Many Rivers to Run [Mass Market Paperback]

These accounts from as far afield as Alaska and New Zealand make thrilling reading, at times very moving though most are also humorous. Maybe they'll inspire you to try kayaking or white water rafting though, as you'll learn crocodiles and ice are among the hazards. Thoroughly recommended- there is something here for all tastes.

It was in today's mail: an unmistakable padded envelope with UK stamps affixed that announced the arrival of Dave's book. I didn't tear into the envelope right away (I kind of like to savour things; think about what's inside for awhile). Later at home I opened the envelope and was greeted by a beautiful cover photo of kayakers hiking down into a wild gorge located somewhere in Nepal, a white serpentine trace far below them. This is going to be a good one, I thought.

Dave's book is a compilation of stories by eighteen authors, including two stories of his own. Sometime back I was having an E-conversation with a friend about the abundance of profound writings that the mountaineering/climbing genre seems to enjoy as opposed to the seemingly meagre availability of the same to the white-water community. I attributed this to the fact that white-water is still a relatively young sport and perhaps doesn't have the rich

history that mountaineering does. His reply was: "...and most importantly, we haven't expressed well the meaning of what were doing, the meaning that moving water has for us. Climbing a mountain has clear symbolism in many, many ways, but what is the symbolism inherent in running a river? It is there and it is powerful. So far people have only used clichés - adrenaline rushes, Man Against Nature, Pushing The Edge, as if these simplistic throwaway buzzwords are the motive force behind everything." The stories presented in Dave's book go beyond the "buzzwords."

Don Weeden's wild account of a bandit run of the Niagara Gorge is almost "Keystone Coppish" until one remembers the magnitude of the rapids they were running! I recall seeing film footage of Don being led, handcuffed, to a waiting police car at the end of this run. A great read!

Doug Ammons' white-knuckled story (in typical Ammonesque detail) of a run down the NF at 7000 cfs leaves one sufficiently breathless...

Arlene Burns was "Tresspaddling" on the Tsangpo before many of us even knew of the river....

And what can be said of the marvellous wit of Whit Deschner?

And there are others: Noker, Hewlett...the list goes on.

As for Dave's own story about the Braldu, the same friend described it as: "one of the best river stories ever...for the window it gives you into the realm of when a river becomes more than a river and paddling becomes more than just a sport or a challenge." This piece is buried midway through the book, though I suppose that it might be an important part of the books purpose, as it would be for any of us who have been involved at a high level in this sport for several decades and experienced...the inevitable.

I'd like to end with a quote by Peter Knowles from the book: "Someone once said that you can tell a person by his friends; and it is a tribute to him that he has managed to persuade so many interesting characters to write in this book - a diverse collection of warm, exciting stories that illustrate the sport of white-water kayaking but also perhaps mirror Dave's own character."

Ken Strickland