The Last Dive

[brailediver]

"Deep Descent" & "Fatal Depth" are also good reading.
If you like to delve into accident analysis, "Diver Down" is also good reading.

 

[SailNaked]

IMO, the "last dive" should have been titled "autobiography of _________ and I knew the Rouse's" it is more about the author than anything significant or original about the death of the Rouse's in the U-869.
I read shadow divers and had a perfectly acceptable account of what happened. I guess you have to sell books but I felt a little taken. I liked the book, sort of. I liked reading about diving, but it never delivered the goods, and maybe there were no goods to deliver. I admit I probably would not have bought the book if it was not about the Rouses death, and just a general history of diving at the time.
so basically I agree with Rhone man.

 

[widget]

I read shadow divers and had a perfectly acceptable account of what happened. I guess you have to sell books but I felt a little taken. I liked the book, sort of.

Have a squizz around and see if you can pick up the book "Shadow Divers Exposed" The real saga of U869 by Gary Gentile.

Mr Gentile, self publishes a lot of his books so they are sometimes difficult to find, however, grab it if you can find it, I dont want to ruin it for you but I think you may find it very interesting, kind of gives you another "view" of the original book by Robert Kurson.

 

[FireInMyBones]

I will have to try out Diver Down.

 

[alara1972]

I've read both Shadow Divers and The Last Dive and found them to be a great read. I especially like some of the details of the history of cave and wreck diving. I'll be sure to read Diver Down as well...

 

[Lincoln Charlie]

An Army fellow in my AOW class heavily recommended this book to me. Just picked it up at Borders last night. Looking forward to reading it.

 

[Chris Hipp]

I wonder what it is about diving tragedies that makes books so much more poignant? If Shadow Divers doesn't have the Rouses and Feldman, it is just a semi interesting story about trying to identify a previously unknown wreck. If David Shaw doesn't die in Bushman's Hole, then there is not much more interest in his story than there is in Nuno Gomez or Pascal Bernabe's record setting dives. Instead, Diving Into Darkness is a veritable classic.

I guess we are all just morbid.

I related to Shadow Divers more for the sacrifice that Chatterton and Kohler made to identify the sub(risking their jobs, marriages and ultimately their lives) rather than the deaths on the story. It made me wonder if I had ever even come close to that kind of dedication, but I can't recall anything.

I too found it odd how little The Last Dive was actually about the Rouses. It was still a good read, but it didn't "grab" me the way Shadow Divers did.

 

[Wayward Son]

Agreed. I found Shadow Divers a far better read than the Last Dive.

 

[Wayward Son]

maybe I should add to that.

I do think the last dive worth reading, it was pretty good. I just found the writing on shadow divers to be better. the story grabbed me, there were many aspects of it that connected on a personal level & it was just a more enjoyable read for me than the last dive was.

but that's not to say the last dive wasn't worth my time, it was. there's just a distinctly different "feel" to how the books work for me.

 

[Chris Hipp]

I was also hoping it would have talked more about how Sue dealt with the loss. Most everyone has dealt with the loss of a loved one, but how to you deal with losing the rest of your immediate family in one day?