Recommend a book ?

[loquat149]

Okay, I'm posting this in what is hopefully the most inappropriate forum so it will be transferred to the most appropriate one (i.e., so that a new forum on BOOKS will be created). Hopefully, I won't get in too much trouble for this. Anyway, I've just finished "Shadow Divers" after reading "The Last Dive" and would like to ask, "Now what?".

For technical reading I'm going through the NOAA Diving Manual, IANTD's Divers Enc., and the GUE Tech booklet (i.e., the $15 dollar PDF that was never published as a hardcopy...I've already read "Doing it right---the fundamentals of diving").

For my daily reading, though, I'm looking for something more narrative than the tech manuals, something along the lines of "Last Dive" or "Shadow Divers", but not another re-telling of, say, the Andrea Doria story, etc. I would, however, HIGHLY recommend "Last Dive" and "Shadow Divers"...if you can ONLY read one I'd pick the latter, but keep in mind you'll miss most of the Rouses' story. BTW, "Shadow" is the only book I've ever read that kept me thinking as I turned every page "...they HAVE to make a movie!"

It truely amazes me how ripe the recreational diving community is with drama and politics. Just think how excellent a follow up to "Last Dive" would be if someone could tell the true, uncensored, behing-the-scenes, in-the-know story of Exley, Irving, Jablonski, Gavin, Main, Miller, Mount, and/or Gilliam, etc. Who needs fiction?

Dave

 

[Hyper-limits]

If you like to read about Sheck Exley try "Cavern Mesureless to Man", It is his Bio written by himself. It is all about cave diving of course and really deep diving stuff(800 ft dives).
I don't think it better than Shadow Divers but it is really good reading how he came out with the long hose, stage bottles and lots of technique most tech divers used today. I order mine from Amazon and got it in less than a week.
Also Deep Descent is an other really good Book.

Cheers

Al

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Here are three you might find interesting:

Burgess, Robert F. The Cave Divers, Aqua Quest, 1999

Gilliam, Von Maier, Crea Deep Diving, Watersport Publishing 1992 (some good history)

Kinder, Gary Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea, Vintage Books 1998 (fascinating)

Have fun reading!

Doc

 

[diveh3]

I would, however, HIGHLY recommend "Last Dive" and "Shadow Divers"...if you can ONLY read one I'd pick the latter, but keep in mind you'll miss most of the Rouses' story. BTW, "Shadow" is the only book I've ever read that kept me thinking as I turned every page "...they HAVE to make a movie!"
Dave

Last I heard a movie is in the works.
Another read "Fatal Depth" a bit morbid but a decent read.

 

[H2Andy]

The Cave Divers is a good book

try Daniel Lenihans's Submerged; there's some early chapters on the start of
cave diving in Florida, and some nice archeological diving throughout the book.
highly reccomend it.

Deep Descent by Keivn F. McMurray is good, but it does deal with the Doria.
his second book, Dark Descent, i just can't reccomend. it plods along and it's
not well written, imo.

Jacque Custeau's The Silent World is very good too; a good window into the
first steps in scuba diving.