Customer Reviews

Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am disappointed, but of course not surprised that some people did not enjoy this book--those who did not enjoy it either did not understand what they were buying or do not have the imagination it takes to be affected by this incredible piece of work. They need REAL cases, where they can't see past the fictionalized format of each of these circumstances. Peter Stark is the MICHAEL CRICHTON of outdoor adventure and all its dangers, where he provides the medical/biological condition of the victim that he or she, if writing his own tale would never have known about. Don't get me wrong, first-hand accounts are great, but the objectivity in these tales really makes them easier to "experience," and the use of second person in the opening and closing chapters is the crowning touch. You aren't "listening to someone else's story", you are completely drawn in with the victim, as long as you have an active imagination. If you don't feel affected after the last chapter then I just don't know what to say--talk about a grand finale for a book--I've never been so freaked out in all of my life! GET READY! Overall, I will never view being underwater or forgetting my water bottle the same way after reading this book.

Peter Stark has done a great job of detailing the clinical as well as the emotional side of death. As someone who spends a great deal of time playing outside, I found his stories both cautionary and motivational. That is to say, he bases his fictitious deaths on real, concrete science, and knowing more about the science will help recognize and avoid the situations he has created. A finely-written book that I'll pull down from time to time for reference as well as recreation.

This book is one of the best I've read in a long time. To the first reviewer, he clearly didn't understand this book, as is shown by the following reviews.

The author is brilliant, after the chapter on thirst I went to the fridge and drank two sodas right away. The writing is intelligent, you don't get the feeling he's trying to dumb it down to the lowest common denominator. There is just enough medical information to make you understand what is going on physically, but not overwhelm you.

I highly, highly suggest you read this book.

I first read a chapter of this book in paddler magazine and the way Peter Stark described the drowning of a kayaker (Chapter 2: A River of One's Own) in detail right down to the amounts of oxygen remaining in his lungs at various periods of time. The entire book is written as en ewcellent blend of fact and fiction and while the scenarios are not true they are composites of true stories, and some of Stark's imagination, which gives them a realism that pure fiction can't match. The facts Stark gives are sound, he obviously did his homework and he even gives a bibliography so you can check out some of his sources. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get outside.

My chances of suffering any of the fates of the adventurers in Peter Stark's book are as remote as the locations of his short stories. Nonetheless, I must admit that he puts you in scary places and confronts you with your own mortality. Last Breath is a great read for the beach or for the suspicious reader who believes that his terrible demise awaits him at every turnout on life's otherwise prosaic road. The tales are horrifying and yet fascinating. Stark's medical details provide the gravity and realism. They lend weighty balance for the morbid voyeurism that infects anyone who reads his book. It's great. Avalanches, killer jellyfish, jungle fever, hallucinatory scurvy, raging rapids and more. It's enough to cause any couch potato to settle back and bask in the glorious safety of his Lazy Boy, content in the superior wisdom of his sedentary life.

The author places his characters in a variety of outdoor adventures -- rock climbing, kayaking, snowboarding, etc. -- each which poses some risk of injury or death. In each situation the worst does occur and the author then describes how the human body reacts, consciously or unconsciously, to life-threatening forces.

The bibliography, arranged by topic, provides many additional resources.

Highly recommended for health care professionals and those who love outdoor adventures.

"Last Breath" makes for a very good educational read on many different ways of dying. The information in the book ties together the psychological and physiologcal factors of people in extreme conditions, and also provides some helpful information on how to increase your chances of survival.

Other reviewers have commented negatively on the characters being fictional. I felt that had you not been told by Peter Stark to begin with, it would have been difficult to know that they weren't real stories. Furthermore, the use of fictional characters allowed the author to include all of the important details and circumstances that can occur during a given struggle, in just one story.

I first read this book over five years ago. I could NOT put it down!
These are part fiction part true short stories of the many ways one
can take ones LAST BREATH - literally. For some reason I started in
the middle with the drowning story. A blow by blow clinical description of what goes on in your body as you drown. Facinating! Each story is
pretty much about people taking chances and risking their lives for
different reasons;mountain climbing, cycling, scuba diving,or just being caught out in the cold, - some recover - but some wind up taking their Last Breath. As you read it you know exactly how it happens. I've read it
three times. Great read -especially to the layperson who may not know
strenuous sports or the extremes a human body can withstand.

Have you ever rockclimbed? If so, make your first read the short story on "Falling".
You will find yourself reaching for the chalkbag as perspiration flows from your
fingertips. If you've never rockclimbed, read it anyway, Oh, and the answer to the
non-climbers first question is "Yes, there are people who attempt (and even achieve)
what this climber set out to do."

A good read. Anyone who likes their fiction served with a good portion of interesting arcana on different subjects(like Dying) will find this book a fun, easy read, chock full of a lot of gripping details.

Each chapter is a fictitious account of someone near death from hypothermia, avalanche, predator, etc. All fun and involving -- except for the scurvy chapter which is really pointless and uninvolving.