depths. Was it merely a father and son adventure, the thrill of doing something few others dared, or the siren song of mystery that led the Rouses' to the U-WHO and ultimately their deaths? In all probability it was a combination of the three. The author examines the controversies over deep, technical, wreck, and cave diving. He also show how these various communities draw an uncommon type of person. While these may be thrill seekers, they could probably be described more as hard-driven adventurers. These individuals want to reach past the ordinary and excel in the process. Sometimes the drive exceeds judgement. When that happens fatal results can and do occur. Chowdhury is in effect eulogizing his friends, but he also is exorcising the demons of "survivor's guilt." Just a year prior to Chris and Chrissy's fatal dive the author had a similar experience with aborted decompression and being evacuated by the Coast Guard for recompression therapy. Chowdhury barely survied his ordeal. Fate was not so kind for the Rouses. The Rouses went from being open water divers, to cave divers, then to extreme wreck divers. They made dives on the "Everest of Diving" the Andrea Doria and the Empress of Ireland. They were using cave diving techniques to push the edge of technical wreck diving, often to the disdain of "pure" wreckers. Each of the extreme diving communites--deep, wreck, or cave--have strongly held opinions about the way in which a dive should be conducted. What is ironic is the fact that the arguments are still going on among the various diving "communities." For anyone interested in adventure, irony, or tragedy--The Last Dive will draw you in and leave you gasping for air. While much of the book examines technical diving it does not dwell on the technology of diving as it does the psyche of diving and, for that matter, any adventure sport. There is one factual misstatement about cavern diving depth limits being 130 feet. Actually the cavern diving depth limit is 70 feet and total depth plus penetration into a cavern shall not exceed 130 feet. Also, toward the end of the book, there is strong speculation about Sheck Exley's death. Exley was someone that Chrissy Rouse admired. Chowdhury stated that Exley had miscaluated the amount of gas needed to make the dive and when he realized this he tied himself into the line so his body could be recovered. Reports that I read stated Exley's body was entangled in the line. Exley knew his gas consumption rate and meticously planned each dive. He should have had enough gas with him and he certainly cached enough extra gas for stage decompression. No one knows why Exley died--equipment problems, narcosis, or oxygen toxcity. The author was speculating here, but the text makes you think he had inside knowledge. (Note: I have learned that Exley would wrap the line around the valves of his tanks in order to rest--this is exactly how he was found.) Aside from these two problems I found the book compelling. A must read for the techinal diving crowd. The book is also an insightful, introspective look at why people love high-adventure. If adventure novels are your primary reading genre pick up "The Last Dive." It contains as much drama, but with added facet of being a true tragedy.
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