hmonkeyreads's review against another edition
2.0
I have enjoyed Peter Heller's writing (both fiction and nonfiction) but this one wasn't as compelling as those other books were.
Part of the issue for me was my lack of technical understanding of kayaking. There were just too many sections of technical description that I couldn't properly envision. Usually I'm able to compensate for this because there are compelling character stories or descriptions of nature but in this particular book there wasn't enough of that to compensate for the technical sections.
There are some flashes of the Peter Heller I know and love in this book but they are few and far between. I'd skip this one unless you know and care about kayaking.
Part of the issue for me was my lack of technical understanding of kayaking. There were just too many sections of technical description that I couldn't properly envision. Usually I'm able to compensate for this because there are compelling character stories or descriptions of nature but in this particular book there wasn't enough of that to compensate for the technical sections.
There are some flashes of the Peter Heller I know and love in this book but they are few and far between. I'd skip this one unless you know and care about kayaking.
travelinkiki's review
2.0
This book was interesting, although it wasn't the best writing. It seems written more for kayakers than the average person. I couldn't follow along all of the descriptions of events, and all of the kayakers and porters were quite two dimensional. If you want a similar style book with much better wring, I would suggest The River of Doubt.
bexellency's review
1.0
Ooh, nope. I’d enjoyed a Heller novel and wanted to try a non-fiction. This expedition and thus the book reek of macho adventure culture - exclusionary crassness and sexism - and foreign/western dominance - no respect for local culture and knowledge, poor understanding of the power differential, no acknowledgement of the risks taken by local staff for the glory of the outsiders. That may have been the truth of the expedition, but it wasn’t what I wanted to read about. And I’m dismayed that’s still how expeditions go down in the 21st century.
mjatuw's review
4.0
read aloud on the California road trip ... excellent balance of technical paddling, kayak "culture", and personal/team dynamics with an international overlay....
stephaniereads's review
2.0
I'm a huge fan of Peter Heller's fiction and have long been meaning to check out his nonfiction - but, clearly, this was a disappointment! The subtitle of this book is "surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River," but that's not entirely accurate - it makes it sound like Heller (an expert paddler in his own right) was actually on the river. He wasn't: he was on the ground crew hiking from camp to camp and interviewing the paddlers for the story.
The expedition itself did sound interesting - I have a soft spot for adventure narratives. The Tsangpo Gorge is about as remote as it gets: steeped in legend, stunningly beautiful and harsh, barely explored. But Heller's limitation to the actual action detracted from the excitement. It's much less interesting to hear a second hand account. The kayaking itself didn't make much of a narrative anyway.
Parts of it also made me feel a little... icky? They hired local porters to carry supplies, and something about how he describes the negotiations for pay didn't sit well. He mentions British colonialism at times in the book and I wanted someone to address how this team of (presumably, I suppose I don't know this for certain) white men aren't actually the first ones in the gorge. They're just the first ones with ridiculously expensive gear that permits them to make the attempt.
Favorite parts were Heller's writing, of course. There's this scene where he tries to show you what it's like to be in the midst of Class V rapids and he NAILS it. Incredible writing. I also enjoyed his descriptions of what it's like in the Gorge and the history he intersperses. Because I love his fiction, I’ll still be working through his other nonfiction books.
The expedition itself did sound interesting - I have a soft spot for adventure narratives. The Tsangpo Gorge is about as remote as it gets: steeped in legend, stunningly beautiful and harsh, barely explored. But Heller's limitation to the actual action detracted from the excitement. It's much less interesting to hear a second hand account. The kayaking itself didn't make much of a narrative anyway.
Parts of it also made me feel a little... icky? They hired local porters to carry supplies, and something about how he describes the negotiations for pay didn't sit well. He mentions British colonialism at times in the book and I wanted someone to address how this team of (presumably, I suppose I don't know this for certain) white men aren't actually the first ones in the gorge. They're just the first ones with ridiculously expensive gear that permits them to make the attempt.
Favorite parts were Heller's writing, of course. There's this scene where he tries to show you what it's like to be in the midst of Class V rapids and he NAILS it. Incredible writing. I also enjoyed his descriptions of what it's like in the Gorge and the history he intersperses. Because I love his fiction, I’ll still be working through his other nonfiction books.
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