Most Helpful Customer Reviews
62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Armchair Caver's Delight!, May 18, 2010
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Entertaining account of the expeditions of two world-renowned cavers (Bill Stone, Alexander Klimchouk) that explored deep supercaves in Mexico (Cheve, Huautla) and the Republic of Georgia (Krubera). Serious cavers will likely be familiar with many of the discoveries recounted, but armchair cavers will enjoy learning about the tremendous obstacles, common to supercaves, that must be traversed in deep cave exploration (e.g., vertical shafts of up to 500 feet, crashing waterfalls, boulders, seemingly impassable sumps, extremely tight meanders).
The book goes into detail about caving techniques, the special dangers of cave diving, and the development of the rebreathers that make extended exploration by cave divers possible. There are vivid descriptions of actions that proved fatal, or nearly fatal, to some cavers. There is also much interesting biographical information about both Stone and Klimchouk. The well-written, page-turning narrative is presented in a way that makes caving accessible to non-cavers.
The advance review copy that I received had no photographs, which was a disappointment. However, the author's skill at describing underground scenes makes up considerably for the lack of photographs. If the hardcover book should include photographs, then this book should receive 5 stars. (Rating changed to 5 stars on 6/2/10. See comments to this review.)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, May 19, 2010
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Caves and caving fascinate me, so when I saw there was a book about supercave exploration, I had to read it. I am so glad I did. I was absolutely glued to this book from the first page to the last. The only thing it lacked was a section of pictures, but that's the price I pay for reading an advance copy--the published edition has several pages of them. Even so, I was able to look those up on the internet so I could have a visual reference, which made the book even more powerful.
This is not so much the story of cave exploration as it is about cave explorers. Tabor researched two premier cavers from the USA and the Republic of Georgia, and devoted a section of the book to each. American Bill Stone has led several expeditions into supercaves in Mexico, while Ukranian Alexander Klimchouk has headed several European expeditions on the Arabika Massif in the Republic of Georgia.
In addition to following the amazing accomplishments of both men, Tabor explained in great detail the hardships and dangers involved in supercave exploration. I felt like I was there on the expeditions; rappelling, digging, crawling, diving, and freezing underground for days or weeks on end along with the cavers mentioned in this book. I have nothing but respect for this handful of people who risk their lives for the thrill of going thousands of feet underground and braving the dangers there in order to share their discoveries with the world. There's pretty much no chance at all of me dropping down the first shaft of Cheve Cave, and forget it with Krubera, so I really appreciate this insider view.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It's highly informative, giving outsiders an intimate view of what goes into supercave exploration, and it's also an exciting page-turner. Tabor has a way of keeping readers on the edge of their seats as he takes us through real-life underground exploration. I found myself thinking of several fascinating topics I wish he would write about because he has a way of making an informative, nonfiction book into an exciting adventure, and not many authors can pull that off.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Blind Descent, May 5, 2010
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
`Blind Descent` is about elite explorers who seek out the ultimate prize: the worlds deepest caves. These so-called "super caves" require days or even weeks underground in large supported missions like climbing Mt. Everest, yet most people know very little about this highly specialized field of exploration. It is one of the few exciting books for a general audience about extreme caving.
Tabor's book is "adrenalin literature", it keeps one flipping pages and the heart racing, the kind of creative nonfiction pioneered with Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm. But it feels less mature and gimmicky, at 250 pages there are 49 chapters, stopping unnecessarily in the middle of a scene, I suppose to build tension and create cliff-hangers. In effect it causes so much white space between chapters at times I was turning pages faster than a falling rock. There is an unnecessary amount of antagonism created around Bill Stone's personality, the freedom of creative non-fiction for the sake of entertainment went a little too far by inflating Bill's personality against a Russian caver. We have a "race" (which it really isn't) against two antagonists (who really are not). No doubt these techniques will sell books, but I wished for something of more substance and less artificial drama.
Tabor admits that he owes a large debt to Bill Stone's book Beyond the Deep: The Deadly Descent Into the World's Most Treacherous Cave, which is about one of Stone's epic cave explorations in Mexico. Indeed the most gripping part of `Blind Descent` is when it recounts scenes from `Beyond the Deep`. Although it doesn't have the journalistic perspective of `Blind Descent`, Stone's book is a true first person primary source, sort of like the difference between those who go to war, and those who stay home and romanticize about it. `Blind Descent` is an easy and quick journalistic introduction to caving and I'm glad to have read it but look forward to reading `Beyond the Deep` and wish I had earlier.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
