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lizaroo71's review against another edition
3.0
I like Heller's fiction albeit he has only written two novels. Once I realized he had written non-fiction prior to his literary endeavors, I have sought out these offerings.
This book covers the adventure of kayakers as they travel to the far reaches of Tibet to take on a river known for its inaccessibility and difficulty level for rapids.
All of the men that make up the team have tons of experience and talent kayaking, but the problem lies more with the politics of getting to the Tsangpo rather than getting in the water.
Heller takes us through all of the steps including the never ending drama that seems to plague the team and their difficulty with their porters (perhaps Heller spends a bit too much time here).
Also, the leader of the team, who spent years planning and making all of the arrangements, isn't painted in a favorable light all of the time. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not.
This book is filled with wondrous details of kayaking, the difficult landscape, the beautiful Tibetan culture, the power of the water and its ability to draw these men to it. But, it felt stilted in parts and too bogged down in the minutia of the expedition.
I did look up the movie that chronicles this journey and it is pretty amazing. This river is monstrous.
This book covers the adventure of kayakers as they travel to the far reaches of Tibet to take on a river known for its inaccessibility and difficulty level for rapids.
All of the men that make up the team have tons of experience and talent kayaking, but the problem lies more with the politics of getting to the Tsangpo rather than getting in the water.
Heller takes us through all of the steps including the never ending drama that seems to plague the team and their difficulty with their porters (perhaps Heller spends a bit too much time here).
Also, the leader of the team, who spent years planning and making all of the arrangements, isn't painted in a favorable light all of the time. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not.
This book is filled with wondrous details of kayaking, the difficult landscape, the beautiful Tibetan culture, the power of the water and its ability to draw these men to it. But, it felt stilted in parts and too bogged down in the minutia of the expedition.
I did look up the movie that chronicles this journey and it is pretty amazing. This river is monstrous.
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.
kfrig's review against another edition
3.0
Solid 3.5 strong content, incredible journey. For Heller’s nf, I preferred Whale Warriors. And, after embarking on his fiction, I know how amazing his writing becomes later in his career.
jcarsrud's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Hell or High Water is a great action adventure true tale of professional kayakers on the Tsangpo River in Tibet. If you liked Born to Run, you will like this book.
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....