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nikiberns33's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
abbuelita's review against another edition
Iām sorry but I got about 30% through and it was still just all backstory and much of it about the authors own life not really relevant to what the story is marketed to be about. Too much boring irrelevant detail I did not care to listen to.
suebrownreads's review against another edition
5.0
I just finished this book, and it was really good! I will never experience the kind of adventures that the Dial family had, but I enjoyed hearing about their fascinating life. Unfortunately the final journey for young Roman is a tragic one. What these parents go through will break your heart.
abby_can_read's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
š§
I thought this book was alright. I wanted to like it more than I did.
I thought this book was alright. I wanted to like it more than I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death and Injury/Injury detail
avery_rivers's review against another edition
4.0
The synopsis of this book is slightly misleading in that the quest to find Roman Dial Jr. is not the main story - in fact, it doesn't come into play until the last 1/3 of the book or so. It is about a man's love for his family, the outdoor adventures he shared them with them and how those experiences shaped the man his son would grow to be. To me, it seems to be in part a reckoning of the events that led Roman Dial Jr. into the national park alone, an independent and courageous man - and, in part, the terrible and crushing experience of parents searching for their lost son and needing closure. It's a beautiful story that celebrates a love of nature as much as love of family.
jfbfsf's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
This book was thoughtful, heartfelt, meandering, slow at times - a reflection on a relationship and a life, both cut short.
I have to imagine that writing this book was cathartic for the author, part of a long process of managing the grief and loss of losing a child (not healing, really, because I don't think you can ever heal from that). He gets to relive his son's childhood, examining the relationship between him and his son as it grew into a more mature, adult relationship over the years. While I have to imagine that revisiting the details of his son's death was painful, retelling the years when his son was alive was probably a nice place to be for a while.
For me the book bogs down a little in the biology/ecology details - a passion that the author and his son both shared, but one which I do not. The highlight of the story is their adventures - both together and apart - and when the author digs deep into, for example, different lizard species of South America, I found my mind wandering.
But the book is an ode to a lost child, a long reminisce about a deeply loved and admired son, and a reflection on how the author has lived, and can continue to live, without him. And in that, it's beautiful.
This book was thoughtful, heartfelt, meandering, slow at times - a reflection on a relationship and a life, both cut short.
I have to imagine that writing this book was cathartic for the author, part of a long process of managing the grief and loss of losing a child (not healing, really, because I don't think you can ever heal from that). He gets to relive his son's childhood, examining the relationship between him and his son as it grew into a more mature, adult relationship over the years. While I have to imagine that revisiting the details of his son's death was painful, retelling the years when his son was alive was probably a nice place to be for a while.
For me the book bogs down a little in the biology/ecology details - a passion that the author and his son both shared, but one which I do not. The highlight of the story is their adventures - both together and apart - and when the author digs deep into, for example, different lizard species of South America, I found my mind wandering.
But the book is an ode to a lost child, a long reminisce about a deeply loved and admired son, and a reflection on how the author has lived, and can continue to live, without him. And in that, it's beautiful.
loslibros's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
2.0
I have the somewhat pretentious tradition of reading a book based in a country before I visit for the first time. As I will be visiting Costa Rica next week, and as there are quite few books about Costa Rica apparently, this was my read.
I'm going to sound callous, maybe even cruel, but the author comes off selfishly throughout much of this book. I know ā he lost his son. That's horrible and tragic. But much like Into the Wild, the death was totally preventable if the son had followed basic safety instructions, and it often feels like the author expected everyone to bend to his will to break all the rules for his search. I don't know the pain of losing a child, so that's probably natural in a sense, but I agree with the other review that says this story could've been better told by someone more neutral to the experience. Also, the entire first section adds relatively little and mostly comes off as boasting about how cool their life was!
I'm going to sound callous, maybe even cruel, but the author comes off selfishly throughout much of this book. I know ā he lost his son. That's horrible and tragic. But much like Into the Wild, the death was totally preventable if the son had followed basic safety instructions, and it often feels like the author expected everyone to bend to his will to break all the rules for his search. I don't know the pain of losing a child, so that's probably natural in a sense, but I agree with the other review that says this story could've been better told by someone more neutral to the experience. Also, the entire first section adds relatively little and mostly comes off as boasting about how cool their life was!