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57 reviews for:
Trapped Under the Sea: One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles Into the Darkness
Neil Swidey
4.01 AVERAGE
57 reviews for:
Trapped Under the Sea: One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles Into the Darkness
Neil Swidey
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
tense
Well, this was a heck of a story, and I'm glad I had a chance to read the accounts of the men who worked on this project and learn about the tragedy and its aftermath. Swidey had some very smart things to say about how circumstances align to turn deadly and where to place blame, and about how men like these are remembered as "heroes" who "sacrificed" rather than guys who were paid to do a job, told to trust the people in charge to keep them safe, and ultimately failed by a system bigger than any heroic action they could have taken themselves. As much as I appreciated the author's perspective and clear explanations, the writing didn't quite click with me as much as it seems to have worked for others.
I'd say recommended if the subject matter of megaprojects is something you're into, it's a fascinating investigation into all the moving parts of such things.
I'd say recommended if the subject matter of megaprojects is something you're into, it's a fascinating investigation into all the moving parts of such things.
Detailed account of how a team, arguably experts in diving and well-aware of the risks, ignored repeated warning flags as they pressed to complete a project with no precedents using completely unproven, innovative technology. This book is a good case study on how such projects often turn into disasters, despite the best intentions, and end up costing many times more than simply slowing down and thinking again about the problem would have taken.
Incredible portrait of five men and the engineering project they found themselves working on. Impeccably written and researched. Even though you know this has already happened and you know the outcome cannot be good, the reader can't help begging and pleading with the characters to make better decisions. That includes all the corporations and government people involved! A hard story to tell, done so well this is a truly engrossing read.
Well-done--This book could have been a mess, but Swidey did a good job with explanations and just a few well-placed, relevant illustrations (take notes, In the Kingdom of Ice! Poor illustrations are one of the reasons you only got three stars (*is* one of the reasons? Craaaap, somebody help me out here!)). Anyway, Swidey kept the story detailed and thorough but it never got bogged down. There were a few places where details were a little repetitive (not just the details but the way in which they were told, like somebody just copy-and-pasted), but I think if I had read this over a longer period of time instead of over four days, I probably wouldn't have noticed.
I don't think it's a spoiler to say that PTSD is addressed in this book--I mean, look at the title; it's not a stretch to guess that somebody might have been traumatized by something at some point in this story--and I think the author handles it as deftly as the rest of the material. We hear a lot about PTSD in regard to combat veterans, but it's unusual to hear much about it anywhere else. Again, Swidey gives us good insight into what it does and how it can affect "regular" people without overwhelming with statistics or clinical details.
Overall, a good read, highly recommended!
I don't think it's a spoiler to say that PTSD is addressed in this book--I mean, look at the title; it's not a stretch to guess that somebody might have been traumatized by something at some point in this story--and I think the author handles it as deftly as the rest of the material. We hear a lot about PTSD in regard to combat veterans, but it's unusual to hear much about it anywhere else. Again, Swidey gives us good insight into what it does and how it can affect "regular" people without overwhelming with statistics or clinical details.
Overall, a good read, highly recommended!
A very interesting - and sad, and frustrating - story, but, alas, I didn't find the telling as compelling as many other readers. My sense is that this would have been a truly excellent short book (say, something under 250 pages), and the right editor could have turned it into a classic - something to rival the work of some of the extremely successful and popular "new journalism" rock stars -- think Erik Larson (the best of the lot in my book, no pun intended) or Hampton Sides or Jon Krakauer or Mitchell Zuckoff, and maybe even Michael Lewis (although he's somewhat of a horse of a different color).... But, in the end, there just wasn't enough in this book (to my mind) to justify its length. [As an aside, I couldn't help comparing this book - at least partially about divers - to Robert Kurson's Shadow Divers, which I thought was far superior, and I recommend without hesitation.] Granted, I appear to be in the minority on this, and the book came to me highly recommended, so maybe I'm missing something (and I admit that could be the case).
On a more positive note: I thought the book opened with a bang, immediately seizing my interest; I also found Swidey finished strong, and his concluding observations were on point, thoughtful, and thought provoking. I'm glad I read the book for those two aspects alone.
Ultimately, however, I think the book is exactly what the author implied it was: a repackaging of a years of (most likely) excellent articles about an interesting and infuriating story. If you're intrigued by stories involving massive public works projects, add this one to your shelf - there's plenty of good material in here. If you're someone who likes complexity theory (introduced to many popular fiction readers in Michael Crichton's classic original Jurassic Park (a darn good book, not equaled by the sequels), this is a non-fiction anecdote/case study worth your time. (As an aside, it's easy to forget how good (and creative and path-breaking) much of Crichton's early work was, but I digress....)
In retrospect, I think the lengthy (and, in many ways, inaccurate) title reflects my frustration with the book. Potential spoiler alert here, but only if you're completely unfamiliar with the public record... Yes, five men were trapped under the sea (briefly), but - in many ways - the most important actor in the book is the sixth man, whom the author concludes escaped responsibility for his criminal negligence. And, in many ways, one of the most interesting features of the author's relentless research is that he introduces you to the extraordinarily broad and diverse cast of characters that contributed to (or were impacted by) the disaster and/or participated in the aftermath.
Having said all of that, kudos to Swidey for sticking with the story for so long. He provided a valuable service - not only to the survivors and their families (and the families of those who were not as lucky) - but a a significant public service to future workers whose lives may be spared (and/or better protected) as a result of using this high profile project and disaster as a teaching tool, lesson learned, or easily applied anecdote with regard to the calculus involved in weighing project completion costs and deadlines against worker safety.
On a more positive note: I thought the book opened with a bang, immediately seizing my interest; I also found Swidey finished strong, and his concluding observations were on point, thoughtful, and thought provoking. I'm glad I read the book for those two aspects alone.
Ultimately, however, I think the book is exactly what the author implied it was: a repackaging of a years of (most likely) excellent articles about an interesting and infuriating story. If you're intrigued by stories involving massive public works projects, add this one to your shelf - there's plenty of good material in here. If you're someone who likes complexity theory (introduced to many popular fiction readers in Michael Crichton's classic original Jurassic Park (a darn good book, not equaled by the sequels), this is a non-fiction anecdote/case study worth your time. (As an aside, it's easy to forget how good (and creative and path-breaking) much of Crichton's early work was, but I digress....)
In retrospect, I think the lengthy (and, in many ways, inaccurate) title reflects my frustration with the book. Potential spoiler alert here, but only if you're completely unfamiliar with the public record... Yes, five men were trapped under the sea (briefly), but - in many ways - the most important actor in the book is the sixth man, whom the author concludes escaped responsibility for his criminal negligence. And, in many ways, one of the most interesting features of the author's relentless research is that he introduces you to the extraordinarily broad and diverse cast of characters that contributed to (or were impacted by) the disaster and/or participated in the aftermath.
Having said all of that, kudos to Swidey for sticking with the story for so long. He provided a valuable service - not only to the survivors and their families (and the families of those who were not as lucky) - but a a significant public service to future workers whose lives may be spared (and/or better protected) as a result of using this high profile project and disaster as a teaching tool, lesson learned, or easily applied anecdote with regard to the calculus involved in weighing project completion costs and deadlines against worker safety.