SteveC
Contributor
Has anyone read both Shadow Divers and The Last Dive?
I found a glaring contradiction between the two books. There is a story that is told in both books, but is completely opposite.
The story in question is the one about the death of Chris Rouse and his son, while diving the u-boat. At this point Chris and his son are back on the dive boat. Chris sr. is dead but Chris jr. is still alive. The coast guard has dropped a basket and rescue person on board.
Now in Shadows Divers, the story goes that John Chatterton argues with the coast guard to leave Chris sr. since he is already dead and only take his son since this would get him to the recompression chamber faster. The coast guard argues that there are 2 victims and they are going to take them both, which they do.
Now in The Last Dive, the story goes that John Chatterton argues with the coast guard to take Chris sr. also, because if his son awoke and he was not there he would know his father must have died. The coast guard argued that they did not want to risk bringing the basket back down for a dead guy. John then counters this with his extensive experience with med-evacs in Vietnam, stating that he used to do these while being shot at, and ordered them to take both, which they did.
This contradiction may not change either book very much, but it got me thanking how much liberty do authors take when writing a book. Evidently at least one of these authors completely made up their details. I doubt that John Chatterton described the story this differently to the two authors.
I found a glaring contradiction between the two books. There is a story that is told in both books, but is completely opposite.
The story in question is the one about the death of Chris Rouse and his son, while diving the u-boat. At this point Chris and his son are back on the dive boat. Chris sr. is dead but Chris jr. is still alive. The coast guard has dropped a basket and rescue person on board.
Now in Shadows Divers, the story goes that John Chatterton argues with the coast guard to leave Chris sr. since he is already dead and only take his son since this would get him to the recompression chamber faster. The coast guard argues that there are 2 victims and they are going to take them both, which they do.
Now in The Last Dive, the story goes that John Chatterton argues with the coast guard to take Chris sr. also, because if his son awoke and he was not there he would know his father must have died. The coast guard argued that they did not want to risk bringing the basket back down for a dead guy. John then counters this with his extensive experience with med-evacs in Vietnam, stating that he used to do these while being shot at, and ordered them to take both, which they did.
This contradiction may not change either book very much, but it got me thanking how much liberty do authors take when writing a book. Evidently at least one of these authors completely made up their details. I doubt that John Chatterton described the story this differently to the two authors.