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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
This isn't going to win any awards for its prose, and I have no urge to go explore the nearest supercave, but it was a fun read. If I were Alexander Klimchouk or Yury Kasjan, though, I might be a little peeved. This book is set up (in structure and tone) as a loving tribute to Bill Stone, and the Ukrainian cavers feel like a bit of an afterthought.
An interesting subject nearly ruined by the writer's hyberbolic style. There was never a 'race' to find the world's deepest cave; what there was was a dedicated Ukrainian caving society exploring the world's deepest cave, and an intrepid megalomaniacal american caver trying to establish a mexican cave as the world's deepest (it's not even in the top 5) over the same 25 yr. period, whose story the author desperately wanted to tell.
Both stories were interesting, and a better writer would have found a way to weave in the story of, perhaps, some of the other european speleologists who were establishing true records during this time as well, or interwoven the stories he was telling a bit more tightly so that the timelines of the two explorations would seem more akin to the race he was trying to make us believe was occurring.
Tabor's prose is so full of hackneyed exaggeration that it's almost laughable at times how hard he tries to make every single scene a matter of life or death (we get it, caving is dangerous). He even resorts to ending every one of his 50 odd chapters with a sort of artificial cliff hanger, just to perpetuate the endless,and ultimately defeating, sense of impending doom that never materializes.
Both stories were interesting, and a better writer would have found a way to weave in the story of, perhaps, some of the other european speleologists who were establishing true records during this time as well, or interwoven the stories he was telling a bit more tightly so that the timelines of the two explorations would seem more akin to the race he was trying to make us believe was occurring.
Tabor's prose is so full of hackneyed exaggeration that it's almost laughable at times how hard he tries to make every single scene a matter of life or death (we get it, caving is dangerous). He even resorts to ending every one of his 50 odd chapters with a sort of artificial cliff hanger, just to perpetuate the endless,and ultimately defeating, sense of impending doom that never materializes.
The author tries very hard to convince us that caving is an adventure worthy of adulation and excitement. Perhaps the weak prose and un- intriguing characters, I just sped through the book to the end. A short article would have sufficed.
Meh, I wasn't that impressed by the writing, even though the subject matter was interesting.
Interesting subject matter, but I didn't find the writing to be very engaging. Then again, I kept reading it, so it was obviously exciting enough to continue. I learned a lot about caving and am still sure I will never be a spelunker.
One of the best nonfiction books I've read in quite a while. This was terrifying and claustrophobic. Tabor spares no details with the day to day in deep caving life. Great to read if you are into caving, extreme situations, or really good nonfiction. Might give it a pass if you're claustrophobic though.
Yeah, so caving is apparently as insanely dangerous and amazingly exciting as mountaineering.
An exciting account diminished in places by repetitive exaggeration, an over-reliance on analogy and breathless of inventory of the dangers of caving and cave diving. Was also annoyed by every woman being introduced by way of a physical description of their attractiveness, throw me a bone and describe the muscular forearms of the dude-climbers, I'm sure they had them but can't be sure because the author didn't think that relevant to the story. Structurally seemed weighted in favor of the American, though initially the author sets it up to be a story about an American and a Ukrainian, the Ukrainian caver gets about a 1/3 of the verbiage given to the American.
Still it was an entertaining if frustrating adventure story. Very scary stuff.
Still it was an entertaining if frustrating adventure story. Very scary stuff.
A good read about the quest to explore the deepest caves in the world. I read a lot of adventure type books, but this one will stick with me. By the time I finished the first chapter I told my husband this is something I never ever want to do. I can't imagine all the explorers go through just to do something that most average people will never know or care about.
This book has a large chip on it's shoulder, spending a lot of time trying to convince me that the subject is interesting. The descriptions of the expeditions were good, the explanation of why finding the super cave is a worthy pursuit not so much so. I only made it about a third of the way through.