Blind Descent by James Tabor, audio book review

 

Blind Descent by James Tabor, narrated by Don Leslie, is a non-fiction work about the search for the deepest cave in the world.  The book follows two very different extreme cavers and their teams in their search to surpass the known world record.

Bill Stone is an American caver and engineer whose primary work, hopes, and dreams were on Cheve cave in South Mexico.  And Alexander Klimchouk, a Ukrainian caver and scientist had his sights set on Krubera in the Arabika Massif, Georgia(near Turkey).

Both men caught the caving bug early on during their teens.  Both make sure that cave explorations continue to be a part of their life throughout their lives.  Both are extremely different in personality, perceptions and practices.

I read some of the reviews of this book and it seems that most people really enjoyed it.  The writing, the subject matter, and the narration.  Yet there are some scathing reviewers, who found the writing trite and the narration raspy.

For my part, I really enjoyed the audio book.  This is the second time that I listened to it.  If I really like a book, I tend to listen to it at least twice, because I always find I pick up something on the second reading that I missed on the first.

I found the writing intelligent and the subject fascinating.  Getting to know the personalities that drive these deep explorations.  Visualizing all the work that goes into preparing for them, and the dangers and hardships that deep cavers experience.

I’ve always been a bit of an explorer myself.  Hiking mountains, wading through streams, following the smallest animal trails.  Yet this long term exploration is beyond anything that I’ve ever imagined.

Just the thought of being underground for weeks at a time, for long periods without any source of light, and nothing but tons of rock between you and the sky.  Often times cold and wet for days on end, and hoping that you don’t fall off a cliff while trying to save your batteries!

I admire those who have the curiosity and drive to make such efforts for science, or just the challenge itself.  I enjoyed the audio book very much and I would recommend it to anyone whose interests lie in true life adventure stories, or scientific exploration.

If you have suggestions for truly stellar non-fiction audio books, please let me know by leaving a comment (see the link to the left of the page, or the comment section below).  And as always, Happy Listening!

Check out the links below for more detail on Alexander Klimchouk, and Bill Stone.

http://nas.academia.edu/AlexanderKlimchouk