Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth

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I think the part about his descent was crazy. I cannot imagine what that had to be like, descending the tallest mountain in the world after having lost one's vision. It was probably "the best part" of the book, but it was also funny because I did not get a sense of "danger" or "impending doom" from him. I realize he survived and there is probably that aspect interfering with any sense of danger, but I have read other books where I know the person survived and yet there were still suspenseful moments in the book. I don't know how to describe it; it is just that the tone did not completely match the dangers the author actually faced. No surprise, books like Blind Descent are all time favorites for me. Adventurous, outdoorsy, and oh-so-delightfully-morbid, this trip down the world’s deepest supercave was everything an (admittedly weird) girl could ask for. Enormous underground cliffs were rappelled, sumps were navigated, a few casualties were endured… all in a noble, twisted effort to get closer to Hell than any other human being has ever been before. Progress through the story, improve your crafting, weapons and more. Find an energy source and send it to your printer and signal booster. Establish a connection with the surface so you can let them know that you are still alive. So the book raised a lot of questions because the author's focus is the book's subtitle, "The Quest to Discover the Deepest Cave on Earth." But the 'quest' means nothing to me without a lot more information to round it out. The writing was very inconsistent; at times it was interesting and well written but at many other times it was stilted and ham fisted. The first hundred times the author talked about the dangers of spelunking were bad enough but the next hundred times were completely annoying. Everything about cave exploring is dangerous and he means EVERYTHING! And over and over again he described the environs: cold, dark, wet, loud, forbidding. Repeat again, and again... Did I mention it's extremely dangerous in these caves?

The first part of the book tells about the harrowing rescue effort to extract Frieda and is a heartstopping tale of extreme adventure . When Anna learns that the accident might actually have been an attempt on the woman's life, the tension mounts. Which of the caving team did it? This was an alright book. I was weary of reading it at first, since I've actually met one of the "super cavers" that this book is about a number of times (Bill Stone), and I find him to be an utter twat. I really didn't want to read a book that glorified this man in any way, shape, or form. Anna is now INSIDE Planet Earth and not liking it much. But ... the show must go on and she signed up for it. I suppose I did too, I'm about as happy about it as she is and I'm only READING about it. My uneasiness is a tribute to the skills of the author. And deeper we go ... But the murders don’t stop once the body is above ground. Anna, while investigating, dodges high-power rifle shots and finds the body of Brent Roxbury on the desert floor. A member of Frieda’s rescue party, he is dead beyond doubt. One GR reviewer points out that the caver who departed with news of Frieda's injury could have been the guilty party. No mentioned by Anna or the author, however. But ... would that person(if the guilty party) have left the job unfinished?Sadly, this book did just that. Even though the cave that Stone was exploring is NOT the deepest cave in the world, more than 3/4 of the book was devoted to him. It may as well have been a biography of Stone, and if I'd know that, I wouldn't have read it (why bother reading so much about a man I find disgusting?). Much of the action in this book takes place in the confined spaces underground, and Barr spends a lot of time setting up the mystery and going into excruciating detail on the difficulties of exploring such a cave. I felt a little claustrophobic myself a few times. Unravel the secrets of the Martian underground world by exploring its vast and formidable environments. Experience full freedom of exploration with enjoyable new mechanics. I can't understand why anyone would want to go caving. Well, let me rephrase that. I cannot understand why anyone would want to go somewhere where they cannot see any further than a few feet in front of them. The laundry list of dangers involved with going that deep into caves is just terrifying.

I was not quite sure how I felt about he "justified/defended" his leaving his family to climb Everest. While he justifies his climbing mountains as a combination of how he is wired, how he is created, with his experiences in the military, he also shares how he used his mountain climbing to raise money and awareness for various charities. So it was a mix of what seemed like valid reasons for climbing (raising awareness and money) and "not-so-valid" (the thrill, the excitement, the challenge). His children crying like they did as he was saying good-bye to them, followed by his wife's struggles, and ending with his leaving a "final message" to his family in case he died did not sit well with me. Had he still been in the military, that would have been one thing. But just the fear and sorrow that he put his children through, their sobbing because they were worried they'd never see him again, followed by the justifications he gave, just did not "feel right" to me. However, each of us has "our own race to run" and has to answer for what we said or didn't say, did or didn't do, so I cannot throw too many stones (as it were). He has accomplished far more than I ever will.

What Curators Say

There will never be a cave that is "the world's deepest cave", only "the world's deepest cave so far". How can we know if we can't see?