The Dive : A Story of Love and Obsession

Rating:
Summary: My opinion
Review: This book further inspired me in my own free diving career and had a tremendous emotional effect on my being. It is one of the most tragic love stories ever written, and it's real. Pipin and Audrey are inspring and beautiful. As for the rest of you...
Sorry guys, but Audrey's death was as much her own fault as it was Pipin's and the rest of the team. She wasn't obsessed with the records and the fame like Pipin, but she was obsessed with the sport and had absolutely no objections to her deep dive and looked forward to the challenge for herself, as always. The equipment onboard was the same equipment Audrey knew was on any dive. Why would this one be any different? She knew how few safety divers there were. She knew everything. They didn't break any safety laws. If someone was driving and their backseat passengers were not wearing seatbelts, which is NOT required by law, and there is an accident and those in the back are killed, the driver is not responsible for their deaths. Perhaps now that free diving has become more recognized, safety laws will be put into affect. They were not in affect at the time and no one can be responsible for Audrey's tragic death. You have to go by the laws, not your opinions. Just like you can't re-define a word that has already been defined in a dictionary. Bad things happen. If you were driving to the grocery store like you always do, and you were in an accident that smashed your head into the driver window and you die, the police aren't going to say "She should've been wearing a helmet today, and this wouldn't have happened." Guess what. IT'S NOT A LAW. Why would you think today would be abnormal?

Rating:
Summary: Good shot but falls short
Review: Although it is a good story it falls short of what it could be.

Rating:
Summary: A legend
Review: Hi, I believe the people rating Pipin are being rather harsh with him. True Pipin doesn't give all the explanations, and yes it was a tragedy and for many of us see it as a mistake that took place in Dominican Republic. Its hard to find all the answers....

I am a freediver and I believe the book talks a lot about the history and events that many of us freedivers are interested in. Pipin Ferrera years ago, gave a name to the sport and that's why he is respected in our comunity.

For a person interested in freediving, I highly recomend this book.

Roberto Zuniga

Rating:
Summary: Passionate stupidity...
Review: I do feel great sorrow for Pipin. In this book he shares his passion for diving, love for the diving partner he created in his wife Audrey and the story of their life together.
At the same time he seemed to try to justify the series of mistakes that led to his wife's death during a dive. There was the encouragement to go deeper and deeper, the lack of proper medical equipment on board, not checking the gear on board in a reliable fashion, not having enough divers posted etc.
I felt like shaking Pipin who was responsible for the dive, when he says he regrets that things weren't done differently but thats the way it was always done. Take responsibility.
I have no doubt that he is truly sorrowful, but his poor decision making skills were shocking.
The book helps you understand the passion of the sport but it leaves a very bad feeling when you realize the accident did not have to occur.


Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: I don't know what the other reviewers are talking about. I thought this was a wonderful book. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. What a tragic story! I myself have done some diving, but freediving is something I only see others doing. What a crazy sport. For a fun/entertaining read, I'd highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Left Me With Even MORE Questions
Review: I must have picked up this book for the wrong reason.

I was hoping to hear Mr. Ferreras' explanations regarding the Free Diving World Record Breaking Attempt which took place on October 12, 2002 (seeing as the book is called "The Dive" and it starts with the event of that day)... a dive which took Audrey Mestre's life. I was hoping to find his point of view regarding the unfortunate series of events (sorry Lemony Snicket) which lead to Audrey's death.

Instead, he used that unfortunate day as the backdrop for his story... not answering any of the lingering questions surrounding Audrey's death, and instead indulging in how his life was, on how "obsessed" he became about making Audrey "the undisputed queen of the depth"... all for his own glorification.

Obsessed.. that's exactly what he was: obsessed with glory, and with using Audrey as his way to glory.

Rating:
Summary: No Way
Review: I regret having obtained this book. I was looking for answers on what happened to Audrey. Instead, I found Ferreras contradicting his own words when compared to his own previous statements through tv reports and articles presented here in Spain, and selling his own "obsession". And the only love story I see is a unilateral one.
And when it comes to diving, he admits making the mistake that took his wife's life. Checking the air pressure by hand? In Spain that would have been a severe case of negligence and his picture taken with some numbers in the chest. In summary, we still don't know what really happened.

Rating:
Summary: Pathetic
Review: OK, let's see if I've got this straight. Ferreras sent his wife plummeting down 500 feet, with an air tank that was later found to be near empty. He acknowledges that the air tank had no air gauge. He acknowledges that he does not remember who filled the tank. And he acknowledges that in the support team that he supervised, no one was assigned the task of filling the tank. Yet Ferreras doesn't feel ultimately responsible for his wife's death, and ascribes the whole thing to a whim of the Santeria gods.

I found the whole thing stomach-turning. I don't know what Ferreras was hoping for in writing the book -- to get absolution, or to make a buck? To provide a screenplay for James "Titanic" Cameron? I certainly don't get the sense that he meant the book to be a cautionary tale about sloppily planned daredevil stunts or runaway egos, which is the only value that I personally see in the book.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written, thinly veiled attempt at absolution
Review: Reading Dive is like watching a train wreck, only slower and underwater. You can't help but be fascinated, even though the tragic outcome is already assured. It reminded me of a soggy version of the Sylvia Plath/Ted Hughes saga only, obviously, much less literary. Nonetheless, I felt a perverse sense of guilt for pandering to my own morbid curiosity.

As a long time fan of the movie The Big Blue, I was suitably intrigued by the concept of free diving. Aside from a scant few technical details discussed - such as bloodshift - Dive was sorely lacking in substance. Instead, the author spends the entire book trying desperately to convince the reader, and himself, that he was not responsible for Audrey's death. He fails on both counts.

If not for the somber story line, the writing would be laughably bad; oddly enough, that seems to make the tragedy even more poignant. Free diving is an odd and - in the end - pointless - hobby. I can see how exploring the limits of the human form can become addictive; sadly though, a place in an obscure record book is no reward for a promising life cut far too short.

Rating:
Summary: Left a bad impression
Review: The book is called a story of love and obsession but frankly the words should be reversed. Peppin Ferreras is obsessed with the sea and with free diving. The book makes that clear but I wasn't so sure about the genuine love. If his wife had chosen to just watch him dive instead of becoming his creation would he have been as happy with her?

The love story aside, when the book talks about the sport of free diving it picks up steam and becomes somewhat interesting but not enough. This a library book or a wait until it comes out in paperback read.