Anyone read "A Very Steep Learning Curve"

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FinnMom

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I can't find a single review online. The Kindle sample just has really intro/"my early years" stuff gives very little indication of what the "meat" of the book is like.

Has anyone read it & want to comment?
 
I hate to be judgmental, but so far the grammar and spelling is hurting my brain. Obviously you can publish an e-book without the need for an editor nor, it appears, a friend with a half decent grasp of English to proof read it for you. I'm trying not to judge the story so far based on the lack of editing, but the poor grammar and spelling mixed with a very simplistic writing style is distracting.

Here's a couple of extracts verbatim:

One of my teachers told my Mother at a school open night that I was going to amount to nothing when I left school that I would be a lay about.

-------------------------

Then on to the next level "Combat Engineering" in Farnborough, were along with this came the old driving test.

----------------------

The Rescue Team was particularly interesting for me as it gave me the chance to give a little back and help were help was needed most.

Then after six years of marriage, my life took a complete turn after being completely shattered by my wife.

After finding out that, my wife was sleeping with someone else.

Within six months of this event, I managed to sort all the money problems out and head out on the biggest adventure of my life so far.

At this time I was living on and off with a very nice woman, Helen.

We were both members of the Rescue Team and she said to me one random day.

"Why don't you go traveling? This could be an ideal opportunity for you"

-------------------------

The mission of the group of climbers was to just find new places and climbing them, what more could I ask for. I thought to myself.

Hot Rock Global Challenge. "Sounds Good".

Therefore, I rang the contact number and spoke to a guy called Stuart.
 
Wow. Yes, that is genuinely distractingly difficult to read.

I'll take a pass on the book.
 
Besides this thread an amazon I cannot find anything on the book..

Is the author a native English speaker?
 
I hate to be judgmental, but so far the grammar and spelling is hurting my brain. Obviously you can publish an e-book without the need for an editor nor, it appears, a friend with a half decent grasp of English to proof read it for you. I'm trying not to judge the story so far based on the lack of editing, but the poor grammar and spelling mixed with a very simplistic writing style is distracting.

Here's a couple of extracts verbatim:

One of my teachers told my Mother at a school open night that I was going to amount to nothing when I left school that I would be a lay about.

-------------------------

Then on to the next level "Combat Engineering" in Farnborough, were along with this came the old driving test.

----------------------

The Rescue Team was particularly interesting for me as it gave me the chance to give a little back and help were help was needed most.

Then after six years of marriage, my life took a complete turn after being completely shattered by my wife.

After finding out that, my wife was sleeping with someone else.

Within six months of this event, I managed to sort all the money problems out and head out on the biggest adventure of my life so far.

At this time I was living on and off with a very nice woman, Helen.

We were both members of the Rescue Team and she said to me one random day.

"Why don't you go traveling? This could be an ideal opportunity for you"

-------------------------

The mission of the group of climbers was to just find new places and climbing them, what more could I ask for. I thought to myself.

Hot Rock Global Challenge. "Sounds Good".

Therefore, I rang the contact number and spoke to a guy called Stuart.
I saw a t-shirt yesterday:
Let's eat Grandma.
Let's, eat Grandma.
Let's eat, Grandma.
Commas save lives.
 
It actually get worse further into the book, the examples I posted above are tame. Think of pretty much any homophone in the English language and it has been misused in the text. According to the story the guy grew up in the UK but didn't do very well academically. I have no issue with the author not being a literary genius, but that's what editors are for.

I'm about 80% through the book and i think that there's a decent story hidden in there, but the book really needs to be given to a ghost-writer to rewrite the thing.

It's a tragic tale of just about everything that people on Scubaboard would rail against - high current, deep, air, drift wall dive with a 14 to 1 ratio of mixed level divers to an over-confident DM. Poor diving conditions, rough seas, live drop-off with negative entry from a zodiac and zero procedures for buddy separation, lost divers, missed pickups or pretty much anything other than a perfect scenario.

---------- Post added June 6th, 2013 at 01:39 PM ----------

So finally finished it. The story is the DM's tale of this adventure -> Dolphins led rescue boat to us, say divers lost in Red Sea - Telegraph

I give i 1 star. Could have been a good story about dealing with stress in the face of adversity, but the writing lets it down.
 
Besides this thread an amazon I cannot find anything on the book..

Is the author a native English speaker?

Yes as others have already noted, the author is a native Brit.

I learned of the books existence though a link from CNN's website, possibly a very old link. I was reading about the sinking of the Bounty and at the bottom of the page CNN fed me links to a bunch of other "sea" related stories.
 
Only one reference was made to his ethnic background....

Thanks for your thoughts on the book, and bit of background, oz.
 

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