Picked up a new book tonight...

[SMKChef]

RavenC once bubbled...

O-ring once bubbled...
Picked up a new book...

...Barnes and Noble to see if they had any books I hadn't read.

Those looks and he reads too. Wow. R

Naw, he probably just looks at the pictures.

j/k O-ring. And you already know you are a stud.

Actually, I am just finishing reading Fatal Depth. I tried stretching it out but you can only look at the 10 pages of pictures 3 nights and they get old. The Last Dive hit on most of the accidents that Haberstroh mentions and I think Chowdhury is a better writer. Since Haberstroh is writing for a Long Island newspaper, his prose is written to fit newspaper columns and not to discuss events or scenes in detail. I got tired of reading information repeated for people who may have missed last week's installment. Had I read a page or two before I paid for the book, I probably wouldn't have bought it.

One thing that bugs me the most about books these days is the sloppy editing. I noticed there are a couple of errors in Fatal Depth that are so blatant a 7 year old can pick them out. One of them is on the first or second page if I remember correctly. I don't enjoy paying $20+ for a book written and edited so carelessly. All it says to me is the publisher was more interested in meeting deadlines and making money than creating a work worthy of printing on paper. Then again, the ten people that read my comments who don't buy the book will be payback enough for their carelessness.

 

[ScoobieDooo]

O-Ring,
I just got a copy of it too...will start reading it today and will post my opinion when finished.

 

[O-ring]

There was some really sloppy editing on the book. Dunno...when I read "The Last Dive" or "Deep Descent" and would catch a very occasional error, I would just say something to myself like "hey, he's a diver, not a writer....stuff happens". But...Haberstroh is a writer and NOT a diver...

Anyway, agree all around...it is not as good as either the Chowdhury book or the McMurray book, but it is a book about wreck diving so I had to get it.

 

[Quest]

Ok just bought "Deep Descent"...

Before starting to read this i decided to read the "where are they today" chapter.

I was shocked to learn that Billy Deans sold his Key West dive shop and left the diving industry in pursuit of a new career.

I never met him or used his dive shop before. So of course i had no idea about this.

But, coming from an IANTD background i have heard alot about him. He was sorta revelled as an icon among several experienced tech divers i have dove with. And i always hear mention of his name in the tech wreck diving community as often as i hear Sheck's name in the cave community.

I was i guess just shocked to hear someone so knowledgeable and well known in the tech diving community would give it up in pursuit of a nursing career.

Im guessing the money wasnt good? And if a top notch tech diver gave it up and recreational instructors are a dime a dozen i often question whether i want to continue my pursuit in becoming a diving instructor.

 

[O-ring]

Kinda shocking, eh? Not nearly as shocking as the dude that taught the Rouses to cave dive in "The Last Dive" that had a sex change and got a PhD though..

 

[Spectre]

O-ring once bubbled...
Anyway, agree all around...it is not as good as either the Chowdhury book or the McMurray book, but it is a book about wreck diving so I had to get it.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through after picking it up last weekend [I'm a sucker for autographed books]. It's not painful to read, but yes, it's just not the quality of Deep Descent or Last Dive.

It's just not inciting the emotion that the other two books did. There isn't any cringing. There isn't any of the imagery where I'm not seeing the words, but rather the pictures forming in my head as I read.

It's not a horrible book, but it's probably not one I'll read over and over.

 

[SMKChef]

Guess I better go pick up a copy. Sounds like I may be impressed.

Hey, O-Ring, for what department of the government do you "sit through meetings," etc? The NSA?

 

[ibnygator]

Quest once bubbled...
I was shocked to learn that Billy Deans sold his Key West dive shop and left the diving industry in pursuit of a new career.......

Im guessing the money wasnt good? And if a top notch tech diver gave it up and recreational instructors are a dime a dozen i often question whether i want to continue my pursuit in becoming a diving instructor.

I believe that it says in the book that he just sort of burnt out on the industry (being more interested in quality instruction than in the almighty dollar) and is now a nurse and feels more fulfilled as a person.

I agree, this was not as shocking as the guy that got the sex change...

 

[ncsuScUbA]

Yeah...the sex change!?!?!? And to think that (s)he was in the Special Forces! I just finished The Last Dive this past weekend. What an excellent book for someone just getting into diving seriously and interested in cave/wreck diving. It really motivated me to get with the program.

 

[Quest]

SMKChef once bubbled...
Guess I better go pick up a copy. Sounds like I may be impressed.

Hey, O-Ring, for what department of the government do you "sit through meetings," etc? The NSA?

Could it be, a "suspicious contact"

Just kidding...