Just finished "The Last Dive".

[Dhboner]

At my son's urging I just finished reading "The Last Dive" which is the story of Chris and Chrissy Rouse, a father and son who learned to dive together and quickly advanced to serious technical wreck and cave diving. Unfortunately they both died attempting to identify a U-boat off New York harbour.

It was a compelling book, but I was a little freaked out reading it since the Rouses reminded me so much of my own relationship with my son. Since we regulalry dive together, it made the later chapters of the book very hard for me to read.

You won't be smiling at the end of the book but I couldn't put it down and it was a great window into the world of extreme deep/cave diving.

Bob (Toronto)

 

[Scott L]

At my son's urging I just finished reading "The Last Dive" which is the story of Chris and Chrissy Rouse, a father and son who learned to dive together and quickly advanced to serious technical wreck and cave diving. Unfortunately they both died attempting to identify a U-boat off New York harbour.

It was a compelling book, but I was a little freaked out reading it since the Rouses reminded me so much of my own relationship with my son. Since we regulalry dive together, it made the later chapters of the book very hard for me to read.

You won't be smiling at the end of the book but I couldn't put it down and it was a great window into the world of extreme deep/cave diving.

Bob (Toronto)

Great book. Unfortunately the story involved a good dose of inmaturity on the father's part and testosterone galore with both IMO...

 

[Goannaman]

Great book. Unfortuanely, it involved a good dose of inmaturity on the father's side and testosterone galore with father and son IMO...

I've just started it, so (other than knowing the result) I don't know how everything goes, but I got that out of just the first few pages.

Sad that they lost their lives doing a dive that it appears neither one wanted to do...

 

[SeahorseDeb]

SPOILER ALERT:I did find one big discrepancy between The Last Dive and the book Shadow Divers which also recounts the death of both of the Rouse's. In Shadow Divers on page 221 John Chatterton and the Coast Guard swimmer are both discussing whether or not the elder Rouse should be taken aboard the helicopter. The argument is that the swimmer says they will be taking both men, and J.C. says that the elder Rouse is already dead and taking him up in the helicopter will cost a precious 20 extra minutes, and that the time wasted taking the already dead father could cost the life of the so-far, living, son. In The Last Dive on page 289 the author recounts that J.C. said they had to take both men, that the younger Rouse needed to know his dad was still alive, in order to keep him fighting for his own life. The Coast Guard swimmer pointed out on page 290 how costly and dangerous it would be to take both men. I know this is a small issue, but it's a big inconsistency and it's got me wondering. It wasn't noted by either author if they consulted the Coast Guard report. That would have cleared it up before both books when into publication.

 

[Scott L]

Interesting. The thread's activity is sure to spike...

 

[alara1972]

SPOILER ALERT:I did find one big discrepancy between The Last Dive and the book Shadow Divers which also recounts the death of both of the Rouse's. In Shadow Divers on page 221 John Chatterton and the Coast Guard swimmer are both discussing whether or not the elder Rouse should be taken aboard the helicopter. The argument is that the swimmer says they will be taking both men, and J.C. says that the elder Rouse is already dead and taking him up in the helicopter will cost a precious 20 extra minutes, and that the time wasted taking the already dead father could cost the life of the so-far, living, son. In The Last Dive on page 289 the author recounts that J.C. said they had to take both men, that the younger Rouse needed to know his dad was still alive, in order to keep him fighting for his own life. The Coast Guard swimmer pointed out on page 290 how costly and dangerous it would be to take both men. I know this is a small issue, but it's a big inconsistency and it's got me wondering. It wasn't noted by either author if they consulted the Coast Guard report. That would have cleared it up before both books when into publication.

I read both books and found them to be great reads but I never caught the discrepancy that SeaHorseDeb found... I wonder if the official Coast Guard report differs...

 

[Scott L]

I read both books and found them to be great reads but I never caught the discrepancy that SeaHorseDeb found... I wonder if the official Coast Guard report differs...

It's an interesting topic as there are some distractors of the Shadow Divers author about various facts. Not many have ever questioned Mr. Chowdhury's work with The Last Dive. For the record, I am a huge John Chatterton fan...

 

[SeahorseDeb]

I am only stating rumor here, I have no fact based data to back it up. Supposedly Bernie Chowdhury wrote "The Last Dive" to promote and fund himself. I beleive I saw that in a book review. Not certain of the source, but one of the authors didn't consult the Coast Guard reports. This has nagged me for a long time, but since John Chatterton was a former Vietnam War medic, he was trained to do the right thing, even though bullets were not one of the factors engaging him in his guidance to act as he did, whatever the actual truth is, he had bullets of another kind, and perhaps more deadly. I beleive that J.C. didn't question his decisions, he was a trained medic from a battlefield,he acted intuitively. As a genealogist, I do know that certain records become public record after a certain period of time has elapsed, however I am not motivated to uncover which record is the true account. Any takers??

 

[Scott L]

I am only stating rumor here, I have no fact based data to back it up. Supposedly Bernie Chowdhury wrote "The Last Dive" to promote and fund himself. I beleive I saw that in a book review. Not certain of the source, but one of the authors didn't consult the Coast Guard reports. This has nagged me for a long time, but since John Chatterton was a former Vietnam War medic, he was trained to do the right thing, even though bullets were not one of the factors engaging him in his guidance to act as he did, whatever the actual truth is, he had bullets of another kind, and perhaps more deadly. I beleive that J.C. didn't question his decisions, he was a trained medic from a battlefield,he acted intuitively. As a genealogist, I do know that certain records become public record after a certain period of time has elapsed, however I am not motivated to uncover which record is the true account. Any takers??

That all makes perfect sense but for the fact John Chatterton did not author Shadow Divers (Robert Kurson). He could have been misquoted, etc.

 

[SeahorseDeb]

That all makes perfect sense but for the fact John Chatterton did not author Shadow Divers (Robert Kurson). He could have been misquoted, etc.

I agree, but it's such a huge discrepancy. In the "author's note" for "Shadow Divers," Kurson states that he obtained his information under interviews with Chatterton and Kohler. There is no such reference in "The Last Dive." While I understand these are good works of non-fiction reading, I'll lean towards the scenario in "Shadow Divers." Being that my husband has to extremely close friends who are authors, one on the NYT best-seller list, I know these books usually go through more than one set of "editorial eyes." I'll bet Kurson had Chatterton and Kohler read the manuscript before it was published.