Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing, poorly done
Review: This book was a painful read. It was written horribly, which made it very annoying to keep reading. The information was presented in a very confusing manner, and was often repeated through out the book. In other key areas of the book, not enough informatiuon was given. All the main characters, most particularly the father and son, were extremely dysfunctional. The author chose to romanticize them, which was ridiculous. They were irresponsible cowboys, who, unfortunately, were the victims of their own carelessness. If this book even remotely captures the events as they occurred, nearly all of these people were idiots. I wouldn't disagree that they need psychological help. The author needs help as well with basic grammar and composition. While the events were truly tragic, so was the telling of the story. It was more about the author, for crying out loud!!
Rating: 
Summary: The Value and Price of Underwater Exploration
Review: Being a recreational diver myself, Chowdhury's account of the life and death of his friends, sent chills through my body. The real accounts of underwater accidents, planned for and unplanned for reminded me of what the author talks about as divers being in an alien environment...the deep. Chowdhury does an excellent job in defining every aspect of what's what and who's who. A non-diver would have no difficulty in following this heart pounding adventure! It is one thing to learn about recompression during some basic scuba diving courses, but quite another thing to see the team action in rescuing divers and "seeing" the process. With every hit of the waves against the ladder, my breath stopped. The little so-called diving mishaps should be wake-up calls for those divers who take this sport so lightly....those who put long lapses between dives with no reviews, those who drink excessively on dive vacations or "sudafed" themselves into hyperactivity because they are too macho to miss a dive, and those who consider themselves beyond any problems at all. Technical diving goes far beyond the territory of the advanced recreational diving limits, and Chowdhury admits that the world of technical diving has come a long way since the Rouses (father and son) first started mixing gases. Beyond the story itself, Chowdhury ventures into the exploration of the personalities of technical divers...their drive to go deeper and grasp the answers hidden in the the dark waters of this earth. Honest and gripping revelations from the author about himself lends terrific credibility to this volume. This fascinating and illuminating book allowed me to visit some underwater wrecks and held me captive in the cramped quarters of these "steel caves". Last Dive held the power to make me look around. The book has made me examine my own diving...what do I want from the adventure and how far am I willing to go! What is the lure for me?
Rating: 
Summary: A cautionary tale for divers
Review: The Rouses can't defend themselves against the self-serving bilge on this site written criticising them, and technical diving in general: they're dead. One in 54 people climbing Everest, and 1 in 25 on K2, dies trying. Technical diving is safer by several orders of magnitude, yet it is criticised and mountaineering is not because dive tourism, dive teaching and dive equipment are multi-billion dollar businesses that feel threatened when people die underwater. That's the main difference between "Touching the Void" and "Last Dive" - there's nobody saying Simpson and Yates shouldn't have been ice climbing in the high Andes because it's dangerous. The Rouses died because a large piece of ironwork fell on one of them, trapping him. That's not ineptitude but extreme ill fortune. There's heroism here, and unshaking loyalty. The author takes great care to explain that the Rouses were highly competent technical divers. The U-Who is not particularly deep for a trained tech diver, but suicide for the untrained. At the time, helium was much less well understood and exceedingly expensive. You can't judge their decisions from a modern perspective of cheaper helium and better decompression models. Sure, there were mistakes, but if you are a real tech diver and honest with yourself you will be able to look back on stupid and dangerous things you have done, and have been grateful for the long minutes on the decompression hangs to come up with an explanation for your horrified buddies. If you're you're not a tech diver, you're nowhere close to being able to criticize. The moral of the tale for today's divers, though, is that in an emergency you need the clear head that helium gives you. I believe this book is saving lives, and for that Bernie Chowdhury has earned our praise and thanks. This isn't an easy story to tell, because the risks of technical diving are, indeed, more technical than those of falling off a mountain. Some of the explanations are, admittedly, a trifle laboured. It was doubtless challenging to tease detail out of a grieving widow, shell-shocked crewmembers and fellow divers, but the author comes through with flying colours here. He made a good stab at investigating what makes a man want to take these risks. I can't agree with comments that dialogue was stilted, but I was entirely rapt in the story. I finished the book in one sitting, and was left wishing there was more.
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.
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