Rating: Summary: The Darwin Award Book Club Main Selection Review: As a commercial diver with over fourteen years experience, I found "The Last Dive" to be -- without any doubt whatsoever -- the most asinine account I have ever read of the scuba diving arena -- an industry already peopled by dilettantes and pissing contests of the weekend warrior crowd. Not a figure in the book came across as remotely competent to be sporting water wings, much less decompression diving in 250 feet of water; and as each chapter unfolded, each with its particular catastrophes (most of those pictured in the photo insert are deceased -- yeah, go figure, big surprise), the reader is stunned to disbelief at the sheer stupidity and recklessness of all the characters involved -- bragging about their tolerances to nitrogen narcosis, becoming entangled, etc. Natural Selection is all that comes to mind. Even the author, who seemed to be chronicling the titular father and son's tragedy with considerable admiration, managed to contract the bends (decompression sickness) after a colossally stupid gaff. This is truly one for the Darwin Award Book Club - and a Main Selection at that . . .
Rating: Summary: Review Review: This is an awsome book for both thoes who dive and thoes who don't. It is extremely well written and easy to read.
Rating: Summary: Hard to put down Review: If you liked "Into Thin Air" you will love this book. It is about the early days of extreme diving and accurately details what some of these early daredevils went through to dive hundreds of feet underwater. At the time, cave diving, mixed air diving, and multi-hour decompression stops were considered crazy. A great book, especially if you are interested in diving.
Rating: Summary: Last Dive?.....Gee, I wonder why? Review: A better title for the book would have been "How to break every safety rule in the book, and pay the price!" While I admit the book has interesting parts, it's basically the story of a scuba diving train wreck. With every decision the main character makes, you're just waiting to see how long it takes before something tragic happens. And then, of course, it does. I wasn't exactly sitting on the edge of my seat....the ending is predictable. This is simply a story of a bad diver.
Rating: Summary: excellent account of diving and its risks Review: excellent account of a tragic event. mr chowdhury writes a vivid account of technical scuba diving and its risks. like many other true adventure novels, i.e., the climb, into thin air, the proving ground, the last dive describes the incredible risks of pushing oneself to extremes. for the lay reader, he provides an excellent history of scuba diving, its physical effects and risks, and the dangerous obsession of extreme sports. the last dive is a must read for scuba divers and lovers of true adventure... highly recommended
Rating: Summary: Riveting and Creepy Review: This book laid around in the seconds bin at my supermarket for weeks before i finally picked it up, attracted by the awesome cover. It turned out to be one of the best non-fiction books I've read in years! Completely riveting from start to finish. Fascinating in its explanation of the technical aspects of various types of diving, and also a highly engaging story of the fates of individual divers including the author and the duo who made the eponymous Last Dive. Whether you dive or not (i am *barely* a diver), this is a terrific book that I'd recommend to anyone. I don't know where this Chowdhury guy learned to write (in the book he is a computer geek by day and diver on weekends though evidently he now owns a magazine) but he is right up there with Jon Krakauer, IMHO. Thanks for the gripping insight into a world few of us will ever see.
Rating: Summary: The Last Dive - A Must Read Review: The Last Dive is a must read for anyone interested in diving, whether you are planning to take SCUBA lessons or are a veteran diver. You will share the joy and the sorrow of the characters and have one heck of a journey along the way. You can't put this book down.
Rating: Summary: A tragic story, a great book, a must for any serious diver Review: Having learned of the fate of the father and son team that is the main subject of this book from a PBS documentary, and being a newly certified SCUBA diver, I was automatically attracted to this fine book. While there are some who believe that the technical aspects of this book should have been left out so that it flowed better, I disagree. This book should serve as a warning to all, no matter how well trained, how experienced that SCUBA diving is not simply a matter of throwing a tank on your back and getting wet. That things can and will go wrong and that while it may seem simple SCUBA diving is not simple. Mr. Chowdhury has done well to capture what lures myself, and my friends into the deep. The urge to explore, to see what is down there. Technical divers are a breed apart, this book goes to great lengths to explain this and make it overwhelmingly clear that these are a special breed. Having had one of the best instructors to ever live, a man who was friends with Shek Exley dove the same caves as him in Florida, and is one of the best tech divers around this book only reinforced this notion. These are not your clear blue water divers who go to see the pretty fishes and clutter up the bottom with poor techniques. These are the hardcore divers, who are about skill and dedication. This book should be read by anyone considering training in technical diving skills so that they may realize what lays at the bottom, the dangers as well as the rewards.
Rating: Summary: the last dive Review: This book was great! I could not put the thing down! Deadly and a delightful read. It will leave you numb --and if you dive it will take some wind out your sails
Rating: Summary: a must for divers Review: I learned a lot about the world of the extreme divers and their methods and madness. I feel that I learned from their mistakes. The book contains many pages about the authors experiences also , I found that info to be relevant to the theme of the book. my thanks to Bernie Choudhury.
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