Rating: 
Summary: Sweaty palms
Review: This book is a measured and gripping account of the ill-fated attempt by 4 ultra-rational guys to attempt the seemingly irrational - a run down the long and extremely remote class VI wild water gorge in a remote section of Tibet. If you're a whitewater paddler and /or know any of the participants the book is especially vivid - it gave me sweaty palms and pumped heart rate just reading about it. One big problem was the lack of a decent map, and a photo of one sort or another would have been nice, but overall it succeeds in taking you along on a wild ride, with tragic consequences.
Rating:
Summary: The Last River
Review: This book is a true story about a team that goes on an expedition to kayak the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet. The book begins out in the United States describing how the characters have grown and why they came to like kayaking so much. It tells of their families and how they met, and also if they had any influences to the sport of kayaking. After it describes the characters and their backgrounds, it goes into the team coming together and meeting one another to get the idea of planning an expedition to go to the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet. They get to the planning stage of the expedition, which was to try to kayak the gorge as long as they can. The planning goes over for them to all take a flight to the Tsangpo Gorge. Once they are there they meet many different people who are on other expeditions. They practice techniques for kayaking the river and even practice safety techniques in case of any danger on the expedition. Once it gets into the part where they're in the gorge it gets exciting and really tells in detail what happened. It contains many surprises and lots of information. I recommend this book to any adult who wants to read an exciting true story and that wants to learn about a kayaking adventure on the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet.
Rating:
Summary: The Last River
Review: This book is a true story about a team that goes on an expedition to kayak the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet. The book begins out in the United States describing how the characters have grown and why they came to like kayaking so much. It tells of their families and how they met, and also if they had any influences to the sport of kayaking. After it describes the characters and their backgrounds, it goes into the team coming together and meeting one another to get the idea of planning an expedition to go to the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet. They get to the planning stage of the expedition, which was to try to kayak the gorge as long as they can. The planning goes over for them to all take a flight to the Tsangpo Gorge. Once they are there they meet many different people who are on other expeditions. They practice techniques for kayaking the river and even practice safety techniques in case of any danger on the expedition. Once it gets into the part where they're in the gorge it gets exciting and really tells in detail what happened. It contains many surprises and lots of information. I recommend this book to any adult who wants to read an exciting true story and that wants to learn about a kayaking adventure on the Tsangpo Gorge in Tibet.
Rating:
Summary: It's not "Into Thin Air" but neither is it boring
Review: This is a good book. Not great; not horrible. Just a good, solid read. Yes, the author does provide some superfluous background material. Yes, the author does tend to jump around some in his narrative. No, the author does not necessarily keep you riveted with sensationalistic prose. However, anyone who can read this book and find either the book itself, or the story for which it serves as a medium, "boring" is apparently the type of reader who tends be dissapointed because there aren't any pictures to look at. This is no "Into Thin Air", but then again not many stories of survival or loss in the wilderness, no matter how interesting, quite carry the epic weight of that ill-fated occurence (and thank god they don't). This author sets out simply to convey the details connected with this particular expedition, much as if he were writing an article for Outside magazine (go figure) and the resulting story is both informative and, for those interested in the subject matter, well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: It's not "Into Thin Air" but neither is it boring
Review: This is a good book. Not great; not horrible. Just a good, solid read. Yes, the author does provide some superfluous background material. Yes, the author does tend to jump around some in his narrative. No, the author does not necessarily keep you riveted with sensationalistic prose. However, anyone who can read this book and find either the book itself, or the story for which it serves as a medium, "boring" is apparently the type of reader who tends be dissapointed because there aren't any pictures to look at. This is no "Into Thin Air", but then again not many stories of survival or loss in the wilderness, no matter how interesting, quite carry the epic weight of that ill-fated occurence (and thank god they don't). This author sets out simply to convey the details connected with this particular expedition, much as if he were writing an article for Outside magazine (go figure) and the resulting story is both informative and, for those interested in the subject matter, well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste you money
Review: This is an appalling book which should never have been written. Whitewater kayaking is about the most exhillerating sport around but this book never gets near to it. Sure the characters in it are some of the finest boaters around but this was hardly their greatest trip. Indeed they never really even started the trip before disaster struck. There is only so much you can write about a trip that barely started and this description is about 200 pages too long. It might have been a little more interesting with some photos or, if the print budget couldn't stretch to photos, at least a decent map. But there is nothing. It is a complete waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked "Into Thin Air"...
Review: Todd Balf did not do himself a favor by allowing the editors to include phrases such as the above into the dust jacket reviews. While "Into Thin Air" was certainly has its merits, Balf struggles with a number of limitations that keep his book from attaining the popular standard that was set by the aforementioned. First and foremost is that Balf's account is not first hand, and as a result, lacks the authority and clarity of Krakauer's book. Second, is that there are no photographs. Descriptions of the big water, the individuals, and the challenges they faced would have been a lot less abstract than the scenarios created by Balf (tho I recognize the National Geographic's contract with the team probably did not allow photos from the trip to be used). Lastly, a different level of writing might have corrected the above ills - his prose was sometimes difficult to plow thru, and often times his descriptions of the rapids and environs, which were meant to envoke, only served to dull. To boot, on numerous occasions he would reference an event or conversation in the book as tho it was the first time, when in fact it had been referenced before. And lastly, the photo of the kayak and the skull on the cover appears contrived and sensationalistic. All of the above could be passed off as minor irritants to be sure. However, being a sucker for anything that intersects my interests in Tibet, travel and kayaking with extra-ordinary individuals, I expect a more adept handling of the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read
Review: Todd Balf's The Last River was a very compelling read about something I know little about - the sport, adventure and competition of white water kayaking. It was also a very interesting read about a part of the world that I always find intriguing - Tibet -- and the history of the Tsangpo region and the river itself. However, what made the book compelling was the story of the group of people involved in kayaking and this adventure, both those who went on the trip and those who didn't. I also enjoyed Into Thin Air and Perfect Storm, and would be surprised if this book wasn't another bestseller.
Rating:
Summary: Disjointed and easy to put down
Review: When I picked up this book, I was SO excited, as the back cover compared it the hard-to-put-down "Into Thin Air" and the subject seemed to be an exciting one - unfortunately it never takes off, was an utter chore to finish and does not flow well... Sorry
Rating: 
Summary: Horribly written
Review: While the subject matter itself is very interesting, Todd Balf is a substandard writer. Much of his writing contains vocabulary terms that are unknown to 99% of Americans (who knew there was a glossary at the back?). Furthermore, Balf's writing is amateurish even if he is judged against other "journalistic" authors. I expected this to be a page turner, but instead found myself trudging on in order to finish. Balf has no idea how to create any sense of suspense in his writing, which, in the end, is part of the purpoose of this book.
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