Customer Reviews

Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought and read this book (from Amazon) after seeing it on display at my local Borders. A growing interest in Tibet combined with a passion for non-fiction adventure stories made this a perfect choice. After finishing the book, I received the DVD (Into the Tsangpo Gorge), which brings the whole story to life. However, I am certain I would not have enjoyed watching the DVD as much were in not for having read the book first. If you already have the DVD, I highly recommend the book to round out the story. And if you've already read the book... the DVD is a MUST.

While I agree with some reviewers that Heller is not on equal footing with Jon Krakauer, I am a bit surprised at the degree to which they dismiss Heller's writing. First off, the story itself is so compelling that -- even if what these critical reviewers say about the writing style were true -- you would be doing yourself a disservice to dismiss this book entirely. That said, I found that Heller did an excellent job of creating a vivid picture of the Tsangpo Gorge and the harrowing trek that the expedition team faced both on and off the river. When you consider the semi-reluctant cooperation he faced from the expedition leader, Scott Lindgren, and the fact that Heller himself was not actually kayaking on the river, I am rather impressed with how well he is able to capture the spirit of the paddlers and all their daring whitewater exploits!

This is an extrodinary book. How these paddlers trekked up this Gorge (with kayaks)and paddled the Tsangpo is absolutely amazing. I did like when the author talked about the history of the Gorge..the steepness..etc. I'm sad that I finished it. No, there is no pictures (for a certain 4th grader)...BUT if you want to SEE this magnificent scenery AND WATCH these exceptional paddlers then buy Scott Lindgren's DVD "Into The Tsangpo Gorge"..its the movie version to this book. ITS ABSOLUTELY JAW DROPPING! Once you watch this DVD..you will want to read the book again. Anyone who has an interest in this part of the world will ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK AND DVD!!

For years, Tibet's Upper Tsangpo gorge had loomed as the ultimate challenge in whitewater. Carving the deepest gorge in the world (over 15,000 feet deep) and dropping in places 250 feet/mile this monsterous river had repelled every attempt to navigate it's turbulent and treacherous waters. In 1998, a group led by Wickliffe Walker attempted a first descent at 60,000 cfs+, only to have U.S. Kayak Slalom Team member Doug Gordon drown almost midway through the gorge. Their perilous journey is chronicled in the excellent book The Last River.
After extensive planning using satalite imagery, a team of the world's top kayakers led by extreme filmmaker Scott Lindgren (and sponsored by GM/Outside magazine) attempted a fresh first descent in February 2002 at a more reasonable 15,000 cfs. While Lindgren and his 5 buddies were battling the rapids, Peter Heller (on assignment from Outside magazine) hiked the side canyon on a bad hip with an army of 64 porters providing logistical support. Heller chronicles the boaters' near death experiences from the relatively safe vantage point of the trail overlooking the river. Although unable to provide a personal account of the kayaking experience, his writing is brilliant, describing a Shangri-La like beauty that gives the reader a feeling of being surrounded by one of the most remote and enchanting places on Earth.
Heller also vividly portrays the six personalities of this elite kayaking group; in particular focusing on the intense displeasure that Lindgren has for Heller's book proposal. He also describes an intense standoff between the porters and the expedition members, where the porters demand, on threat of death, almost twice their originally contracted pay. (This hardball bargaining style seems to be a recurring theme on many Himalayan expeditions.)
He also gives a brief history of the Tibetan people following the invasion and near-destruction of this Buddhist nation by the Chinese in the 1950s. After enduring a gigantic flood along the Tsangpo in 2000, many of these indigenous people are being relocated so that China can turn this rugged region into a national park.
Overall this makes for excellent adventure reading. It's good to know there are still modern day heroes conquering unconquered rivers and coming home to tell about it.

Disappointing. This book is not particularly well-written. Heller waxes majestically about the scenery and topography he sees, but I still can't visualize it. And he shifts his voice several times throughout the book, sometimes writing as if he were delivering sacred text, other times casually reaching out and attempting to speak to the reader one-on-one. It's hard to get a feel for the story he's trying to tell. Add that to the fact that there is not a single compelling character in the book and it makes it a little tough to slog through. I find that I just don't care what happens to these people. And this may sound silly, but an adventure book without pictures of the location is a bad idea. I hate to sound like I'm in 4th grade, but it would have been really helpful to have some visual aids to understand the geography they were in and the effect of the water on their kayaking. No photos. It hurts the book.

Peter Heller will have you gripping your seat as he transports the reader into the Tsangpo Gorge. The story is told with beautifully crafted sentences which compensate for the lack of photos by filling your mind with exquisite word pictures. Of course the adventure itself is the main excitement, but the personalities of the kayakers present another layer of drama as the adventure roars down the river. These men are on a sort of exploration, true, but it is a mistake to imagine that they are heroes, since this kind of adrenaline- and testosterone-filled journey is by nature a very self-involved endeavor. For readers who love to mentally throw themselves over the edge without actually risking death, HELL OR HIGH WATER is a classic wild ride.

I enjoy well written memoirs. My expectations were high. I was hoping that the writer himself would end up on the water for a little bit. Although I'm an open water kayaker, I was not familiar with the white water kayaking terms. Heller used words such as holes, which would have been helpful to have a little more description. The transition between events portrayed was awkward.

The writer kept saying he was on a spiritual journey to find his soul. Well there was much ado about nothing. Did he ever have an epiphany? The ending was unceremonious and I found myself scanning just to finish the book.

However there were good moments in the book, just not enough worth to read.

This is a detailed, unsentimental report on an amazing trek and high-risk journey. You don't need to know one thing about kayaking to enjoy this rough and tumble adventure. The cultural barriers are as fascinating as the plunges down skyscrapers of water. The description of the topography and the characters on this journey are wonderful, compelling. This "Into Thin Air" on a ribbon of churning foam and turbulence.

Peter Heller is an adventure writer in the old style: thoroughly conversant when it comes to the main event, but careful also to place that central project in full context. For me, this was the great joy of reading "Hell or High Water." The kayaking trip down the Tsangpo is so vividly, ingeniously described that at several points my toes curled at the risk, and it's a great, solid tale that sits properly at the center of this book. But the story of seven brave kayakers is offset by Heller's unique curiosity and humanity: along the route we get bits of Tibetan mythology and history, narratives of earlier conquest, a tutorial on river movement, a little Buddhism and natural-history arcana, plus a whole boatload of engaging stories. Heller is a generous writer who takes excellent command of his book's ambitious scope, and the result for readers is a chance to join a knowledgeable, companionable guide on a truly remarkable expedition.

a terrific book that gives a real feel for the inside workings of a difficult and dangerous expedition. the white water descriptions are right on and make you feel as if you were there. a great book for the arm chair traveler.

As official journalist for Outside Magazine on the expedition, Peter Heller had the opportunity of a lifetime: accompany a group of world class kayakers on the holy grail, a first decent of Tibet's Tsangpo River. Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River chronicles the adventure, from the banks of the river to the insane portages up neighboring mountain passes. The Tsangpo falls through one of the deepest gorges in the world and a fabled waterfall on its course gave rise the legend of Shangri-La. To say that it is a magical place is an understatement and Heller, despite a nagging hip injury, had no choice but to take up this unique challenge.

Unfortunately for Heller, Scott Lindgren, the kayaker-in-charge of the expedition, was fairly resistant to the idea of a writer along for the trip. He was compelled to take one if he wanted the funding Outside was providing. That said, Heller's comments to other expedition members that his resulting book could be his Into Thin Air certainly didn't lighten the mood. Perhaps Heller failed to realize that Into Thin Air was so successful because the expedition was a tragic failure resulting in several deaths. If Krackauer's group had simply made it up and back, his account would have been far less popular than it is today. This dynamic sets up most of the drama in the story, Heller battling to tell the "complete" story and Scott pushing back and asserting his authority. However, the most shocking drama came when the group faced a porter revolt during which porters threatened to kill the kayakers and robbed them at knife point.

Overall, the trip was incredibly successful. The kayakers spend more time actually paddling (rather than portaging) than they anticipated and the few close calls experienced have happy endings. Heller's account is interesting, but it lacks a really compelling grip on the reader. For such an intense trip, the book is rather short and you get the felling much is left unsaid. The landscape and scene description is standard at best, but Heller has moments of intriguing insight and clarity. Considering the accomplishment, this is a great follow-up to Todd Balf's The Last River.