Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Book for those who like "Gobbledegook", 6 Oct 2001
Either a great deal of the narrative is lost in the translation or the Author does not understand how to use words. Two examples from this book are; "There are evident signs of the sea level pulsating against stable land where volcanic tumult ended far back in geological time." and "Although the Mediterranean Sea is substantially homogenous from the biogeographical perspective..."
This is not what the ordinary diver expects from a "Diving Guide!" But is this a Guide? An overall description of the country, the people and their customs are essential ingredients to any dive guide and this vital element of the book is sadly missing. Similarly, whilst some diving facilities are mentioned under "acknowledgements," their contact details (and those of airlines, hotels, ferries, nearest recompression facilities, electricity, etc) are all missing. So what is it? A book of pretty pictures and that is just about all.
The contents page reveals a layout which includes an Introduction, three areas for diving (the divisions being the Eastern, Southern and Western coastlines) and, finally a Brief Guide to the Flora and Fauna. A map of Sardinia showing the location of the 30 numbered dive sites is neatly placed on the facing page to facilitate a quick cross-reference. Curiously it is called "Mar di Sardegna" even in the English version of this book.
The Introduction contains yet more "Gobbledegook" - as follows; After having described (in far too technical a manner) the salinity levels and surface temperatures of the sea, the very next line commences: "At present the sea around the island contains all groups of species typical of the entire Mediterranean. Endemisms, which derive from Tetide Sea species, and Atlantic species constitute the majority." Only after you have reached for your dictionary and studied the word "Endemism" will you begin to understand what the author is trying to say. Sadly he has failed completely and, in so doing, is turning the reader off.
Having begun by giving the dive sites numbers and shown these on the contents page and map, those numbers are not used again. In addition, the chapters are not numbered - and this makes finding a specific dive site most frustrating. As for the self-imposed divisions, the map clearly shows Dive Sites 12 and 13 midway down the eastern coast of Sardinia and 21, 22 and 23 almost on the northwest corner of the island. These particular sites, however, are included in the section headed "The Southern Coast." Just about as muddled as the entire product.
Each dive site commences with a double-page artist's impression of that site followed by a two page description. Sadly, the overall standard of artwork has noticeably declined since this range of books first appeared and, yet again, some illustrations look as though they might have been drawn by schoolchildren. One dive site comprises a flat seabed with some rocks, a rope, a piece of netting and a bottle in amongst a quantity of Pinna Shells - all at a maximum depth of 10m.
In some instances - such as the shipwreck called "KT of Orosei," we are treated to four pages of narrative and photographs. A study of this particular shipwreck, however, reveals an appalling lack of knowledge of the subject and an equal lack of information. What looks like an Armed Freighter (apparently lost in 1943), this ship is variously described as a Warship, Tanker and Landing Craft - all on the same page!, whilst her actual name and technical details are not mentioned at all and the letters "KT" are not explained.
In summary, the overall standard of photography is quite excellent but I do feel it is used to mask what is, generally speaking, a very poor product. This is a book which needs to be translated from "Italian English" into "English English." It is over-technical on matters of little importance and lacking in areas where information is vital. Quite frankly, it's enough to make you throw the book into the sea and get on with your diving.
NM
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6 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Superb photography., 18 April 2002
By A Customer
The photography in this book is superb and a couple of photography oriented pages at random would convince many divers that they really want to dive in Sardinia. I get the feeling that the author dives more from a marine biology perspective than an archeological one. Another reviewer is right about the description of wrecks being quite lacking, however I found that the description of the marine environment interesting and informative. If the book was called "A guide to marine life around Sardinia" and the maps (illustrations) of the dive sites were removed from the book it would be better. I don't think that the dive site maps would be that useful to any diver as I cannot visualize any of the sites using the maps and there are glaring ommisions, most interestingly the location of the site (like a GPS reading) and the direction to north. Any diver who could actually locate one of the mentioned sites would be some sort of Genius. Assuming that there are local dive centers that do actually know where the sites are and the direction to North then things should be okay. However infomation about such dive centers is isn't in the book detracting further from its usefulness as a Diving Guide. As somebody who hasn't dived in Sardinia yet this book didn't leave me informed about how I could dive any of the described sites. If I actually do ever find any of them it will be interesting to see whether the information matches reality?
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