October 2, 2000
An experienced diver with a personal connection to his subjects, Chowdhury chronicles the tragedy of Chris and Chrissy Rouse, an energetic, quarrelsome father-son dive team who, in 1992, met with disaster while attempting to reach a German U-boat in the waters off the New York coast. Though highly competent in risky underwater-cave diving, the Rouses lacked experience on the open sea. Lured by pride to make the 230-foot dive despite questionable weather conditions, the two fell victim to a cruel convergence of circumstances that led to agonizing death. While Chowdhury tells the Rouses' story well and provides insight into their characters, his best writing is devoted to explaining the history and dangers involved in the sport itself. Readers learn in clear terms about how nitrogen can build up in divers' bloodstreams, leading to the danger of "the bends"; and about "Martini's Law," which describes the disorientation caused by nitrogen, an effect roughly equivalent to drinking one martini on an empty stomach at every 50 feet of depth. These and other clarifications of diving's obstacles are combined with stories from his own experience to produce a highly enjoyable survey of human exploit below the surface. Though the book has weak points, particularly stilted dialogue that bristles with exclamation points, the alluring nature of the Rouses' tale and Chowdhury's clear portrayal of diving will entice anyone who has thought about exploring the deep.
October 2, 2000
In a captivating account of sport diving, Chowdhury chronicles the tragedy of Chris and Chrissy Rouse, an energetic father-son dive team who met with disaster while attempting to explore a German U-boat 230 feet deep in the waters off New York. Conway reads with a raspy voice and dark intonation, and he revels in bringing alive the book's dramatic moments, such as when Chrissy slithers through cold, murky waters inside the submarine's cramped hull. Though highly competent in perilous underwater cave diving, the Rouses lacked experience on the open sea, leaving them unprepared for a cruel convergence of deadly circumstances. Aside from telling the Rouses' story, Chowdhury does an excellent job--reinforced by Conway's audio skills--of introducing listeners to the history, equipment and dangers of diving at extreme depth. The streamlined audio abridgment omits some of this information, along with a handful of alluring anecdotes, but it also does away with some of the obsessive personal details of the Rouses that occasionally bogged down Chowdhury's narrative. Though this makes for a few clumsy moments (the tape mentions, for instance, how Chrissy had once saved his father's life, yet the story of the machine-shop explosion to which it refers has been edited out), its overall effect is to create a crisp storyline that listeners will appreciate. Simultaneous release with the HarperCollins hardcover (Forecasts, Sept. 25).