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The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths (Viagens Radicais)
What price would you pay for adventure and knowledge?Chris and Chrissy Rouse, an experienced father-and-son scuba diving team, hoped to achieve widespread recognition for their outstanding but controversial diving skills. Obsessed and ambitious, they sought to solve the secrets of a mysterious, undocumented World War II German U-boat that lay under 230 feet of water, only...more
Hardcover
Published
October 3rd 2000
by Harper
(first published October 1st 2000)
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I had an urge to try scuba lessons this past summer, but then I couldn't squeeze in the classes on the designated night. Suffice to say, this book told me things about diving that I didn't need to know as a potential novice - and made me realize that I'll never head down for deep sea wreck diving. This book focused on the fascinating sports of cave diving and wreck diving, describing the history, the safety precautions required, the dangers, the triumphs, and the science behind the techniques. A...more
What I learned from this book...
#1 When you're underwater no one cares how big you think your balls are
#2 Things can get out of hand very quickly
#3 Live to dive another day
Good book, sad book. It does a really good job at describing technical diving, even in a way that a non-diver can understand.
#1 When you're underwater no one cares how big you think your balls are
#2 Things can get out of hand very quickly
#3 Live to dive another day
Good book, sad book. It does a really good job at describing technical diving, even in a way that a non-diver can understand.
An interesting story, but the book contained far too much filler. At it's best, it provided a compelling human drama which it set in the context of the advances in diving of the time. However, it was amazing how often the author veered off into telling stories about himself instead of the Rouses. He also had a habit of repeating certain points endlessly, while leaving out other key details and then dropping them into the story later out of time and context. The author also tried to use the book...more
If you have not read Shadow Divers and are planning on it, read this book second. If you don't do it that way, you have to read a very brief, depressing version of the deaths all over again. I love that they have some decent books about scuba diving out there. This book makes you see everything they went through in their diving careers and how all of your training can still fail when you make one mistake diving. Also, no matter how much you know how you are supposed to react in an emergency situ...more
Great example of a true story done well. History of diving, history and personal stories of the Rousses, all terms and scuba practices explained - just excellent at pulling the world into the world of scuba diving without leaving the reader at a loss. Made me want to try it, but also respect the folks who dive and understand the dangers that come with the sport. If you're looking for something eloquent or fancifully written, this isn't it, but if you're looking for something informative, touchin...more
"The adventurous father and son diving team of Chris and Chrissy Rouse is the center of Chowdhury's book, which details their lifestyle from learning to dive to exploring Florida's limestone cave system to diving wrecks at the limit of advanced scuba diving capabilities (The Andrea Doria as well as the U-boat, also mentioned in "Shadow Divers". Chowdhury himself is an expert diver as well as a friend of the family's. His book not only explores the father-son dynamic but also the world of deep se...more
May 27, 2007
Erik Johnson
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
thrill seekers, boys' books, father's day gift
Shelves:
trueadventurebooks
Despite the folksy, hamfisted, and frankly amateurish writing, The Last Dive is at its heart a breathtaking adventure story about a truly different kind of thrill-seeking.
Don't confuse this with a deep-sea diving book. Both Bernie and the Rouses, the focal characters, are mainly cave and wreck divers as portrayed here, and those are quite different sports from the sort of deep sea diving you might do on a cruise or see on a Jacques Cousteau special. Specialized techniques and equipment abound, a...more
Don't confuse this with a deep-sea diving book. Both Bernie and the Rouses, the focal characters, are mainly cave and wreck divers as portrayed here, and those are quite different sports from the sort of deep sea diving you might do on a cruise or see on a Jacques Cousteau special. Specialized techniques and equipment abound, a...more
Also got this at a library book sale as a book on tape. I listened to it all day doing dishes and baking! :) I really enjoyed the journey it gave into the diving world. The story is so tragic, but it taught a lot, too. I don't know that I would pick it up to read, but really enjoyed listening. In case anyone decides to read (or listen if you want - let me know - does anyone still own a tape deck?? :)), the "F bomb" is popped a little in quoting some of the people in the book....
Whoah. Totally opened my eyes. I have a way deeper understanding of , the history of SCUBA and especially technical diving, the bends, decompression issues, the psychology involved in diving, etc. Looking forward to Tiger Beach in 6 weeks and feel more prepared overall for future diving. I also realize just how lucky I was in the Galapagos to have come back home totally healthy!
NF
357 pgs
A true life diving adventure. The joys, realities, trimuphs and tragidys
of real people and their love of their underwater expierences. As various people explore the waters, we learn of their diving experiences full trottle along with diving history of equipment and shipwrecks.
Only dive in the warm waters of the carribian and look at the pertty fish.
357 pgs
A true life diving adventure. The joys, realities, trimuphs and tragidys
of real people and their love of their underwater expierences. As various people explore the waters, we learn of their diving experiences full trottle along with diving history of equipment and shipwrecks.
Only dive in the warm waters of the carribian and look at the pertty fish.
Excellently researched and written biography of the famous father and son dive team that lost their lives while pursuing their addiction. Provides many missing insights into the accident, along with the inspirations of the two men and their journey to the grave. Inspiring, but not without a warning.
Reading "Shadow Divers" made me want to know more...this is the story of the ill-fated father and son diving team that lost their lives exploring the German U-Boat off the coast of New Jersey. Not quite as riveting as "Shadow Divers" but a very interesting expose of "deep wreck diving," nonetheless.
I found this book a little dry but enjoyed it. It was a very healing book for me. I've had lots of diving nightmares and this gave me a calmer view of diving. I've been thinking about extreme sports and risk taking. Is it better than wasting life doing nothing? Balance is probably the key.
It was fascinating to read about the dysfunctional Rouses and their motivation for this type of diving. Diving for fame or recognition is asking for trouble. It is like flying, the best pilots and divers are those who pursue their avocation because they love it, all else being secondary.
I thought this was going to be a narrative of the final dive of father and son, Chris and Chrissy Rouse, but it was actually a superb history of the sport of technical diving. I really enjoyed this book. It was informative and made me appreciate everything that went into all the gear, rules and regulations that I was required to learn for my diving certification. (Although I'm not sure I would have ever scuba dived had I read this book first!) It was a hard book to put down, and I would recommen...more
I would highly recommend reading this book if you are an active Scuba diver and would like to know more about both recreational and technical diving. The book also has series of stories that are worth reading.
This was an excellent book. I read it back in the day when I was a diver and thought it was a pretty risky way to dive. I've always been intimidated with cave diving. Definitely a page turner.
A great book about a tragic dive trip. It was sad to see such a horrible ending, but the description of the dive was very well written. This was another page turning book about diving.
Decent book, but im kind of surprised about how little of the story is about the Rouses or the U-who. There is a lot of diving history in this book that is very interesting.
This book contains a lot of dive history as well as dive medicine. I enjoyed it for the story as well as the learning. It's a great book for divers and non-divers alike; especially anyone who is considering cave diving or wreck diving or technical diving.
Interesting book if you dive, written by a diver. Reveals the numerous mistakes made along the way that led to the final outcome.
The writing itself wasn't very good but the story and the information about the dangers and physics of diving are fantastic.
Mom - you need to read this - I read on the way to Cozumel, very good, I may have it -if I do I will send to you
When I'm getting too cocky about my diving I take this book of the shelf and skim through it to get re-focused.
Sad tale of divers who didn't survive a wreck dive. Well-documented account.
I very much disliked the main characters.
If yu like diving it's a great read!
This book was really fun to read and I laughed a lot. It about two scuba divers, father and son, and their voyage to try and discover the identity of a mystery sub. It is so great because I love scuba diving and all the details of diving are very vivid. It made me feel as though I was underneath the surface with the Rouses, Chowdhury did agreat job making the reader feel like a part of the story. This book had a very very sad ending but it was all worth it.
May 28, 2008
Rhona
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone
Recommended to Rhona by:
fellow diver
I loved this book and I could hardly put it down! A diver friend gave this to me and anyone who has done any diving will dive into this story! I learned alot about something I enjoy doing. Although I have only gone to about a depth of 104ft, the extreme divers in this story go 300+ft on regular air. This is a very interesting, yet sad story. It also addresses the psychological needs of people who participate in very dangerous activities. Excellent!
the theme was explortion and thrill if they didn't want those they could be alive but their wanting for thrill and exploration led to their lives being taken from them by the deep
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Jul 08, 2009 04:18pm