Blind Descent
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Review
"Heart-stopping and relentlessly gripping. Tabor takes us on an odyssey into unfathomable worlds beneath us, and into the hearts of rare explorers who will do anything to get there first."--Robert Kurson, author of "ShadowDivers
""Holds the reader to his seat, containing dangers aplenty with deadly falls, killer microbes, sudden burial, asphyxiation, claustrophobia, anxiety, and hallucinations far underneath the ground in a lightless world. Using a pulse-pounding narrative, this is tense real-life adventure pitting two master cavers mirroring the cold war with very uncommonly high stakes."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
"A fascinating and informative introduction to the sport of cave diving, as well as a dramatic portrayal of a significant man-vs.-nature conflict. . . . What counts is Tabor's knack for maximizing dramatic potential, while also managing to be informative and attentive to the major personalities associated with the most important cave exploration
Book Description
The New York Times bestselling account of a thrilling real-life journey into deepest cave on earth.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth
Blind Descent is certainly a good read and I rattled through it in a short time period. But there are criticisms so the best thing to do is to ignore the central conceit and enjoy the book as it is. The idea that two different cavers are racing each other on different continents to find the deepest place on earth is just laughable. And the conclusion that the deepest cave on earth has been found is also somewhat suspect. But the accounts of the expeditions are well written and should excite both cavers and non-cavers alike. As a caver I'm pleased that there isn't the usual fall back on over dramatisation and hyperbole which often ruins many caving books aimed at a wider audience. The author makes a decent stab at explaining caving techniques - including digging! - to a wider readership so its accessible to anyone with even a slight interest in exploration and why people go to such lengths to do what they do. So have a read and see what you think.
Blind Descent is certainly a good read and I rattled through it in a short time period. But there are criticisms so the best thing to do is to ignore the central conceit and enjoy the book as it is. The idea that two different cavers are racing each other on different continents to find the deepest place on earth is just laughable. And the conclusion that the deepest cave on earth has been found is also somewhat suspect. But the accounts of the expeditions are well written and should excite both cavers and non-cavers alike. As a caver I'm pleased that there isn't the usual fall back on over dramatisation and hyperbole which often ruins many caving books aimed at a wider audience. The author makes a decent stab at explaining caving techniques - including digging! - to a wider readership so its accessible to anyone with even a slight interest in exploration and why people go to such lengths to do what they do. So have a read and see what you think.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Tunneller40's review is spot-on. Writing about caves is difficult, and Tabor does a pretty good job. But first, the not-so good stuff: technical errors - carbide lamps have jets, not wicks, for example; purple passages - a "bottomless" sump, for example; and absurd digressions, such as this on the subject of underground dehydration: "It is not too great a stretch to visualise thirst-crazed city dwellers drinking their neighbours' blood..."
Eh?
Still, Tabor's story is by a non-specialist, for non-specialists, and it captures much of the excitement of intense caving. The description of the six-day trip by Bill Stone and Barbara am Ende to the bottom of Huautla is genuinely thrilling. I recall sitting at the top of a pitch in a deep Pyrenean pothole after 20 hours on the go, hallucinating and hypothermic (but fortunately well clipped on) - and on that occasion I had only been underground for three days. Six days, on the wrong side of a big sump, at great depth is unimaginable.
As has been said, Tabor concentrates unnecessarily on an implicit duel between two very different expedition leaders. The caving expeditions I used to go on never had 'leaders'; they were loose cooperatives, with everything done by consensus and trust, and they worked fine that way. Harder to write about, though.
Eh?
Still, Tabor's story is by a non-specialist, for non-specialists, and it captures much of the excitement of intense caving. The description of the six-day trip by Bill Stone and Barbara am Ende to the bottom of Huautla is genuinely thrilling. I recall sitting at the top of a pitch in a deep Pyrenean pothole after 20 hours on the go, hallucinating and hypothermic (but fortunately well clipped on) - and on that occasion I had only been underground for three days. Six days, on the wrong side of a big sump, at great depth is unimaginable.
As has been said, Tabor concentrates unnecessarily on an implicit duel between two very different expedition leaders. The caving expeditions I used to go on never had 'leaders'; they were loose cooperatives, with everything done by consensus and trust, and they worked fine that way. Harder to write about, though.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a diver (but not a caver) I thought I'd give this book a go. I have to say its a great tale of expeditionary Super Caving - quite a bit of it left me asking "buy why?".
The story is worthy of 5 stars, but I have to take at least one star off for the terrible prictures - so small you cannot see them and the total lack of diagrams & maps.
A simple map of the two regions, and some 'pyramid tunnel like' drawing of 3 or 4 of the primary caves mentioned, drawn to scale, annotated with dates and depths, would add tremendously to the book. Shame really, opportunity missed.
The story is worthy of 5 stars, but I have to take at least one star off for the terrible prictures - so small you cannot see them and the total lack of diagrams & maps.
A simple map of the two regions, and some 'pyramid tunnel like' drawing of 3 or 4 of the primary caves mentioned, drawn to scale, annotated with dates and depths, would add tremendously to the book. Shame really, opportunity missed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good fun!
This is about the psychological pressures faced by cave explorers. The book is only partially about cave exploration; a lot of the it focuses on the personalities that lead or... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Morgan Murray
A mixed experience
The subject matter is fascinating, but the writing is distractingly bad. If there is a stock phrase within reach, Tabor will use it, regardless of whether it fits the situation;... Read more
Published 4 months ago by kelper
Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth
My first purchased Kindle book at 99p, although I did read it on a blackberry torch.
Not my usual story type, but quite enjoyable none the less.
Not my usual story type, but quite enjoyable none the less.
Published 4 months ago by nightsurfer
Gripping Adventure
A really great true life story that had me gripped from the start. How these guys do this cave diving stuff amazes me and had me feeling the claustrophobia on occasions. Read more
Published 6 months ago by grand daddy
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