Cover retrieved from Goodreads
Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth
James M. Tabor
Random House: 2010, 286 pages
Reviewed by Tori Lyons
This book is ostensibly about the race between American Bill
Stone and Ukranian Alexander Klimchouk to discover the deepest cave on
Earth. However, very little of the book (maybe 20%) is spent on Klimchouk
and his explorations. This is presumably because there is a lot more
published information available on Bill Stone, plus the author was able to
conduct personal interviews with him. I actually found Klimchouk to be
more interesting, as well as a much more likeable person, but it was almost as
if the chapters on him were added because Tabor needed to create the tension of
a race between him and Stone. This book seemed to be a biography of
Stone, with some other stuff tacked on. This is particularly strange
since, spoiler, Klimchouk was actually the one who discovered the deepest cave,
not Stone. I could never really get into this book and would only
recommend it to readers who are particularly interested in super caves.
If you’re looking for a nonfiction book on exploration or adventure, there are
many better options.
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